Canovaccio: Natural, Sustainable Pack Fabrics

April fools day?

If not, then I applaud that you’re going down the environmental & sustainable road.

But then,

A Canovaccio is a vague plot outline used by commedia dell’Arte players. It consisted only of a list of acts and scenes; the details were left to the improvisation of the actors. Actors in the commedia dell’Arte thus had to be endowed with an inventive mind since the success of the play depended largely on their creativity and above all on their lazzi (jokes and gags).

Can't wait…

>> manufactured from renewable resources (e.g., organic cotton) using modern automated looms

>> high Alps of Italy

How enlightening this article was to me. On a recent business trip, a group of Italian men standing near me on the train were cheerfully singing…

Oh, when those cotton balls get rotten
You can't pick very much cotton
In them old cotton fields back home
It was down in Louisiana
Just about a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields back home

I overheard one of them laugh and say 'cuben is dead. It is all ours now'.

Now I now what is going. This is scary.

Since it's a natural and sustainable fabric, I wonder if you could also use it as food in an emergency situation. That would be quite cool. Finally, you could have your pack and eat it too…..

There is a Canovaccio collection from Europe that is a cotton and jute blend. From Italy there is also the Canovaccio Linen. I also found the following: CANOVACCIO: Medieval – coarse linen cloth for utilitarian use, from tailor's fittings to horse covers. So now, is it an April Fool's joke or a real fabric recalling one of the European fabrics of the same name. Why the suspense?

If this will be constructed of coarse linen cloth based on based medieval model, perhaps you should name the pack "The Sumpter" and give Sam H. the title of "Soumelier" (which rhymes with "April Fools' Day").

Sounds alot like waxed canvas… what's with the mystery around it?

I can roll with that.

A few years ago while in Zurich, I chanced upon a man dressed in a one-piece made of a material eerily similar to this new canovaccio. He lived simply, and evinced such serendipity and keenness of mind that I had to ask him, "What is your secret?" He replied, "The clothes make the man."

Now that this new product has been revealed here in the States, I shall begin the liquidation of my assets in joyous anticipation.

oh dear…
Canovaccio was the nickname (later to become his surname) of an Italian painter well known for working whilst eating canoli(s) .
BTW, the suffix "accio" in Italian is a pejorative , so obviously someone objected to him doing so.
Nothing to do with canvas or backpacks at all.
Franco
corrected to Italian spelling, since I can.

It's the NEW cotton. Cool and comfy. And named after some Italian painter. Rock on.

George is that the Smokey and the Bandit song?

I think you missed – at least my biggest bugbear with synthetics – the lack of inherent fire resistance.

I mean you can spend literally hundreds of dollars on some new piece of equipment, pass within firing ranging of a camp fire and boom you have melt holes all over the place with nice hard edges to crack, cause irritation, render your item non waterproof etc. I know you can get fire resistant fabrics but I don't appreciate the health concerns from those toxic coatings.

I now won't pay top dollar on synthetic items, if I can live without it, for this reason. I look at an Arcteryx jacket and just think, yeah one camp fire and that's ready for the dust bin.

Comments please.

Arcteryx products were never designed to be near an open fire. they designed for climbing,skiing and other activities related to them.

If you want a jacket for around a wood burning fir buy a $100ish PU on. I use my alpha LT for ice and alpine climbing, and a cheapo mica for sitting around the fire.

I am pleased to see the UL community moving towards natural, cotton-based fabrics. Can we get an article next April 1st on bamboo trekking poles please?

I am surprised. I have had a look on the Backpacking Light Absaroka Backpack (www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/bpl_absaroka_backpack.html) and it is specified that durability features the use of very durable, siliconized fabrics. So still some synthetic components…

When will we be able to find again good jungle expedition rucksack made of 100% natural fabrics (as it was possible in the 60's and even still in the 70's) :)?

All I can say is…. it's gonna be heavy.
Cavnas was the standard material for a while. I don't see anything really beating it.

If the last post of Justin Baker is a reply to my previous post, I fully agree with him: "Cavnas was the standard material for a while. I don't see anything really beating it."

So I don't understand the remark: "it's gonna be heavy."

There are some canvas quality that are quite lightweight and that were used to make adventure backpacks in the old days, aren't there :)?

Patrick MURA
patrickmura@gmail.com
skype: patrick_mura

"George is that the Smokey and the Bandit song?"

That is actually a blues song named "Cotton Fields" that was covered in the late 60's by the Beach Boys and Creedence. CCR's version is awesome IMO. The Bandit song is "Eastbound and Down".

Ryan

Carvaccio.. whatever.
Out here on the Left coast we have Hemp!
Now that is a proven sustainable high strength fiber that can be used to make packs.
Too bad the hippies keep smoking it all up…

different hemp Dude.

Actually it's just a different strain of Cannabis they use to make the fibers.
You are right that it's "different' in that it contains much less of the psycho-active component THC but it's still there.
It is still a valid argument fitting this thread.
Why is it, if fibers made from hemp can make a rope strong enough to sail a ship across an ocean, that we don't grow and harvest hemp in this country?
Hemp oil and fibers are the essence of sustainable resources.
If you cannot smoke the variety of Cannabis known as HEMP to get high but you CAN use it to make superbly strong fabrics, why is it banned?
Why do we overlook the obvious and proven resources we have?
Are we afraid 2nd graders will try and smoke their Hemp backpacks?
Interesting times my friend.

Well, the material is going to be very heavy compared to synthetic fabrics. Surely there are light canvas packs out there, and if you like canvas, then a 2-3lb pack isn't the end of the world. If you want something bombproof that can be maintained and waterproofed with natural, everyday materials, then it's hard to beat a good canvas pack.
But I don't see canvas catching on in the ultralight community. I would assume that any attempt to make a truly "light" natural fabric would yield flimsy results.

Edit: No, I wasn't replying to you in that post.