Canvas & Leather Backpacks

Every rucksack here starts from the same recipe: waxed canvas on the outside, full-grain leather trim where the wear happens, and a shell that treats a British downpour as part of the job. Rain beads and runs off the canvas. The leather handles and straps darken and soften with use instead of wearing out. Whether you carry a laptop to the office, walk the fells on a Saturday or haul a term's worth of books between home and lectures, there is a rucksack in this collection sized for it.

A rucksack for the commute

The daily carry asks three things of a bag: it sits flat on your back, it opens quickly at the ticket barrier, and it keeps a laptop dry on the wet walk from the station. The Oil-Waxed Canvas Laptop Rucksack and the Waxed Canvas 16" Laptop Rucksack are built around a laptop compartment under a waxed shell. When the working day calls for a neater silhouette, the Canvas Business Rucksack keeps the same materials in a more structured shape.

A rucksack for the hills

The roll-top is the most weather-proof opening a canvas bag can take. Fold it down twice and the mouth sheds water as well as the sides do, which is why the walking styles use it. The Lakes Rolltop and Dales Rolltop take their names from the ground they were designed for; the Peak District, Snowdonia, Exmoor and Brecon rucksacks cover the rest of the map.

Rucksack, messenger or holdall?

A rucksack spreads the load across both shoulders, which makes it the right call whenever you are carrying more than a few kilos or walking any real distance. For lighter days when your phone and wallet need to be to hand without dropping the bag, a canvas messenger bag keeps the same waxed canvas and leather finish in a slimmer, single-strap shape. When the trip runs past one night, a leather and canvas holdall is the easier bag to live out of for a weekend.

Keeping the wax working

Waxed canvas is water resistant because of the wax, and the wax wears thinnest where you touch the bag most: the base, the corners, the flap edge. A rucksack that gets re-waxed once a year stays drier than one that does not. Our guide to cleaning and re-waxing waxed canvas runs through the whole job in about twenty minutes.

Backpack FAQs

Is waxed canvas waterproof?

Water resistant, not waterproof, and we would rather say so plainly. A shower, a wet seat or a day of light rain will bead and run off. Standing water or hours of steady rain will eventually push through, which is what the re-wax is for. Most commuting rain sits well inside what the canvas handles.

Will my laptop fit?

For the styles built around a laptop, the answer is in the name: the Waxed Canvas 16" Laptop Rucksack takes a 16-inch machine, and the Oil-Waxed Canvas Laptop Rucksack takes a standard laptop in a padded compartment. For every other style the product page lists the internal measurements, so measure your machine against those before ordering.

Is waxed canvas heavy?

Heavier than nylon and lighter than a full-leather bag of the same size. You are trading a little weight for a shell that does not fray, flap in the wind or let the rain through. Most owners notice the difference for the first week and stop thinking about it after that.

Does the rucksack arrive ready to use?

Yes. Every bag leaves us already waxed, so it sheds rain from the first day. The wax wears thinnest where you touch the bag most, which is why a yearly re-wax keeps it doing its job. The whole routine is in our waxed canvas care guide.

Waxed canvas or full-grain leather for a daily bag?

Waxed canvas is lighter, quieter and sheds rain without thinking about it; full-grain leather is heavier, dressier and records its own history in the marks it picks up. Both outlast fashion, so the choice comes down to the look you want and the weight you will carry, not to which wears out.