What kind of material does everyone prefer for packs?
Nylon or Canvas?

I am looking at getting a Duluth pack and am not sure which material to get.

I prefer canvas as it is a natural fiber.

Hex

I have both types of packs and both have their advantages:

Canvas-durable, natural fiber which will smell like the wilderness after you use it. I also like the history behind the Duluth style cnavas pack. Usually outwears nylon.

Nylon/Cordura-Lighter, dries faster, usually is seen in packs with more suspension options such as padded straps and hip belts which tend to make them more comfortable to carry.

The type of trip I am taking will determine the pack I bring.

Solo-where I carry everything and I want to be efficent I bring my fully supported cordura pack, Large group trips where I need lots of storage and felxibility I bring the canvas.

I have a Granite Gear pack (nylon) that I'm sure will outlast me. I have a canvas Duluth style pack that I made probably 25 years ago. My son has A Granite Gear as well, but a couple years ago he bought a Duluth Canvas pack, leather and canvas. He prefers the Duluth. It has a sternum strap and hip belt like the Granite Gear. Both are fine packs. You can't make a wrong choice, but I must admit that I like the tradition of canvas and leather.

I'm bringing back an anceint thread to make my belated opinion heard. I like canvas. It should last forever. I got a canvas pack with a hip belt and shoulder pads. Has 2000 more ci than the granite gear supiror one. (Their biggest pack) Nylon won't dry out on the inside but canvas will. So it's also $15 cheaper for all that! Also canvas is more abrasion resistant. I have a 25 year old totally destroyed nylon pack. Compare it to my duluth packs of similar age the canvas leather looks like it was made yesterday. No question canvas.

I personally like canvas. Strength and durability is more important to me then weight. The Frost River packs are the bags that I like best and the best prices that I have found is at http://nwwoodsman.com.

I own both. I like both. I think the canvas photographs better and look cooler.

Frankly my purchases at the time were all based on price. All my packs were bought on sale.

The way I determine which I'm taking on a particular trip is its shape and size. For instance, on a solo canoe trip I reach for my Camptrails Canoe Pack (nylon ... or rather, Cordura) because it fits into the solo canoe better than a #3 envelope (Duluth) pack.

On a tandem trip, my #4 Duluth Pack (canvas) generally goes because we can fit all the bulky, lightweight personal gear into one pack and it fits well in my tandem canoe.

I expecy both my canvas and cordura packs will last my lifetime simply because they are used only a few times a year.

We have both GG and DP and, like Bannock, we use them diff or each trip. Now the debate is do we get a new GG #4 or a new DP #4. There is something old and woodsey about a canvas pack that new age tech will never match. Old canvas takes on a kind of "patina". Old leather straps that have been oiled up year after year get soft and worm fealing. Well I guess I just figured out what we are going to do. The other thing, if it matters, is that DP are still made in Duluth MN. GG used to be made in Two Harbors MN when they started and they all said made in the USA. That changed a few years back. Now their labels have been changed and do not say it anymore,asthey are now made over seas. My old GG packs seem to made with heavier cordura and the stuff sacks we have are made with heavier compression staps, just my observation. They still have a lifetime warranty, but I like the fact that Duluth is only 2 hrs away and we are helping out our local economy.

cedarboy

I have both and while I like Duluth packs and have owned several, I think my Superior one is more comfortable to portage. These days that means alot. Miss the tumpline though.

Yes I agree with mooseplums, I have become very accustomed to the tump lines on the DP. That is a real nice feature for me,that helps to tip the balance.

cedarboy