Why no webbing ?

[OwenM]

I'd have thought some webbing would be great in a kit, very strong, rolls up small so why unpopular ?

I've thought about how you can use it for repairs, harnesses for hauling wood or rappelling, hanging a hammock, things like that. Those are things I rarely do when hiking, though, so I don't carry any.
It's like duct tape when climbing, though. Then I carry over 60' of tubular in precut lengths of different colors for slings, backup anchors, belay anchors, etc, plus a heavy duty anchor sling of flat webbing. We just toprope locally, and the people who sport climb or trad probably have more uses I don't know about.
I buy cheap flat webbing for making compression straps, too. Usually find that at Wal-Mart or outdoor stores, in either precut lengths with buckles or sliders, or just the plain webbing.

one reason i could see is that non- tubular webbing will stretch like crazy under weight. a lot more than 550 cord IME.

Tubular webbing is hollow(hence the name), and popular because it's inexpensive, light, and flexible. Solidly woven flat webbing is stronger, and more wear resistant.

Any good sources to pick some up?

Local stores that cater to climbers, or tack it on to an order from places like REI. I standardized on a couple of precut lengths in different colors so there's no confusion when they're stuffed in a pouch together.
Pretty much any gear store has name brand, load-rated tubular webbing, with the generic stuff often rated to Mil-Spec standards as high, or higher, than some of the name brands.

 

[River-8]

I standardized on a couple of precut lengths in different colors so there's no confusion when they're stuffed in a pouch together.

+1 on color-coding :thumbup:

In SAR most use the following color/lengths:

• Green = 5'
• Yellow = 12'
• Blue = 15'
• Red = 20'
• Black = 25'

Really helps make rigging easy!