There is a lot of hype about lightweight packs at the moment. However, we believe many of the imported, super-light packs are not designed for the rigours of the Australian bush, and we have chosen to use only canvas fabrics in our range of rucksacks designed for bushwalking.

The Australian bush is very harsh on fabrics: the UV from our abundant sunlight is very harsh on nylon, while much walking involves lots of scrub, pack hauling, exposed rock and other abrasive fun. Grassy meadows above the tree line just aren’t that common in our harsh, brown land! Our lightweight rucksacks – the Shadow, Umbra and WBA – use the unique 200 gsm (grams a square metre) canvas, developed and made in Australia for our pack range.

The 200 gsm canvas is designed to have superior UV and water resistance, much like Waterloc canvas. However, it is about half the weight of its more durable sister, allowing it to compete with our nylon-obsessed European and American buddies. Although the 200 gsm canvas is not as tough as Waterloc canvas, it is much tougher than ultralight nylon and very reliable if used with care.