Dyeing a backpack

[Andy F]

I want to dye the main body of a new Gossamer Gear Gorilla pack dark green. It's gray and 210 denier, urethane-coated, double wall ripstop nylon. There are other fabrics like silnylon on the pack, but I'm ignoring them and assuming they won't dye.

I'm planning to use Rit liquid dye. Will this work? Any gotchas or tips? Do I need to wash the pack a few times to remove any DWR coating?

[t.darrah]

I have dyed multiple packs including a gg Gorilla.

My attempt was to dye the Gorilla black. I used Rit dye (3 boxes)and followed the instructions provided. I used a clean garbage can to complete the project.

The pack turned out a very dark purple. I posted pictures on BPL that you can find with a little looking.

[Ken Thompson]

I did my ULA Circuit and plan to do my new Ohm. I used liquid Rit dye. Super hot water, 2 gallons boiling and one gallon simmering hot. 3 gallons and 1 full bottle of liquid dye. No need to wash first if pack is new or clean. Stir a lot to maximize coverage and let it go for the full half hour. I used a 5 gallon bucket wrapped with a canvas drop cloth to retain heat and a lid. I would stir every 3 minutes. Went from this to this
I gonna do the Ohm this afternoon.

[Dave T]

Ken, I like that pack a LOT better black(ish).

Any bad experiences with shoulder straps or other points of contact bleeding out dye into hot, sweaty hiking shirts?

[Ken Thompson]

No transfer of dye. I should have included the fact that I put it in my front loader washing machine with detergent, warm water wash after dyeing. Drip dry.

[EndoftheTrail]

"Ken, I like that pack a LOT better black(ish)."

+1. Never liked that green color…

[Ken Thompson]

There is some funky colored gear out there. We can fix a lot of that with dye. The Ohm is in the washer now. It's black. Never liked that blue of GG packs either, but silnylon is a problem. Even the compression cords and that yellow webbing on the Ohm took the dye as well.

[Eugene Smith]

Post some pics Ken once it's finished drying! What would've looked killer would be an all black Ohm with the yellow compression cords, but black(ish)is cool too.

[Ken Thompson]

Here you go

[Boozer]

+1 on ULA pack looking better black.

I had great luck dying a ULA Amp. Liquid RIT + plus additional hot water by way of the stove. I dyed mine in a top loader by simply following the directions on the RIT bottle.

[David Ure]

@ Ken – WOW! Looks great.

[Jay Wilkerson]

That does look nice Ken-reminds me of Pin-Stripes. I will give that a go on my Ark. Backpacking with some style!

-Jay

[Ken Thompson]

Thanks for the compliments. I am very happy with the way it turned out. The stock color was just too bright for me, and the yellow webbing on the hipbelt, well…it's gone. Are we going to see more dye jobs on the trail? Will manufacturers take note?

[t.darrah]

I love the change of color, black makes everything look better.

[Dave T]

Is it possible to +1 myself? I am totally feeling the black. I always disliked the ULA Green. Those packs look great! Nice work.

[Eugene Smith]

Awesome Ken, I like it. Dark Green, Navy Blue and Pearl Gray are 3 other Rit colors I'd like to see used in a dye job. If this keeps up I bet we'll start seeing packs with painted buckles, permed compression straps and highlights :) I bet the Pearl Gray would look excellent on a pack however I think Rit only offers this color choice in powder form.

[Ken Thompson]

Eugene. You could use all three. Tie dye!

[Ryan Longmire]

Has anyone tried this with a Granite Gear pack before? How did the dye take?

[Eugene Smith]

A member dyed a baby blue Vapor Trail with moderate success, I think some dye bled out of the cush vapor trail belt and backpad. Click the link below and the dyeing results are about 1/4 of the way down the thread. After a shakedown test he found the dye ran out of the padding onto his pants and shirt so it appears with the Granite Gear shoulder straps, hipbelts and backpanel that you need to THROROUGHLY wash and rinse rinse rinse.

Dyeing a Vapor Trail

[Ryan Longmire]

Thanks! I might try this on a Virga to tone down the lime-green pieces.

[Paul Wozniak]

Those dyed packs look great!

Hopefully not too far off topic but..I have a Marmot windshirt (Ion? 3.5oz). Nasty orange but I like the weight, features and performance.

Is the windshirt likely to take a dye? If so, how might it affect the dwr performance?

Facts, opinions and down-right BS are appreciated.

Paul

[Ryan Smith]

I dyed my ULA Ohm a few days ago too. Was a little afraid that I would screw it up and ruin my new pack, but it turned out fantastic. Super simple. Would recommend it to anyone intelligent enough to follow the directions.

Ryan

[Eugene Smith]

Hey Ryan,

So what color did you dye your ULA Ohm pack? Please share and post some pics!

[Andy F]

Great looking packs! And, thanks for the tips!

[Kimberly Wersal]

Okay, I have to say, the black IS handsome…. but I can't imagine having a black pack (any more than I would want a black car, and for the same reason)– too hot! (It would melt my dark chocolate, for one thing). I have a Conduit, and the green is plenty dark as it is. That's one thing I miss about my light tan/bronze MS Ghost. The SW sun is HOT and that black sure knows how to suck it up.

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