Materials

At North St. our choices matter, especially when it comes to selecting the best bag materials possible. We insist on quality, but we also consider origin and sustainability. As a brand committed to building gear that's guaranteed for life, we opt for the most durable, longest lasting, best textiles on the market. 

ECOPAK - Recycled Sailcloth

EcoPak is the first and only 100% recycled sailcloth of its kind. Made by Connecticut-based heritage manufacturers Challenge Sailcloth, EcoPak boasts the storm-weathering performance of virgin nylon cloth with a fraction of the CO2 emissions, energy efficient manufacturing, and are VOC free.

All of that in an eco friendly material that's still incredibly abrasion resistant, lightweight, and ripstop.

Here's the nitty-gritty on EcoPak:

• all woven components are made from 100% Repreve recycled polyester, primarily made from plastic bottles
• DWR coating is made with no fluorocarbons (proven bad for the environment, and banned in Europe)
• it's proprietary 'Challenge RUV' polyester film backing is 97% UV Resistant, and lasts about 4 times as long as the polyester film used in similar fabrics
• it reduces CO2 emissions by over 1lb per yard of fabric
• EcoPak is commercially recyclable after use

CORDURA® Nylon

CORDURA® is the best woven nylon available on the market. Its success over the years is similar to that of Kleenex® or Xerox®. When you build a product that is the clear industry leader, often your brand name becomes synonymous with the entire category of product, lumped together with the imitators and infringers. With so many copy-cats (legal or otherwise) on the market, many companies will use imitation nylon and simply call it CORDURA® without thinking twice. That's not us. 

Today, to use CORDURA® brand nylon in your products is truly a differentiator. We only source 1000 denier* CORDURA® for the outer shells of our bags. It's durable, rip and wear resistant, and it's even coated with a durable water repellant (DWR) finish making it fairly water resistant. This fabric is built to last and we are some its biggest fans. 

*What's a denier? 'Denier' is a unit of measure for the linear mass density of fibers. It's how fabric is measured and rated - the higher the number, the heavier the weave, and typically, the tougher the fabric.

LENZIP ZIPPERS

Manufactured just outside of Chicago, Illinois, Lenzip zippers are durable, smooth, and guaranteed. Their team manufactures over 1000 different types of zippers, from the small #5 coils that we use for our Pittock Pouches, up to the #10 water resistant zips encircling our Weekender line.