Vintage Canvas Bags

Choosing a canvas bag by how you carry it

A canvas bag is easier to pick once you know how you like to carry it: across the body, off one shoulder, by the handles or on your back. The crossbody bag does most of that with its different straps and has five pockets inside. Satchels and messengers sit flat against your hip, handy for a walk to the train. For heavier loads spread over both shoulders, see our backpacks.

For travel, the canvas duffel packs a trip's worth of gear and carries on an adjustable strap or by its reinforced handles. The duffle backpack closes with a metal clip through eyelets, goes on one shoulder or your back, and its canvas can sit on the ground at a campsite or in the back of the ute. For more holdall styles, see our duffle bags.

Canvas, leather and tougher synthetics

Most pieces here are thick canvas, often lined with cotton and polyester so knocks don't reach what's inside. One of the messenger bags is washed 16 oz cotton with visible stitching, and the satchel has a zip, a clasp and a 50s look. Leather turns up on a few styles: the men's shoulder bag has leather trim, and one backpack pairs a canvas body with leather and a padded sleeve for a laptop or tablet up to 16 inch.

Not everything is canvas. The tactical laptop bag is nylon with room for a 14 inch laptop and a bottle pocket, the belt pouch and the tactical messenger are Oxford fabric with MOLLE webbing, and the small messenger bag is polyester with a foam-lined inside for electronics. Check the rain side too. The military messenger bag has a rain-resistant flap, and the men's shoulder bag and tactical messenger are described as water resistant. The others aren't, so wrap anything that must stay dry.

Colours that suit the old military look

Black, khaki and brown come up most, then army green, grey and coffee, and a few in blue, yellow or beige. Brown and coffee lean towards the worn field-bag look, while black sits more easily with work clothes. The small messenger and the book bag are the compact ones with several pockets, while the laptop messenger takes documents and notebooks and has two handles plus a removable strap.

Canvas suits town and travel. For a full day on a bush track with water and a spare layer, look at our day packs instead.