Adding Rain Hole to DCF Hipbelt Pouch

Just stick 1 inch diameter round DCF patches on each side of the material to give you more layers. Then with pliers heat up a nail over a flame (whichever diameter you want) and push through materials right after it cools enough to not to be visibly red/orange (don’t want it too hot). I did it on my fastpacks and belt pouches so I don’t have to worry about rain pooling up in the bottoms and soaking the contents. Same process works with nylon or Ultra.

yes this will work. i’ve used a normal punch to put holes in DCF. make sure your punch is sharp. it’s much harder to punch DCF than, say, leather. and woven UHMWPE like Ultra or Venom is *very* hard to punch; i’ve though about experimenting with a hot knife but haven’t tried that yet.

for light duty, no reinforcement is necessary (the UHMWPE strands are highly tear resistant). for medium to heavy duty, simply reinforce the inside with some DCF tape. for a grommet i would definitely reinforce, since the grommet needs some “tooth” to grab.

although i woudl think twice about putting holes in things that are meant to be waterproof/resistant. i put a grommet at the bottom of a pack once, thinking it would do precisely what you mention (let water drain), and in fact my gear got *more* wet in rain, since capillary action  drew water *up* into the pack.. not fun. i ended up ripping the grommet out and resealing the hole. not trying to dissuade you, just fyi.. (okay i see you say “cinch closures” so maybe these aren’t even mean to be waterproof in the first place.)