Material

In recent years much has been said and written about lightweight products - BACH is building lightweight gear since 1989! We worship the concept of lightweight by design rather than by the use of skimpy, ultra-lightweight materials.

Generally speaking you can make a pack from nearly every textile you can think of. Whether you prefer nylon, polyester, leather, cotton or latex and whether you fancy PU, acrylic, PVC or hypalon coatings or even no coating at all depends on what you plan to achieve. By picking your choice you must realize one thing: the materials you go for define the price class as well as the expected life span of the pack. BACH materials are lightweight yet strong. We think to go the extra yard is always worth the price. But that is up to you, you get what you pay fore.

Do not let yourself being deceived by the light optics of some products. The weight is always measured with a scale, usually expressed in grams or ounces and you will have to carry it for years to come. We also think that one should not get over exited about 200 grams more or less, it simply does not matter!

• Our Alpine packs weigh all less than 2 kilos, despite the fact that some of them are made up completely from 1000 dn Cordura® Classic.
• Our M.A.D. suspension system used with our biggest trekking packs has earned its reputation of being the benchmark for high end packs designed to handle weird loads. While providing superb carrying comfort and perfect balance all the M.A.D. packs weigh around 3 kilos and not 4 or 4.5 kilos or even more.
• The BACH Specialist FA weighs almost one kilo less than similar models made by others.

Compare materials and products carefully before you make up your mind. Always think twice and stick to the 2 most important rules of backpacking:

• Less is often more. So only buy what you need. What you do not bring along you do not have to carry.
• Remember: what is not on your pack cannot be ripped off.

You may be tired of slogans like "Function is Beauty" and "Form follows Function". However, we at BACH think, that they are valuable guidelines when designing a pack.

Due to its superior abrasion resistance Cordura has made its name as the best pack fabric available. BACH usually works with air-texturised Cordura® nylon yarns. Most of our fabrics are made by Leejo Textiles in Seoul, Korea.

BACH works with the following Cordura® qualities:

• Cordura® Classic 1000dn is extremely abrasion and tear resistant. The yarn is air-texturised creating a matt and structured appearance. Provided a proper weaving pattern is being used Cordura® Classic is a good bit more abrasion resistant than oxford nylon or polyester fabrics of a similar weight. With adding only 30% of extra weight 1000dn Cordura® Classic shows a tensile strength which is about 2.5 times stronger than the one of 500dn oxford nylon. "
• 500dn Cordura® Ripstop Nylon has a perfect tensile strength and sufficient abrasion resistance. It provides a modern look, a soft grip and holds PU coatings pretty well. Since it is about 1/3 lighter than 1000dn Cordura we use it for all parts of a pack, which are less exposed to abrasion.

What does 1000dn mean in the real world of backpacks?

A trekking pack made entirely from 1000dn Cordura® classic turns out to be approximately 8-10% heavier but 30-40% more abrasion resistant than a model built from 500dn nylon fabric. For the extra 10% which is less than 300 grams you get a pack body which is close to impossible to wear out. Of course no pack can withstand constant abuse. Eventually some part will always fail. If you go for 1000dn it will most likely not be the fabric!

Little parts - big difference! On all packs BACH is exlusively using high quality YKK zippers. Where ever applicable we use #10. Feel the difference! Since BACH started more than 20 years ago we have resisted the temptation to go for cheaper brands and this decision has proven to be right. I can only remember a few warranty repairs caused by failing zips. That is as good as it gets.

"Duraflex" National Molding Buckles are the leading brand since many years. BACH is using Duraflex nylon buckles made in Italy and USA or by its Korean licensee Woo Jin. We try to not go for optics only but to choose the strongest designs available. This is not always an easy task and may involve compromising, changing technical features and at times buying designs from other brands as well. Quality conscious manufacturers use buckles of the leading brands Duraflex (National Moulding) or Fastex (ITW Nexus). Whether you prefer acetal (stronger under very hot conditions) or nylon (does usually not break) is a matter of individual preference.

BACH fabrics come with three layers of PU coating (approx. 70g/m²) on the inside and a polycarbon finish on the outside. PU is considered reasonably abrasion resistant and the hydrostatic head of 600-1500mm is regarded as being sufficient. Because of the loose weaving structure it is close to impossible to apply a good and lasting coating to 1000den Cordura Classic or Ballistic. But who would really care: because of seams packs are not waterproof anyway. Rain covers and dry bags are the only way to keep your gear dry when it rains.

The M.A.D. and Expedition hip belts are our most elaborate hip belt styles: The stiffening outer shell is made from a rigid 5mm Alveolite foam laminated to a piece of 1000den Cordura fabric. The body of the hip belt consists of 20mm Evazote foam covered by a elasticated lycra cordura. The result is a very stiff, perfectly shaped hip belt which does not absorb any water or sweat. To further stiffen your hip belt we have worked-in a high density PE board.

Cheap or inadequate foams are really annoying, because the lack of quality only shows after a while. Generally speaking you can say that the harder a foam the longer it will last. But foams can also be too rigid and uncomfortable, particularily in shoulder straps.

All BACH shoulder straps are made from Evazote foam. Depending on the size and the style of the pack, the thickness can vary from 10mm on a daypack to beefy 20mm on a heavy load M.A.D. Series pack. Over the years Evazote foams have proven to be a good compromise between comfort (softness) and durability (hardness). If a BACH shoulder strap goes flat within the first few years we will replace it free of charge. Unless it was exposed to excessive heat!

Our Alpine hip belts are single layer constructions of closed cell foam covered with a quickly drying, abrasion resistance cordura-lycra-fabric. Compared to other brands our Alpine hip belts are relatively stiff but perfectly shaped to give you maximum support and cushioning.

All our foam waste (Ireland and Asia) is fully recycled.