I’m sure there were good reasons that others have noted, but I find there is usually a good reason as well as a real reason for all human choices, and when it comes to nylon and WWII, it’s hard not to think of the DuPonts and their influence in the early military-industrial complex.

Who knows in what smoke-filled boardroom some wonk was instructed that “nylons will be part of procurement for survival kits, your job is to figure out why”? I speculate here, but it would be fully in character for them.