Duluth Bushcraft Pack (Quick Review)

[Don Rearic]

The $370.00 "base" price is just canvas with leather straps?

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Are there two of these threads?.... mods please merge..

Yes, there were 2 of these threads, which I have now merged. Posting a request for us to do so in the thread itself is a good way to get the request overlooked.

Use the Report Post button.

 

[Ramm9]

Use the Report Post button.

Did that yesterday but the button must be stuck...thank you Esav!

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I think I saw that yesterday but without links to the 2 threads.

 

[Ramm9]

The $370.00 "base" price is just canvas with leather straps?

Yeah, pretty reasonable deal for top of the line.

Look at this one. It's $2,700 and you can't even put a blanket and water bottle in it. Of course it is all leather.

 

[mkhop]

Yeah, pretty reasonable deal for top of the line.

Look at this one. It's $2,700 and you can't even put a blanket and water bottle in it. Of course it is all leather.

Got to be the sweetist possiables bag I every saw.

I really like the Duluth pack it looks real handy and should take rough use.

 

[Don Rearic]

Yeah, pretty reasonable deal for top of the line.

My intent is not to criticize the design or materials that make up the Duluth pack. I think the price is a bit too much for it but you have to understand something as I say that, I'm eyeing the Duluth Fire Hose Field Bag and for $64.50 + $11.95 for shipping for a bag that is roughly 7" W X 10.5 or 3/4" T and 5-something inches thick/deep...that's pretty pricey too when you consider that on THAT page it says, Imported.

I can understand when a company offers a top of the line product and they say part of the price is because they want to manufacture the stuff here in our country and employ Americans. So, if that Bushcraft(er) Pack is made here, I would say that's a high-dollar item considering we are talking about canvas and some leather...but not completely crazy. If they put it into production and they have someone overseas or in Mexico do it and want that much for it, I would say it was overpriced.

I will pay more if Americans are manufacturing the item.

I am probably going to get that field bag simply because I like it, but it is right there on the borderline of nuttiness when you consider it is "Imported."

That's just my opinion. I think the pack the OP posted is a great looking pack. Plus it might drive hardcore Ultralighters a bit fruity.

 

[bulgron]

My intent is not to criticize the design or materials that make up the Duluth pack. I think the price is a bit too much for it but you have to understand something as I say that, I'm eyeing the Duluth Fire Hose Field Bag and for $64.50 + $11.95 for shipping for a bag that is roughly 7" W X 10.5 or 3/4" T and 5-something inches thick/deep...that's pretty pricey too when you consider that on THAT page it says, Imported.

I think there's a difference between Duluth Pack and Duluth Trading Company.

 

[Don Rearic]

ASSUMPTION!

Even I, am guilty of it at times.

 

[Don Rearic]

That's cool. I went to the website after searching for it. Perhaps that is why Duluth Trading Co. moved to Wisconsin after being born in Duluth, Minnesota, confusion...

Anyways, all of the stuff Duluth Pack makes is made in the USA, which is incredibly attractive. I'm still a bit pickled about how a leather, and what looks to be a very high quality one as well, messenger/book bag could be $170.00 for one model and $210.00 for another yet canvas and a little bit of leather is up above the $300.00 range. I mean, basically what this boils down to is stitching and it's just a shame that you have to pay that much money for something so simple in design and materials...so it doesn't unravel on you, etc.

Looks like it will wear well and it is definitely a bit of old style Gucci Kit.

 

[Toucan Oasis]

The $370.00 "base" price is just canvas with leather straps?

I felt the same.
Get a Berghaus ruck and be done with it.
These guys sell anything with " bushcraft" in the name for any amount.
It's damn near ad bad as " tactical":jerkit:

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Sometimes it's hard to see what goes into a price. We argue over that with knives a lot, too, but with knives there's always the popularity thing to bump the price up. With Duluth PACK, they are their own competition in many of their classic styles and they do sell quality, sooo... in this case, you get what you pay for.

I have a lot of Duluth TRADING gear, including clothes. Very pleased. But you have to look at what you're buying, it is largely imported. They charge what they like and you only pay a fair price when it goes on sale. Which it will.

 

[Don Rearic]

I felt the same.

Get a Berghaus ruck and be done with it.

These guys sell anything with " bushcraft" in the name for any amount.

It's damn near ad bad as " tactical":jerkit:

I can see where it is getting like that in the whole "scene." Excellent marketing to people with a lot of disposable income...and, hey! There is nothing wrong with that either! But for canvas and a bit of leather...man, that one is hard to figure for me in the Pros and Cons columns. But, I'm not in the market for one. I do think they are great looking and probably tough as nails.

 

[Toucan Oasis]

I'll agree. To a point.Quality and reality are two different critters. Drop 50 lbs in it and lets hike my farm... in the rain.
I have a killer, albeit useless, grade5 Browning takedown 22 my uncle gave me in 1970.
oasis of the toucans... The Gear kIller.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Compare these two, not exactly the same. I can't find the "geologist's field bag" in leather, I don't know where I saw it, a lot like the Duluth.

A.G.Russell leather
http://www.russellsformen.com/full-grain-american-cowhide-laptop-backpack/p/KOR-Z1164BR/

Duluth Trading canvas and leather
http://www.duluthtrading.com/search...x?feature=product_1&kw=pack&processor=content

Leather isn't always better. Some is more decorative than tough.
Canvas isn't always cheap, especially heavy weight, treated for repellency.

 

[Ramm9]

They've been doing it for over 100 years so maybe there is something to it...I'll bet Bushcraft NW (hence the pack name) inquired if Duluth Pack would make the pack and Duluth Pack chose to distribute it also.

besides Carol, Renee, and Sue want the work...

[youtube]WmNI7k7IykY[/youtube]

 

[Don Rearic]

...besides Carol, Renee, and Sue want the work...

That's the best part of it all as far as I'm concerned. Making yet another assumption that the company takes care of their people.

 

[bulgron]

Anyways, all of the stuff Duluth Pack makes is made in the USA, which is incredibly attractive. I'm still a bit pickled about how a leather, and what looks to be a very high quality one as well, messenger/book bag could be $170.00 for one model and $210.00 for another yet canvas and a little bit of leather is up above the $300.00 range. I mean, basically what this boils down to is stitching and it's just a shame that you have to pay that much money for something so simple in design and materials...so it doesn't unravel on you, etc.

I can't speak to the actual models/price that you're looking at because you don't reference anything other than price. But I can tell you that almost anything you buy from Duluth Pack is probably worth the money.

First, this stuff is hand-made. It isn't mass-produced, and it isn't made in China. That just naturally drives the price up.

Second, this stuff will last for generations. I don't hike with Duluth Packs anymore, but when I was a kid growing up in Minnesota we used to use their packs on our canoe trips to the BWCA. That stuff was at least a generation old, probably older. You could throw it in the lake, drag it through the mud, leave it in the rain, let it roast in the sun, over stuff it, bang it up against trees and rocks and scrub, and it just didn't come apart. I only wished that my backpacks that I used for our trips to the Big Horns and Tetons were as solid.

So let me ask you: if you're going to buy a pack that you know will literally last for 30 or 40 years (or longer), versus a pack that will last for maybe a decade, does an extra 50 or 100 bucks really matter?

In fact, the only reason why I don't use a Duluth Pack for my day hikes is because they don't accept hydration bladders, and where I hike I need to carry lots of water and be able to get at it easily (I HATE taking off my pack just to get at water -- putting it back on again when you've been sweating is just so UNCOMFORTABLE). Back in the midwest where there's plenty of lakes and streams, this isn't so much of a problem so if I still was hiking there I'd probably be using Duluth Packs even now.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Don, to be honest, I don't like the looks of the Bushcraft pack enough to pay that much for it.

Look at their other models. The Timber Cruiser is one of their most popular, and for good reason. I've got their Hudson Bay for canoe camping, Timber Cruiser for camping for up to a week, and Wanderer for a day/summer weekend pack. They are all much less than the Bushcraft, but bombproof and worth it, IMO.

 

[Don Rearic]

First, this stuff is hand-made.

Andrew Dice Clay, once commenting on commenting on the price of a very expensive sweater...said the salesman, "Well, it's a handmade item."

Andrew Dice Clay, ever the Gent responded, "Well, yeah, I didn't think some guy knitted it with his dick."

SO...that only goes so far with me. What is a "handmade backpack?" They are using machines. They are not sitting there with an awl and I wouldn't want them to, either. It just illustrates that "handmade" in this case is not exactly on par with beating a piece of steel out on an avil.

It isn't mass-produced...

Now THAT is important!

...and it isn't made in China.

That's important, to a degree as well. The Chinese are capable of making excellent gear as long as you demand it of them. Wal-Mart does not demand and that's why almost everything you buy from Wal-Mart is junk now.

That just naturally drives the price up.

Yes, but, slowly, things made in China are now going for much higher prices than ten years ago because of predatory business practices killing off competition. The classic "Mom and Pop" stores couldn't compete with the buying power of a Wal-Mart. Once they killed their competition, all of the "Proudly Made in The USA" smiley face signs mysteriously were binned forever. The quality went down and the prices went up higher than they ever were.

Second, this stuff will last for generations. I don't hike with Duluth Packs anymore, but when I was a kid growing up in Minnesota we used to use their packs on our canoe trips to the BWCA. That stuff was at least a generation old, probably older. You could throw it in the lake, drag it through the mud, leave it in the rain, let it roast in the sun, over stuff it, bang it up against trees and rocks and scrub, and it just didn't come apart. I only wished that my backpacks that I used for our trips to the Big Horns and Tetons were as solid...

So let me ask you: if you're going to buy a pack that you know will literally last for 30 or 40 years (or longer), versus a pack that will last for maybe a decade, does an extra 50 or 100 bucks really matter?

I had Vietnam era ALICE packs that served just as well. In answer to your question, yeah, that would matter except I don't have to pay that extra amount of money to get something that is basically a boulder-on-the-shoulders - ALICE will go forever as well. $25.00

All of that having been said, I really like the look of them but prefer lighter stuff that's still rather rugged. I have been through some external frame packs in the 80s and 90s and I eat them alive. I keep going back to "rucks."

The Duluth Pack is a "ruck." But she is mighty expensive. Nice though!