What is denier and how does it affect bike travel cases?

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about denier:

Denier /ˈdɛnjər/ or den (abbreviated D), a unit of measure for the linear mass density of fibers, is the mass in grams per 9000 meters of the fiber. The denier is based on a natural reference: a single strand of silk is approximately one denier; a 9000-meter strand of silk weighs about one gram. The term denier comes from the French denier, a coin of small value.

Essentially, denier is a measurement of the thickness of the fibers that make up a material. As denier goes up weight and the durability of the material go up. For example, both panty hose and bullet proof vests are made out of nylon. Panty hose clocks in at around 10 denier, bullet proof vests tend to be 1080.

Most bag manufacturers tend to use 1000d ballistic nylon as the material of choice. At Orucase we’ve gone one step further, as all of our cases use 1680d ballistic nylon. We want your Airport Ninja bike case to last forever, and Orucase where no compromise engineering, design and cycling experience meet.

...the Airport Ninja uses material that is 163% stronger than other soft cases.

If you compare the strength of these materials you’ll immediately see the difference. 1000d ballistic nylon measures about 290 newtons in tearing strength. 1680d ballistic nylon measures in at 475 newtons. That means the Airport Ninja is 163% stronger than other soft cases. We know what we’d rather use to transport our bikes…