Water resistant fabrics

[isleofGough]

Seekoutside and Kifaru use ultra grid or ultras or ultra200 instead of Cordura on several of their backpacks to increase water resistance and reduce weight. How do these hold up to brambles and thorns? The PNW and Alaska rain a lot but also have lots of Himalayan blackberries, salmon berries, etc that shred clothing.

 

[RyanSeek43]

Ultra weave 200x which is what we use is about 4x more abrasion resistant than most of the 500d cordura out there. They measure abrasion resistance by basically rubbing the fabric with sand paper and the amount of cycles it survives is the rating it gets ( this is a very simplified version of how they do it..) Its actually pretty wild and here is a video

Ultra Weave 200 lasts for about 4400 cycles while most Cordura variations common in backpacks are around 700-1200.

UltraWeave™ — Challenge Outdoor

www.challenge-outdoor.com

Ultragrid 210 which is another one we use is rated to 1100 cycles. It should also be noted that ultragrid is less waterproof than ultra weave. Grids water resiliency is closer to that of lightweight tent fabrics and it can eventually wet out after consistent water exposure or if it is submerged. Ultra weave can almost be power washed with out letting water in.

In my personal experience, I have had my ultra weave pack for about 4 years now and probably use it close to like 60 days a year. There are no holes and I would feel confident enough to place my laptop inside of that and leave it out in a rainstorm without a care, especially with it being seam sealed.

My experience with ultra grid is more limited since we have really only been using it for two years. I did have an experience with a pro type pack where some of my clothing got wet after a few days of constant rain (funny enough it was in New Mexico of all places) but I think it was more due to some design things.

In my opinion I think Grid will work for most people. It is quieter than weave and a little lighter. Both options have better water resiliency (don't want to say water proof because a lot of that is based on design) than cordura and Weave is much more durable than 500d cordura.

 

[isleofGough]

That is very helpful. Thanks!