The theory of mechanical breakdown in bundles of Class A‐2 fibers, whose strength depends on the speed of measurement, is used to find the conditions under which time‐dependence effects can be neglected in calculations of relationships between the strength of bundles and the strength of their constituent filaments. (The classical theories of the strength of bundles do not consider time dependence.) Tables and graphs are presented which give the ratio, &egr;A, of the strength of an infinite ideal bundle to the mean strength of its filaments as a function of the coefficient of variation, &sgr;1/E1{f*}, in the strength of the filaments. It is shown that, under certain limiting conditions, &egr;Afor an infinite bundle of Class A‐2 fibers is the same as it would be for an infinite bundle of classical fibers with an equal value of &sgr;1/E1{f*}, and a numerical investigation is made of the rapidity with which this limiting behavior is approached.