Zpacks Ultralight DCF Backpack Cover

A backpack cover is an important piece of gear to have if you’re hiking in an area where it can rain heavily. While pack covers often suffer from condensation that will make the surface of your pack wet when it is raining steadily, they prevent it from getting saturated and becoming even heavier. In addition, they provide excellent protection from branches and thorns if you plan to bushwack or walk on poorly maintained trails, which would otherwise tear your pack or rip external mesh pockets.

What is Dyneema Composite Fabric?

If you are not familiar with Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), it is a synthetic fabric made from polyethylene molecules arranged in very long chains at the microscopic level. This translates into a fabric that is extremely tough and abrasion-resistant, yet very lightweight (0.6 oz/sqyd). These properties make DCF ideal for making sailboat and windsurfing sails and, now, ultralight backpacking gear. Spectra and Dyneema are two other fabrics made from these long-strand polyethylene molecules that are already widely used to make cord/rope and backpacks.

Zpacks makes the DCF backpack cover in two sizes: medium (1.4 oz) and large (1.7 oz). The medium is large enough to fit my largest 4,000-cubic-inch pack when full. It is held onto the pack using a shock cord drawstring with a cinchable cord lock. It also includes a lightweight strap that clips under your pack’s haul loop or shoulder straps to prevent the cover from being blown off in the wind.

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