By Priya Anand, Backpacking Gear Research Writer · Published September 14, 2026, 6:03 PM ET · Updated September 29, 2026, 6:16 PM ET
Direct Answer
Most hiking backpacks are made from woven nylon, often ripstop-reinforced and coated with polyurethane or silicone for water resistance. Premium packs use Cordura nylon for extra abrasion resistance, or Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF) — a non-woven laminate of UHMWPE (Dyneema) fibers and a polyester membrane — for the lowest weight relative to strength.
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In plain English
Most hiking backpacks are made from the same kind of material as a windbreaker: nylon, a tough plastic-based fabric woven from thin threads. The inside is usually coated with a thin rubbery layer so rain has a harder time getting through.
Some packs use tougher nylon threads for parts that scrape on rocks, like the bottom. Others, mostly very light packs, use a special material called Dyneema Composite Fabric. It is not woven like cloth. It is more like strong fibers pressed between thin sheets of plastic, which makes it light and waterproof.
Polyester, the fabric in many fleece jackets, also shows up on plenty of packs, especially cheaper ones. Each material trades off weight, toughness and cost in a different way.
Hiking backpacks are built primarily from three fabric families: standard nylon, Cordura nylon, and Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), each trading off weight, cost, and durability differently.
Standard nylon
Standard nylon (usually nylon 6 or nylon 6,6) is a woven synthetic fiber and the default material across most mainstream pack brands. It's typically reinforced with a ripstop grid — a thicker thread woven in every few millimeters to stop small tears from spreading — and coated on the inside with polyurethane (PU) or silicone for water resistance. Nylon is the most affordable and widely available pack fabric, and decades of refinement mean most reputable nylon packs perform reliably for years of regular use.
Cordura
Cordura is a branded family of abrasion-resistant fabrics, most commonly nylon 6,6, engineered with higher-tenacity yarns and denser weaves than generic nylon at the same weight. It's used either across an entire pack body or selectively on high-wear zones like the bottom panel and lower sides, where friction against rock and gear concentrates. Cordura shares nylon's basic water behavior — both fibers absorb a small amount of moisture and depend on a coating for rain resistance — but resists fuzzing, thread-breakage, and pilling better under repeated abrasion.
Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF)
DCF, formerly sold as Cuben Fiber, is a laminate rather than a woven textile: ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (Dyneema) fibers laminated to a polyester membrane, as Zpacks describes it. It's the lightest of the three fabric families, doesn't absorb water, and doesn't stretch under load, which is why ultralight brands like Hyperlite Mountain Gear and Zpacks built entire product lines around it. It costs more than nylon or Cordura and is more vulnerable to sharp punctures, since its laminate structure doesn't contain a small cut the way a woven fabric's crossing threads can.
Other fabrics worth knowing
Hybrid constructions sit between these categories. Dyneema Composite Hybrids add a non-Dyneema face fabric to the Dyneema core for extra abrasion resistance or flexibility, and blended fabrics such as Challenge Sailcloth's ULTRA combine UHMWPE fibers with high-tenacity polyester. They aim for a middle ground between nylon's sewability and DCF's weight and water-resistance advantages.
Nylon, polyester and the high-tenacity versions
US labeling rules define nylon as a manufactured fiber made from a long-chain synthetic polyamide, and polyester as a fiber that is at least 85% an ester of a substituted aromatic carboxylic acid.1 Both are common in packs, though the page focuses on nylon. Kelty's Asher 65, for example, is made of 600D polyester oxford.2
Many lightweight packs use high-tenacity nylon. Granite Gear builds the Crown3 60 from Robic high-tenacity nylon in 100D and 210D,3 and Gossamer Gear's Mariposa uses 100D and 210D recycled Robic.4 US tariff rules define single nylon or polyester yarn as high-tenacity when its tenacity exceeds 60 cN/tex,5 which gives the term a concrete meaning. The page's specific claims about Cordura's fiber type and ripstop spacing are not covered by a source in our library.
Dyneema, Ultra and other UHMWPE fabrics
Zpacks describes Dyneema Composite Fabric as Dyneema threads laminated to a polyester membrane,6 and Dyneema says all its composites are built on fiber layers bonded at 0 and 90 degrees.7 Dyneema is a brand of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber.8
That matters for the page's mention of Ultra. Challenge Sailcloth's ULTRA is a UHMWPE composite fabric, and the maker notes that UHMWPE is the generic material sold under brands like Dyneema and Spectra.9 So Ultra is a separate product line from a different maker, not DCF under a new name. Woven Dyneema is different again: Hyperlite says its Southwest uses a fully woven 200-denier Dyneema fabric.10 Zpacks' Arc Haul uses Gridstop fabric with HDPE grid threads.11
Coatings, finishes and the PFAS shift
The outer water-repellent finish, or DWR, is what makes water bead and roll off.12 EPA lists stain and water repellents on clothing and other fabrics as a PFAS source.13 California's AB 1817 explicitly lists backpacks as textile articles and has barred new ones containing regulated PFAS since January 1, 2025.14 Makers have responded: REI says the Flash 55 uses a DWR made without PFAS,15 and ULA says the Circuit uses a PFAS-free DWR.16
Coatings also affect repairs. GEAR AID notes that silicone-coated fabrics need a silicone sealant, because silicone only adheres to silicone.17 Knowing whether your pack is PU- or silicone-coated tells you which repair products will actually stick.
