Xpac comparison: 21 vs 42

I don’t have experience with the Xpac, but I’ve sewn up some stuff with Robic 420 and 210 – the 420 is what I would want for any pack I wanted to last for a long time. The difference in weight is approx 2oz per square yard, and the cost difference is almost nothing. Given most packs do not use more than 1.5-2 sq. yards of fabric, you are going to save about 4oz at the cost of product life, so take a look at possible other features of the fabric to make your decision.  I wouldn’t recommend going with 210 on anything except panels that are expected to see almost no abrasion.

I have quite a few SO packs. Most are in 21 Xpac and a couple in 42. I have never worn a hole in either fabric. I live in Kodiak so I only do off trail hiking, and there is plenty of brush. We also elk hunt on Afognak Island and the 21 fabric holds up fine for that too.

As an example, here I hiked and packrafted the length of Kodiak Island with a 21 Xpac Seek Gila:

Crossing Kodiak Island: Alitak to Kodiak

Where I have had problems is in rocky terrain , rope hauls, sand stone or say even throwing it down on a sidewalk. That being said, X42 has far less issues in those circumstances.

There are other weaknesses on X21 but our construction, basically makes them a non issue.

I wonder what the preference would be if we throw X33 in the mix. It is suppose to be as abrasion resistant as X42 but lighter. It only comes in camo but for this discussion, let’s not introduce that factor.

They’re both 4-layer fabrics with the same .25 mil PET layer; not much difference, there.  The 42 just has a heavier facing fabric and will hold up better to heavier abuse/abrasion.  Neither is as tough as ballistic nylon and the like.  VX42 is 8.4 oz/yd and VX21 is 6 oz. per yard…so for every complete yard you use in a pack, you’re saving 2.4 ounces (all other things being equal).  Personally, I wouldn’t worry over 2.4 ounces – or 4.8, or whatever – in my load-carrying system; instead, I would think about the usage environment as others have suggested, and also take your personal habits and the rest of your gear into account.  If you’re hard on gear and/or in a tough area, build the pack to suit those habits and protect the gear that needs protecting.

I have a Seek Outside pack made of X-21 that has done two trips in Alaska – 11 days and 14 days, both off trail with a ton of dwarf birch, alder, and willow with no issues (other than green stains in the fabric).  The face fabric of the X-21 is pretty slick so brush seems to slide off of it fairly well.  My pack does have some abrasions (and holes) but they came from granite in the Rockies or Sierra and crawling over bus size talus, etc, and not from Alaskan brush.  I’ve found X-21 to not be as abrasion resistant as 210 Dyneema Grid  despite both using a 210d face fabric.  The face fabric of the X-21 is slicker however.

X-42 is obviously more durable and may be the better choice if you are busting brush in AK all the time, but I had no issues in some serious brush on my trips with X-21.   I hear X-33 is nice (and even from one source more abrasion resistant than X-42) but I couldn’t do camo.