Off the wall question, why's it called ballistic?

Hardly off the wall! Anyone who has had a backback or knapsack is familiar with this stuff. It's a relatively heavy material for nylon, woven of course threads. This produces a high strengh and abrasion resistant fabric. I believe it was first developed for use in Vietnam era flak jackets. These jackets were designed to reduce shapnel injuries not to stop bullets. They were made of fiberglass plates that overlapped each other that provided the actual protection. The nylon provided support and enclosure for the plates. The jackets were heavy and the plates tended to abrade the enclosure, so a tough cloth had to be developed to withstand this abuse. The term "ballistic" probably derives from the quartermaster's first reaction the the price of the stuff.