Why _I_ don't use use zig zag on bar tacks.. A personal opinion

[gmcttr]

i have debated this same argument with myself ever since i saw lost do a test on different types of stitches on straps....hopefully somebody can link the video for me...

I think it was the one in this thread, but the video is gone now.

[CamoDeafie82]

I just had a look at my MOLLE gear and the blackhawk is zigzag and SOC and Osprey are straight stitched.

My Petzl quick draws are straight and my Beal zigzag.

My Airborne systems loopline zigzag

Now surely if an appreciable difference in the functioning was apparent there would be some leaning one way or the other by these companies?

All I can tell is that the straight stitch is stiffer

Stiffer in some applications are better than more flex..... there are some MOLLE webbing whose spacing is not quite as close to 1.5" as it should be...I've experienced really really difficult webbing loops that refuse to flex up for some of my MOLLE pouches....but it is also a question on just how close to tolerances those pouches' attachment straps are....just like how on some ALICE gear, its downright impossible to slip a TT Malice clip into them..while on others, its far easier and still have looseness.... I prefer straight stitched spacing since it is more narrow, and allows a higher variety of tolerances on the MOLLE attachment straps....
BUT, on the majority of USGI MOLLE gear I see, the ends are always zigzagged bar tacks, and then there's either straight stitches or more zigzags in between....mostly zigzags if from Specialty Defense Systems (Now BAE systems) and straight if from Safariland.....