Spec

Every bag I make uses the same small set of materials. I chose them deliberately, and I don't swap them out to save money. This page is the full spec. What everything is, and why it's there.

THE SHELL.

Ecopak EPX200. A recycled polyester laminate with an X-ply grid. The fabric itself is waterproof. The seams are sewn, not sealed. That means weather runs off it, but it's not a dry bag, and I won't tell you it is.

Polyester matters here. It doesn't stretch under load, doesn't absorb water, and doesn't break down in sunlight. Nylon packs sag when they're wet and fade on the roof rack. This doesn't.

REINFORCEMENT.

1000-denier Cordura at the wear points. Bases, corners, anywhere the ground gets a say. Cordura is nylon, which makes it the one exception to my polyester rule. Nothing resists abrasion like it, so it goes where the abrasion happens, and nowhere else.

THE LINER.

HyperD ripstop polyester, in bright colours. A light liner means you can find what you're after in the bottom of a bag. Small thing. You'll notice it at 2am.

ZIPS.

YKK #10 AquaGuard. Water-resistant, and oversized. The zip is usually the first thing to die on a bag, so I fit the biggest one that makes sense and it outlives the argument.

WEBBING.

Polyester throughout. Low stretch, low water absorption, stable in UV. Matched to hardware that actually bites it, because smooth webbing in the wrong buckle slips, and slipping straps are how gear gets lost.

HARDWARE.

ITW. Acetal for organisation and closures. Metal at every true load point. Cold weather kills plastic buckles, so anything built for winter gets metal, full stop.

CONSTRUCTION.

Panels are laser-cut, which seals every edge in the cut. Load-bearing seams are sewn twice. A structural row first, then the allowance folded and topstitched down. Two separate lines of stitching, and no binding tape hiding anything.

Tex 105 bonded polyester thread. Heavier than most production gear is sewn with. Bar-tacks at the stress points, built on an industrial walking-foot machine, one bag at a time.

Made in New Zealand by one person. If something fails because I got it wrong, I fix it. See Warranty & Repairs.

COLOURWAYS.

Everything I make is neon. That's deliberate.

I spent years in search and rescue. Bright gear gets found. In the bottom of a pack, on a ledge at dusk, on a deck in a swell. High-vis is the first and last thing to be seen in bad weather and hostile environments.

One hero colour, purple accents, black underneath:
Firestorm. Neon orange.
Supernova. Neon pink.
Thunderstrike. Neon yellow.