Duluth Pack Canvas Backpack (Green)

Duluth, Minnesota, was built by scrappy frontiersmen, but by the turn of the century, the village had grown into a city that had more millionaires per capita than any other in America. Frontier survival skills – spending nights in the wild or identifying poison mushrooms – became the leisure activities of the next generation. 

Duluth Pack, born in 1882 from the rough-and-tumble Northwoods ethos, took the new camping craze in stride, shifting their canvas and leather goods from packs that carried all the things you needed to keep from dying in the wild, to packs that helped you take the field notebooks and binoculars you wanted for a day in the great outdoors.
 
This backpack is made with the same heavy duty 15 ounce canvas, Midwestern leather and brass rivets as the original frontier packs. They will also last for decades, but are designed to be more compact for a lighter load.
 
The backpack is available in black canvas and black leather with nickel buckles exclusively from Kaufmann Mercantile. Also available in classic olive green with brown leather and nickel buckles. The packs in the Kaufmann Mercantile store are two inches larger in length and width than the standard Duluth Scout Pack, and a webbed cotton handle is sewn into the top. The moosehead logo is hidden beneath the flap.

The Duluth pack is made to survive rugged everyday use, so there’s no need to be gentle. The leather and canvas will soften naturally with age. Canvas repels water, but it is not water-resistant. If the pack gets thoroughly soaked, be sure to dry it out completely. If needed, the canvas can be cleaned with mild detergent and water.  Rub a bit of leather conditioner into the straps once a year.
 
Clasps, leather straps, seams, zippers and rivets are repaired for free under Duluth Pack’s lifetime guarantee on craftsmanship. Normal wear and tear is fixed for a small fee. If something breaks or gets worn down, mail the pack to Duluth and they will let you know if the damage can be repaired under warranty. Duluth Pack still receives items for repair that are upwards of 50 and 60 years old. 

Duluth packs are made entirely by hand in Duluth, Minnesota, in the same factory since 1911 by a team of artisan cutters, sewers are riveters. Each piece of canvas is inspected for flaws before being hand-cut. The canvas is then assembled by sewers who sign each bag they make. Rivets are hand-pounded or placed using a 100-year-old riveting machine. The packs are checked at each stage by the specialized craftsman, then re-inspected by quality control before shipping.
 
This backpack is made with components that have withstood the test of time – packs made with these materials have lasted 128 years and counting. The leather and hardware are sourced from the Midwest, rivets are made in Duluth. The canvas is dyed in North Carolina and, depending on the distributor, is sourced either from within the state or from India.

Canvas Fabric, Kaufmann Mercantile Blog
Traveling in Style Once Meant Auto-Camping, Pantagraph
From Chamonix to Islamabad, a Road Trip, NYRB Blog
Autobiography of Camille Poirier, Sheldon Aubut’s Duluth History

Please email support@kaufmann-mercantile.com.  We reply to every email promptly. Or call us at 347 529 5122.

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