Dyeing a backpack

Major improvement Konrad!

Ready for the stealth recon mission. Sneaking up on Moose.

Vader Ki…i like that–almost as much as I enjoy moose tipping in the winter. This combined with my RealTree Camo should make for a successful season.

I picked up a a older light blue Golite Pinnacle from Nomad Ventures pretty cheap on clearance.
I have a few questions for the you that dyed your pack it been trough a Fall and part of winter how's the dye job holding up? Did it effect the DWR finish? did it bleed trough in the rain or snow?

I want to dye mine coyote brown I noticed most of you have dyed yours black. Did any of you dye your packs lighter colors and have the color of the light blue pack cloth effect the color of the dye job and come out in a unexpected color? TIA for answering the questions.
Terry

Terry,

Nylon dyes very easily, so dyeing your light blue to a dark brown should be easy. I think your results will be positive… not a vomitous bile color when done :). My ULA Ohm was a 'lightish' green, which was then dyed black, it hasn't bled through onto any clothing from rain or sweat as far as I can tell. My MLD Burn pack which was originally a gray dyneema color is now a deep navy blue, haven't used this pack since summer before it was dyed so I cannot tell how the color will hold up but I'm not worried. I didn't notice any difference to the DWR properties or hand of the fabric after dyeing both packs. The biggest thing you have to do is rinse until your sick of rinsing, after 30 minutes of rinsing you'll think you removed all spent dye from the pack… only to then rinse again and find the water tinted. I added a mild detergent to my rinse water which seemed to help remove more spent dye than water alone, also helped reveal how much unused dye was floating around in the pack materials, particularly the shoulder straps and hipbelt. As far as knowing how two different colors will look when combined, I'd recommend finding a swatch of dyneema and testing it out first before dyeing your Pinnacle, or you can do what I did and just hope for the best. Worst case scenario you just dye it a darker color if you don't like it.

Tips:

– Use the liquid RIT in a bottle (easy and good results)

– Presoak your pack in hot water so it's saturated from the start and takes the dye evenly once you place it in the dye.

– Hotter the dye water the deeper the color results. (medium heat stirring constantly, don't boil it or go above 180F as it might do some funky stuff to the materials)

– Longer immersion times result in deeper/darker colors. (45min- 1hr.)

Eugene,
Thanks for the dyeing tips and durability of the dye report. The only experiences I have dyeing was with white and clear polycarbonate yoyo's. Also tinting spectacle lens at my work at Pearle vision. Both Dye jobs did fade after while..

anyone see a problem going red to black? would prefer it not come out purple :)

Mike,

Do it!

The red will completely black out with no bleeding through of color whatsoever. I promise!

For what it's worth, the pack looks pretty cherry the way it currently is.

Eugene- thanks. Don't have one (yet), not a super big fan of red, but maybe it will grow on me. If not, good to know I can go black

Mike

So has anyone used their died packs A LOT? Still wondering if they bleed in heavy downpours or weeks of sweating…

Love the look though!

That's what hearty thru-hiker dudes like you are for Jack, to provide the expedited feedback of longterm use on gear for guys like me. I'm a husband and father of 2 kiddos, it'll be one calendar year before my dyed Ohm sees 6 weeks of heavy downpours and weeks of my sweat. 6 weeks isn't 'A LOT' when in the company of guys like you so I'm curious to know what a home dyed pack will look like after your next thru.

For what it's worth, I honestly think you'll know fairly soon, not later, if the dye is going to bleed out onto your back from sweat and downpours. In my case, since last April, I haven't had any issue that I can speak of with staining on my clothing after sweaty hiking under a desert sun.

Anyone try any other colors? I am thinking my Osprey Exos would look nice in Coyote brown. Just curious if anyone thinks it is too much to ask the dye to cover the light gray and orange with a golden tan color.

I'm gonna try dying my Ohm blue. I'm hoping the majority of the pack stays black and just the green takes a blue (probably blue-green) color. If all else fails, I'll just black it out. Any insight guys?

I'll be sure to post pics of my endeavor.

@Lonney: I'm also meditating over a new color for my Exos and Talon. They're both gettin' kinda faded. I'm thinking black or blue or green for the Talon, and due to the Orange screen printing on the Exos, I just can't decide.

some pics from my dyeing process:

I used a bottle of liquid navy blue rit dye in my recyclable bin. Temperature taken immediately after adding pack to water 163 degrees Fahrenheit.

See full album at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=626088&id=534530088&l=d2e384ff0f

I'll be sure to give you a report after my PCT thru-hike this year. Pack kinda smells like dye right now. We'll see how it fairs in the rain this weekend.

Has anyone tried dyeing Condura?

I have a light colored travel pack (checked tan/sage green camo) that I marked my initials on in permanent ink (more worried about theft in southern Russia/central Asia than resale value); like to repurpose it as an office pack, so maybe a dark grey. Heard there was issues with black.

ADD: How about EPIC? Have a windshirt which is kind of purplish, would like a bluish grey.

Codura should be no problem. Polyester would be an issue. That is why the ULA logo did not take the dye.

After I dyed my pack and rinsed well in ice cold water. I threw it in the washer and gave it 2 cycles with just a tiny amount of liquid detergent. No bleeding or fading.

Have not tried epic.

Thanks I will try this in a little over a week and see how it goes

Has anyone tried dying a ula circuit red from the stock green color

bump for awesomeness