First, an apology: although I am not a technophobe, my current knowledge of computers and their apparently limitless capabilities is limited; so limited, in fact, that I cannot, as yet, boast of any pictures of the pack in use. I'll struggle on and see if I can't get some attached as soon as...
To the product itself. People are generally familiar with Duluth as the manufacturers of beautifully made canvas goods with a particular leaning to canoing. Mike Lummio, the founder and boss of Bushcraft Northwest, has managed to persuade Duluth to make a Bushcrafter pack. At last: a sack that is designed to carry the things that we use when we go off to play in the woods that isn't primarily for combat or ultralight backpacking or climbing.
Initial impressions of the pack, along with Mike's video of how best to pack it on YouTube, were entirely favourable. The pack is beautifully made and obviously designed to last. The two long pockets on the front are conveniently sized to take anything from a tarp to Sigg/Nalgen bottles, the axe sleeve works well with an SFA (but less well with my preferred Swedish Carving axe) and the spaces behind the front pockets are similarly useful for pretty nuch anything, be it saw, knife, bit of rolled neoprene as a seat - whatever. The main compartment is generously sized, giving you plenty of room for gear for overnight trips to stays of four or five days. if you pack it carefully. There is a leather drawstring around the top and no storm collar. The lid has a zipped pocket on the underside and, on the outside, two D-rings for attaching any further gear you might need. There is no 'back system' per se - this is, after all, a pack that spends more time looking to the past for inspiration than to the present or future.
All the closure straps are leather with roller buckles; the shoulder straps - a luxurious mix of leather and canvas are similarly made. There is a removable hip belt that, while not being extravagantly padded was simple, serviceable and functional. There has been much hoo-haa about the three black nylon compression straps and quick release buckles on the Kit Chatter forum. Having thought that it was a rather daft thing to get het up about, I can now see that there is something to the complaint: the straps and buckles do not fit in with the rest of a very carefully thought out pack. Kifaru, another manufacturer whose gear I admire, manage to source coloured buckles and webbing; it is a pity that Duluth didn't seek out something similar. The black webbing feels rather thin and cheap, too - another slight gripe.
When ordering the pack, you do have the option of a wax coating to improve its weather resistance. Since I shove most of my bits and bobs into Exped drybags anyway, I opted to go for the 'dry' version.
I used the pack up in the Lake District recently on both hills and down in the valleys. On day walks with just waterproofs, water, some food, a few essentials and a map to carry, the pack was comfortable enough, hugging the curve and contour of my back well but carrying the load low - and this with the compression straps done up tight. When loaded up with overnight kit, the pack comes into its own. The process of putting your Thermarest or Karrimat in the pack, pushing it out to the sides and then loading you gear into the resulting hole is good and has been practised by Outward Bound for years. I would say that it is easier to do this with a Thermarest than a closed cell foam mat because there is a little more 'give' in a Thermarest. That said, the closed cell foam option does give you more of a 'frame' effect. Maybe the ideal would be one of the 'eggbox' type mats folded up the back, leaving you the rest of the pack in a slightly floppier but more easily packable state.
During my stay, I used a closed cell foam mat and was able to carry the loads comfortably. However, when the pack was full, it was quite difficult to pull in the top drawstring and cover the main compartment with the lid. After a certain amount of gruffing and grunting, I did manage it but it prompted me to think about changing the leather thong around the pack's top for some paracord.
When fully loaded and adjusted, the pack carried well. It wasn't so tall that when I looked up, my head was blocked by a bulging top pocket; it wasn't enormously wide but it did go back quite a long way when the two pockets were filled.
Any real gripes? I would have liked the tape on the compression straps to be of a higher quality, a little longer and ideally the same colour as the pack. I would like to see a couple of wand pockets on the sides at the bottom with drainage holes for any number of things that I might like to take with me, even (Heaven forfend!) tent poles. The roller buckles will take me a little while to get used to. The lid pocket I did find rather annoying because, having been brought up with keeping quite a few bits and pieces that you might want to have easy access to in the top pocket of the rucksack, this was neither easy nor capacious nor accessible.
My main question is this: what is this pack for? It is beautifully made in thick, hardwearing canvas and will, no doubt, outlast me by a good long time but the materials make this a heavy pack, even when empty. The leather is charming and will weather and become more friendly with age but you do not have the same adjustability as you do with nylon and q.r. buckles. Is this delightfully retro piece of kit just that and nothing more? Or is there more to its surface delights? I am sure that I will use it for overnight exploits when I want to give off the aura of a REAL bushcrafter but as soon as the trip becomes very much longer, I'll be packing my Berghaus Cyclops safe in the knowledge that it's light, strong, supportive, comfortable and will carry everything I need and want to carry - AND I can have access to the stuff in the top pocket easily.
I would say that you have to think carefully about this one. It sort of looks and feels authentic but, hard-nosed professional that I am, the out-and-out practicality of it is rather lacking. It looks and feels beautiful and is beautifully made and thoughtfully designed but the nagging doubt that keeps on bubbling up through all the confused emotions about this pack is its practicality. Modern packs made from petrochemicals are generally not attractive but they do their jobs brilliantly - if briefly; this one will keep doing the same job OK for year after year and if that's what you want, then go for it - you won't be disappointed AND you'll look the part. But then, perhaps this will just grow on me as the years unfold. Time will tell.
To the product itself. People are generally familiar with Duluth as the manufacturers of beautifully made canvas goods with a particular leaning to canoing. Mike Lummio, the founder and boss of Bushcraft Northwest, has managed to persuade Duluth to make a Bushcrafter pack. At last: a sack that is designed to carry the things that we use when we go off to play in the woods that isn't primarily for combat or ultralight backpacking or climbing.
Initial impressions of the pack, along with Mike's video of how best to pack it on YouTube, were entirely favourable. The pack is beautifully made and obviously designed to last. The two long pockets on the front are conveniently sized to take anything from a tarp to Sigg/Nalgen bottles, the axe sleeve works well with an SFA (but less well with my preferred Swedish Carving axe) and the spaces behind the front pockets are similarly useful for pretty nuch anything, be it saw, knife, bit of rolled neoprene as a seat - whatever. The main compartment is generously sized, giving you plenty of room for gear for overnight trips to stays of four or five days. if you pack it carefully. There is a leather drawstring around the top and no storm collar. The lid has a zipped pocket on the underside and, on the outside, two D-rings for attaching any further gear you might need. There is no 'back system' per se - this is, after all, a pack that spends more time looking to the past for inspiration than to the present or future.
All the closure straps are leather with roller buckles; the shoulder straps - a luxurious mix of leather and canvas are similarly made. There is a removable hip belt that, while not being extravagantly padded was simple, serviceable and functional. There has been much hoo-haa about the three black nylon compression straps and quick release buckles on the Kit Chatter forum. Having thought that it was a rather daft thing to get het up about, I can now see that there is something to the complaint: the straps and buckles do not fit in with the rest of a very carefully thought out pack. Kifaru, another manufacturer whose gear I admire, manage to source coloured buckles and webbing; it is a pity that Duluth didn't seek out something similar. The black webbing feels rather thin and cheap, too - another slight gripe.
When ordering the pack, you do have the option of a wax coating to improve its weather resistance. Since I shove most of my bits and bobs into Exped drybags anyway, I opted to go for the 'dry' version.
I used the pack up in the Lake District recently on both hills and down in the valleys. On day walks with just waterproofs, water, some food, a few essentials and a map to carry, the pack was comfortable enough, hugging the curve and contour of my back well but carrying the load low - and this with the compression straps done up tight. When loaded up with overnight kit, the pack comes into its own. The process of putting your Thermarest or Karrimat in the pack, pushing it out to the sides and then loading you gear into the resulting hole is good and has been practised by Outward Bound for years. I would say that it is easier to do this with a Thermarest than a closed cell foam mat because there is a little more 'give' in a Thermarest. That said, the closed cell foam option does give you more of a 'frame' effect. Maybe the ideal would be one of the 'eggbox' type mats folded up the back, leaving you the rest of the pack in a slightly floppier but more easily packable state.
During my stay, I used a closed cell foam mat and was able to carry the loads comfortably. However, when the pack was full, it was quite difficult to pull in the top drawstring and cover the main compartment with the lid. After a certain amount of gruffing and grunting, I did manage it but it prompted me to think about changing the leather thong around the pack's top for some paracord.
When fully loaded and adjusted, the pack carried well. It wasn't so tall that when I looked up, my head was blocked by a bulging top pocket; it wasn't enormously wide but it did go back quite a long way when the two pockets were filled.
Any real gripes? I would have liked the tape on the compression straps to be of a higher quality, a little longer and ideally the same colour as the pack. I would like to see a couple of wand pockets on the sides at the bottom with drainage holes for any number of things that I might like to take with me, even (Heaven forfend!) tent poles. The roller buckles will take me a little while to get used to. The lid pocket I did find rather annoying because, having been brought up with keeping quite a few bits and pieces that you might want to have easy access to in the top pocket of the rucksack, this was neither easy nor capacious nor accessible.
My main question is this: what is this pack for? It is beautifully made in thick, hardwearing canvas and will, no doubt, outlast me by a good long time but the materials make this a heavy pack, even when empty. The leather is charming and will weather and become more friendly with age but you do not have the same adjustability as you do with nylon and q.r. buckles. Is this delightfully retro piece of kit just that and nothing more? Or is there more to its surface delights? I am sure that I will use it for overnight exploits when I want to give off the aura of a REAL bushcrafter but as soon as the trip becomes very much longer, I'll be packing my Berghaus Cyclops safe in the knowledge that it's light, strong, supportive, comfortable and will carry everything I need and want to carry - AND I can have access to the stuff in the top pocket easily.
I would say that you have to think carefully about this one. It sort of looks and feels authentic but, hard-nosed professional that I am, the out-and-out practicality of it is rather lacking. It looks and feels beautiful and is beautifully made and thoughtfully designed but the nagging doubt that keeps on bubbling up through all the confused emotions about this pack is its practicality. Modern packs made from petrochemicals are generally not attractive but they do their jobs brilliantly - if briefly; this one will keep doing the same job OK for year after year and if that's what you want, then go for it - you won't be disappointed AND you'll look the part. But then, perhaps this will just grow on me as the years unfold. Time will tell.
