Materials

Materials are the physical inputs that Techies use to build, tune, and repair Gear. Every item produced in District 3 starts with materials. Every repair bill is partly a materials bill. They are traded, salvaged, ordered, and sometimes stolen.

Sourcing

• Werkbund: The most reliable source in the city. Every material that moves through District 3's registered economy passes through their catalogue. Stock is consistent, provenance is documented, and prices are fair rather than cheap. The Werkbund catalogue is public and updated weekly.
• Tech Market vendors: Standard stock for common materials. Good for bulk orders of steels, basic hardware, and standard textiles. Rarely surprises you in either direction.
• Milia Renne's Salvage Yard: Variable quality, lower cost. Regulars get first look at new arrivals. Strangers get whatever is left. Worth checking if you know what you are looking at and can assess the condition yourself.
• The Scrap Exchange: Off-catalogue materials of unclear origin. Cheaper than anywhere else. No provenance documentation. Common choice in District 5 for players who would rather not have their purchase logged.
• District 5 channels: Materials that do not appear in any Werkbund catalogue. Some are genuine finds from deep excavation. Others arrived in the Underpass by other means. Useful for specific builds. Not recommended for anyone who needs consistent quality across a batch.

Metals

The backbone of most weapon and armor builds. Steels cover the majority of structural applications: cold-rolled sheet for panels and housings, mild rod for framing and fittings, high-carbon wire for springs and cable cores, stainless tube for barrels and pressure components, hardened tool steel for cutting edges and high-wear parts. Spring steel strip appears in anything that needs flex and return.

Specialty metals enter the picture at Orange tier and above. Titanium alloy for weight reduction without structural compromise. Aluminum in extrusions and honeycomb sheets for lightweight armor and mobility gear. Copper and brass for electrical components and finishing. Tungsten carbide inserts for hardened strike surfaces.

Polymers and Composites

Polycarbonate sheet for visors and transparent panels. ABS and HDPE block for grip housings and structural parts that benefit from some flex. Neoprene and silicone sheeting for seals, padding, and flexible components. EVA foam for impact liners.

Carbon fiber sheet sits at the expensive end of this category and shows up primarily in Orange-tier builds where weight and stiffness both matter. Fiberglass sheet is the accessible alternative. Kevlar weave and Dyneema fiber are used in soft armor inserts and flexible load-bearing components. Ballistic nylon appears in gear harnesses, bags, and anything that needs abrasion resistance without rigidity.

Textiles and Leathers

Leather in several grades covers holsters, grips, straps, and armor panels that benefit from formed fit. Full-grain hide for structural applications, suede and softer panels for lining and comfort layers.

Fabric stock includes heavy canvas for bags and basic pouches, ripstop and Cordura for anything that takes repeated wear, Nomex for builds involving heat exposure, and softshell laminates for weather-resistant outer layers. Grip tape, compression knit, and woven elastic handle the smaller fitting and comfort elements. Conductive fabric shows up in builds that interface with electronic components.

Electronics and Electrical

Electronic components occupy a narrow band of the market. Most Green-tier builds do not require them. Orange-tier builds that include targeting, scanning, communication, or smart-trigger systems do.

Core components include microcontroller units, FPGA chips, signal processor chips, Hall effect sensors, inertial measurement units, and servo and brushless DC motors. Power comes from lithium-ion cells and supercapacitor modules. Everything connects through shielded signal cable, fiber optic cable for high-bandwidth applications, and standard insulated copper wiring for the rest. Bare copper PCB sheet and FR4 fiberglass PCB blanks are used by Techies who build their own circuit boards rather than buying pre-assembled units.

Iris keeps a well-documented personal stock of movement-relevant electronics. Players commissioning mobility gear from her can generally expect her to source appropriate components herself.

Hardware and Fasteners

The category that holds everything together, often literally. Rivet sets, bolt and nut assortments, self-tapping screws, and threaded inserts for assembly. Bearing sets, compression and torsion springs, and hinge assemblies for mechanical components. Ball joints, universal joints, and pivot pin sets for articulated systems. Pneumatic cylinders and hydraulic dampers for builds requiring controlled force output.

Adhesives: two-part structural epoxy for permanent bonds, cyanoacrylate for fast fixes, anaerobic thread locker for fastener retention, polyurethane adhesive for flexible joints. Surface finishing uses Cerakote ceramic compound for hard wear-resistant coatings, epoxy primer as a base layer, and lithium or bearing grease for moving parts.

Optical and Specialty Materials

Tempered glass and anti-reflective coated glass for optics and visors. Polycarbonate visor blanks for helmets. Objective lens assemblies and prism blocks for scope builds. LED and laser diode modules for targeting systems. Night vision image intensifier tubes and thermal imaging cores are restricted and require either a Werkbund permit or a contact in District 5.

Salvage and Reclaimed Stock

Salvaged materials are cheaper and less consistent than new stock. Standard salvage includes reclaimed steel plate, stripped copper wiring, recovered circuit boards, desoldered component lots, reconditioned bearings, extracted lens elements, and stripped grip frames. Quality varies significantly depending on origin and handling.

Milia Renne's Salvage Yard in District 3 is the primary legitimate source. The Scrap Exchange handles materials of less certain origin. Scrapper's Row stocks salvaged equivalents of most common materials at lower prices with less consistent sizing and purity. For a patient buyer who knows how to assess stock before committing, salvage is a viable way to reduce build costs without sacrificing the finished result.