With the absence of high-grade materials like sailcloth and nylon in the earlier part of the twentieth century, leather backpacks seemed to be the best bet for your hiking, hunting and camping trips. These leather backpacks were easily and conveniently available at the local sporting goods store nearby. However, now with the advent of technology giving birth to many high-grade and even waterproof materials, leather backpacks have become quite redundant. You might want to know how you can go wrong if you go for leather backpacks.

The reputable companies producing sporting goods have now stopped the production of leather backpacks, especially for outdoor activities like camping. You might question this decision of theirs, but once you have all the appropriate information on leather backpacks, you will root for this move yourself.

Firstly, leather is extremely unpredictable and volatile especially if not reinforced. It can give up on you, even if it takes a short tumble down the rough mountainside. Besides this, another downside of leather is that it has a tendency to shrink, on coming in contact with water. So you will have a real problem on your hands if it rains or snows during your hike. You will have to face a lot of discomfort because of this, as the entire leather backpack including the straps will shrink.

If you are still unable to get a clear picture, just imagine how would you feel going out in the rain and snow with your expensive leather dress shoes. Cold, clammy, and uncomfortable? Wouldn’t you wish that you would have worn your nylon running shoes instead and put them out to dry, at least? Well, it’s the same thing with leather backpacks.

However, you do not have the option or the luxury to set things out to dry, when you are on a hiking trip. When completely drenched in rain, all that one wishes for is a pair of nice, warm and dry clothes. However, since your leather backpack absorbs so much moisture, that hoping for even something as inane as dry underwear would be like a pipe dream. Instead you would end up berating yourself at buying a leather backpack, rather than a nylon one, or one made of any other waterproof material. Anything at that time would sound better, than the idea of smelling like wet cow leather.

Nowadays, leather backpacks are being manufactured by a few companies, with the intention of use in urban activities. So what is great as a school bag, or a handbag, may not do as well in the rugged outdoors. So your best bet for an outdoor trip would be a cheaper and more reliable nylon or plastic backpack that is also much hipper and trendier.

Thanks to Abhishek Agarwal for contributing this article to our backpacks blog:

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