12
Why I stopped using cheap wire ties on harness bundles
Had to choose between paying $8 for a bag of quality aerospace-grade ties or saving $3 on the generic ones from the hardware store last Tuesday. Picked the cheap ones and three days later found two broken ties near a hot air duct on a 737. Anyone else had a similar wakeup call with budget hardware on critical stuff?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
noraj792mo ago
aerospace-grade ties" aren't really a thing, they're just mil-spec.
2
ericjackson8d ago
My buddy worked at a place that made those "mil-spec" parachute straps in the 90s. Turns out they were using this old loom from the 1960s that broke down every third batch. They'd just patch it up with duct tape and keep chugging along until the next inspection. The funny thing is, the inspectors never once looked at the actual thread count or material test results. They just checked the lot number stamp was on there and moved on. Ever wonder how many of these "spec certified" parts are basically held together by luck and bad record keeping?
4
jade6182mo ago
Mil spec just means it meets the government contract requirements, not that it's some magical space material. Plenty of cheap stuff passes mil spec because it's just a checklist, not a quality guarantee. The real deal would be stuff like Nomex or Kevlar, but even then it's all about the actual fabric blend and weave, not the marketing label.
3