MATERIALS
ABOUT OUR MATERIALS.
We use the highest-quality materials we can find, and choose US-made whenever possible. Most of the fabrics you see in our products are made on American soil by Dimension Polyant and are part of their well-known X-Pac line. Our preferred RX-series fabrics are 100% recycled, and 100% US-made, including the raw materials the fabric is woven from!
We also use many other materials in various parts of our bags - ballistic nylon, various synthetic rubber textiles, various packcloths, and more. We choose each material for the demands of the role it must fulfill.
Depending on what color you choose when ordering, your gear will feature slightly different fabrics. All our materials have passed our stringent performance standards. There are minimal weight and performance differences between certain colors, but we suggest simply ordering whatever color you think looks best - because the differences are imperceptible in real world use.
REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE.
We select materials based on the mission that particular piece of gear must fulfill. For outdoor-use gear, that means we’re thinking about performance characteristics of the piece overall. We’re thinking about abrasion, weather conditions, and real-world conditions the gear will experience. Our gear has been used around the world and in every weather condition imaginable.
While no piece of gear is indestructible, we plan for heavy use. Our materials are very tough and feature wear patches and often-invisible reinforcements in key areas. We build using techniques that prolong gear life - we’re not in the business of planned obsolescence.
Most materials we use are waterproof. Because stitching textiles is the strongest way to build gear, and stitching creates seams, our outdoor gear is highly weather-resistant but not 100% waterproof. Under heavy rain events (or submersion), you may see some dampness enter bags through the seams. It’s easy to think that welded-PVC bags solve this problem, but the real-world reality is:
‘Waterproof’ doesn't mean no water enters your bags. Camping gear gets wet, and then goes into your bags - condensation-soaked shelters, sweaty clothing, rain gear after the storm has passed. In reality, regardless of what type of bags you use, you must always individually waterproof critical items. Instead of imagining the inside of your bags will stay 100% dry, the best approach is to use highly weather-resistant gear and then use simple plastic bags to keep your critical items individually protected.
Making a 100% waterproof bag means RF-welded construction using PVC tarp - which doesn’t work with the durable materials we choose for our gear. Additionally, welded seams aren’t as durable as sewn seams - no bag is waterproof once the seams bust open! Case in point: A leading American moto gear manufacturer makes both sewn and welded bags. Warranty on the sewn bags is 10 years; warranty on the welded is only 1 year. This is why we sew our gear.
The technology to RF-weld largely belongs to overseas manufacturers, and the bags we see from those factories are poorly made. We are committed to detailed, skilled domestic manufacturing.
