Our Materials

One Planet rucksacks are made in Melbourne and are a concrete example of our philosophy: ‘Make it good. Make it work. Make it last’. Our range is constructed from the best materials available, ensuring that every product provides long-lasting comfort and performance. This video gives a good overview of our materials and construction methods, and a sneak peek at our factory.

Waterloc canvas

Waterloc_canvasWe use Waterloc canvas across most of our range of rucksacks. The durable, water-resistant fabric was developed in Australia specifically for use in One Planet rucksacks, and is made in NSW.

It is woven from yarn that has a polyester core wrapped in cotton. To put it simply, the polyester core gives the fabric strength, while the cotton expands when moist, filling any microscopic holes and providing superior waterproofing. (The cotton is also enhanced with waterproofing agents.) This tightly woven fabric is impregnated with rot inhibitors and waterproofing agents to ensure waterproofness and longevity.

Canvas comes in two different yarn constructions, ‘core-spun’ and ‘blended’. Waterloc canvas is a core-spun yarn that weighs approximately 390 grams a square metre, but has much greater strength than canvas of the same weight that is a blend of polyester and cotton.

Waterloc canvas has a grid pattern that increases the overall fabric strength while maintaining a smooth surface profile. This smooth profile is very important for rucksack fabric, as most pack wear occurs through abrasion. If there are raised threads, they will be the first fibres to be clobbered, creating premature wear or the beginning of something far worse. (In contrast, most grid or ripstop fabrics have a raised profile as another thread is run through both the weft and warp – the horizontal and vertical threads – creating a slightly stronger weave. This is great for tents, but not a durable choice for rucksacks.)

The fabric also has a light grey underside. This makes our pack interiors lighter and brighter, so it is easier to see what’s lurking down the bottom.

Canvas binding

A rucksack’s seams are a potential entry point for water: even if the pack fabric is waterproof, if the seams leak, the contents of your rucksack will get wet. Although many canvas packs are made from waterproof material, most manufacturers use a light nylon binding tape. These tapes are usually dyed using wetting agents so dyes can penetrate deep into the binding. Leftover wetting agents can create a capillary action, wicking water through the seams and into your pack.

bindingIn 1992, One Planet (then Aiking) developed a process for appying the waterproof qualities of Waterloc fabric to the construction of our rucksacks. All the main internal seams of our canvas-bound packs are bound with a four-fold, eight-ounce canvas binding.

Conditioning your canvas pack will shrink and tighten the canvas and seams, improving waterproofness.

Conditioning

Before using a canvas One Planet pack, the fabric will need to be conditioned. This entails thoroughly wetting the fabric and allowing it to dry, then repeating the process. This allows the canvas to contract around the stitches in the binding, filling any microscopic holes and increasing the pack’s waterproofness.

This will happen naturally the first few times the pack gets wet; small amounts of water may even leak into your rucksack the first few times it gets soaked. To speed up the process, soak the pack in a bath of water and dry it in the sun. Repeat a few times to optimise waterproofness.

Lightweight packs: 500 denier nylon

overshadow

We use 500-denier Cordura® nylon for the body of our lightweight packs. This fabric is lightweight but maintains exceptional resistance to abrasion, tears and punctures. The pack cloth is triple coated with a three-pass process to make it soft but tough. It also gives good water resistance and excellent yarn stability within the fabric. High wear areas of the packs are reinforced with 1000-denier nylon, a thicker version of the same cloth.

1000 denier nylon

ShadowOne Planet rucksacks use 1000-denier Cordura® nylon for its high strength and durability. It provides an extra layer of reinforcing over the base of our canvas packs. This fabric is triple coated with a three-pass process to make it soft but tough. It also gives good water resistance and excellent yarn stability within the fabric.