Filed Under:
Manufacturing
Published on
December 3, 2025
When your equipment's survival depends on its case, material choice is mission-critical. Whether you're dropping a communications kit from a helicopter, exposing medical samples to arctic cold, or dragging tools through a chemical plant, the case must endure what would destroy lesser materials.
But "nylon" isn't a single material. It's a family of high-performance synthetic polymers, each engineered with unique properties for specific conditions. Understanding these properties is essential for selecting the right grade. Choosing among the different types of nylon determines whether your case will fail in the field or protect critical gear through years of punishing use.
This guide breaks down the eight most important types of nylon for protective cases, comparing their strengths, excellent impact resistance, chemical resistance, moisture absorption characteristics, and real-world applications so you can select the right material for your needs.
Few materials offer the remarkable strength-to-weight advantage that defines nylon, making it a cornerstone of modern engineering. Since its groundbreaking invention, this versatile thermoplastic has proven its mettle in the most demanding applications imaginable, from protective cases to countless other applications across industries.
Nylon is built from long chains of repeating units linked by amide bonds through a precise polymerization process. Originally developed to create synthetic fibers that could replace natural materials, nylon quickly demonstrated superior strength, durability, and versatility across various industrial applications.
This legacy of toughness and adaptability makes understanding the various types of nylon, each with good resistance to different stresses, crucial for designing today's high-performance protective cases.
Protective cases must endure extreme abuse, including severe impacts from drops, corrosive chemical splashes, and drastic temperature swings in both humid conditions and arid climates.
While many plastics exist, nylon consistently provides a superior balance of properties, including excellent chemical resistance, low moisture absorption, and reliable electrical insulation properties. These are all essential for safeguarding critical equipment, especially in custom hard cases.
Research confirms its advantages, noting that "Compression molded composites from discarded nylon 6/nylon 6,6 carpets had up to 40%, 59%, 124%, and 32% higher sound absorption, flexural strength, elastic modulus, and impact resistance, respectively, compared to jute/PP composites."
When compared directly to alternative materials, nylon's advantages become clear:
A perfect example is a fire-rescue communications kit using a glass-filled Nylon 6/6 hinge, which survived over 10,000 open-and-close cycles in testing without failure, proving its incredible durability. Beyond protective cases, similar properties make nylon ideal for applications like industrial machinery housings and transportation equipment.
Different types of nylon offer varying levels of temperature resistance and the ability to absorb moisture at different rates. These properties vary based on the production process and formulation, making material selection critical for specific environmental conditions.
Not all types of nylon are created equal, and the specific chemistry of each grade, determined during the production process, dictates its performance properties and characteristics, from moisture absorption rates to chemical resistance and thermal stability. Generally, polyamide (nylon) has a density of 1.1 g/cm³, a tensile strength of 40 MPa, and a thermal conductivity of 0.25 W/(m·K).
Here’s a breakdown of common nylon types and their ideal fit for custom cases.
Key Properties: Tensile strength ~70 MPa, 1.3% water uptake, 220°C melting point
Best Case Applications: Large shell sections where impact absorption matters more than dimensional stability; a good choice for cost-effective production.
Key Properties: Tensile strength up to 80 MPa, 265°C melting point, superior wear resistance
Best Case Applications: High-temperature hinges, latch plates, threaded bosses for mounting panels.
Key Properties: Only 0.5% moisture absorption, excellent dimensional stability (<0.2% change at 50% RH)
Best Case Applications: Precision latch arms, handle over-molds, components requiring tight seal tolerances in humid conditions.
Key Properties: Bio-based (95% renewable), low-temp impact resistance to -40°C, 0.3% water uptake
Best Case Applications: Lightweight drone cases, cold-weather field equipment, sustainable applications.
Key Properties: Ultra-low water uptake (0.2%), low density (1.02 g/cm³), 178°C melting point
Best Case Applications: Rapid-prototyping lids, electronics compartments, bridging 3D printing and injection molding.
Key Properties: Fiber-grade strength exceeding Nylon 6/6, limited pellet availability
Best Case Applications: Ultra-thin reinforcement ribs, ballistic panels in composite case walls.
Key Properties: Extremely high heat deflection (>290°C)
Best Case Applications: Hot-zone lab kits, engine maintenance cases, any application in high-temperature environments.
Key Properties: Early bio-based blend, high crystallinity and stiffness
Best Case Applications: Heritage projects, sustainability pilot runs with vintage specs.
The "workhorse" grades for most protective cases are Nylon 6 for cost-effective shells and Nylon 6/6 for hardware components. If moisture is your enemy, Nylon 6/12 or 12 delivers superior dimensional stability thanks to its low water uptake rates.
For specialized needs, Nylon 11 excels in extreme cold and sustainability projects, while Nylon 4,6 handles extreme heat. The specialty grades (1,6 and 510) serve niche applications where standard options fall short.
Choosing the correct nylon grade is a critical decision that directly impacts the reliability and lifespan of the mission-critical gear it’s designed to protect. A systematic approach ensures all variables are considered before committing to a design.
Use this checklist as a starting point for your material specification process:
Beyond the base polymer, consider additives such as 30% glass-filled PA 6/6 to increase stiffness or a TPE over-mold for an ergonomic grip. Proper selection is key to developing a durable and reliable product.
Whether you need to protect your tools on a construction site, shield medical devices during air transport, or secure testing equipment in corrosive industrial environments, choosing the right nylon grade and additives ensures mission-critical protection where it matters most.
The different types of nylon offer an unparalleled balance of mechanical strength, environmental stability, and design freedom for protective case engineering. Selecting the optimal grade and incorporating the right design features is key to success. With our global manufacturing footprint and consultative approach, we help you get it right the first time.
Our expertise covers a wide range of materials to meet any need. Contact us for all your custom wholesale cases needs and let our engineers help build the perfect solution for you.
At Royal Case, we are committed to meeting your compliance needs. To ensure accuracy and satisfaction, all compliance requirements must be communicated to us before an order is placed. We can manufacture to nearly any standard, but those standards must be stated in writing prior to production. Please note that compliance not disclosed in advance cannot be guaranteed.
