Advantages of ripstop are the favourable strength-to-weight ratio and that small tears can not easily spread. Fibers used to make ripstop include cotton, silk, polyester, and polypropylene, with nylon content often limited to the crosshatched threads that make it tear-resistant.

Applications

Ripstop fabrics are used in yacht sails and spinnakers, hot air balloons, wingsuits , kites, free-flight models, parachutes, and hovercraft skirts. High-quality camping equipment such as lightweight tents, sleeping bags, and camping hammocks tend to use ripstop in order to reduce the wear on their fabrics which are in direct contact with the ground or the wind. Swags, flags, banners, and other applications requiring a strong lightweight fabric use ripstop too. Ripstop reinforcements are incorporated into heavier fabrics requiring extreme durability, such as those used in Army Combat Uniforms, Nomex protective clothing for firefighters and other workwear, Brazilian jiu-jitsu uniforms, outdoor and sports clothing, backpacks, and luggage bags. Self-adhesive ripstop patches are used to repair both rips and tears in other fabrics.

Ejection seat parachutes made with ripstop are woven with an elastic-like fabric so that they stretch to allow more air to pass through at high speed. Then as the ejection seat slows, the weave closes and acts like a conventional parachute. This allows the pilot seat to slow gently, avoiding compression that could result in spinal injury.