How to Find the Best Waxed Canvas Bag for Your Everyday Carry

Waxed canvas bags are kind of a specialty here at NutSac — so we figured, who better to write a guide on how to find the best waxed canvas bag for your everyday carry needs?

Starting with the all-important question of deciding on what size and shape of bag you might need, we’ll take you through five NutSac waxed canvas bag options, detailing the highlights of each style of pack and who it might be best for. It’ll be a showcase of our top sellers and most popular items across a wide range of categories, all with the goal of helping you to find the Goldilocks-perfect bag to accompany you on all of your EDC adventures.

The First Question: What Size of Bag Do You Need?

Before you can really start shopping around for a waxed canvas bag — or any bag, for that matter — you’ll need to know an approximate size.

And to figure that out, you’ll need to ask yourself: What do you plan on using this bag for most often?

Do you need a smart and snappy way to carry your wallet, phone, and keys without bulging out your pockets? Then a small shoulder bag will do the trick.

But if you’d also like to carry a tablet or a water bottle, upsizing to a sling bag is the better choice. That’ll give you the room you need to accommodate a wider selection of convenient EDC items.

For a more professional look and the capacity to carry a full-sized laptop, choosing from a range of shoulder-held messenger bags is a necessity. They’re great multi-purpose bags for anybody who is carting gear back and forth from their workplace.

But if you’re the type of guy who always wants to be prepared for everything — and we mean everything — a waxed canvas backpack will offer you ample storage space to do so. At this size of bag, you can use it for just about everything a guy could need to carry in one day.

And at the top end of the size scale, a waxed canvas weekender or duffel bag is a must. They’re probably too large for everyday carry, but if you’re looking for a bag that can get you through weekend trips for business or pleasure, their wide-mouth storage and ultra-durable construction will keep you in good stead.

With those qualifications in mind, let’s take a look through each NutSac option for those bag sizes and styles.

Best Small Waxed Canvas Bag: The Man-Bag, Dammit

Conveniently sized and ever-ready, the Man-Bag is a staple for your everyday carry essentials — think iPad mini, phone, keys, wallet, and etcetera.

The overall dimensions for the Man-Bag are 10 inches wide by 6 inches tall by 2.5 inches deep, and it weighs in right at 10 ounces. Equipped with one full-length zippered pocket and an exterior stash pocket, it provides a streamlined storage space for only your most important goods.

The heavy-duty cotton webbing strap and easy-attach buckles make the Man-Bag a quick option to throw on over your shoulder and head out the door, and that’s the biggest part of what makes it a staple part of our everyday carry.

Best Waxed Canvas Sling Bag: The Sling

The Sling is the latest addition to the NutSac family of bags, and it has quickly become our go-to choice for casual urban EDC.

Sized at 11.5 inches tall, 8 inches wide, and 3.5 inches deep, it’s spacious enough to carry a full-sized iPad, yet compact enough to lay easily across your back thanks to its vertical orientation.

The four-way zipper system and ambidextrous strap style really make the Sling comfortable for anyone, and an internal MOLLE panel allows you to customize it with organizational attachments like a Caddy or Admin Pouch. Overall, it’s a great bag for any guy that likes the vertical carry style of a backpack, but doesn’t regularly need that much space.

Best Waxed Canvas Messenger Bag: The Satchel

One bag, many options: That’s what you get with the Satchel family of NutSac bags, which are available in 11, 13, and 15 inch sizes and standard or tactical configurations.

This is the bag you should reach for if you’re looking to carry a laptop, tablet, charging cords, and all of your EDC essentials to and from work. It’s specifically designed to store and organize a full array of tech-centric gear, with three separate pocket spaces and two internal pouches.

The overall dimensions for a Satchel 13 place it at 13 inches wide, 9 inches tall, and 3.5 inches deep, and it weighs in at just under 2 pounds. It’s comfortable enough to carry all day long with its included mesh shoulder strap, and the full-grain leather accents help it to fit in at any office.

Best Waxed Canvas Backpack: The Rucksac

Built in a classic military rucksack style, but with NutSac’s signature details, the Rucksac is perfectly sized for everyday carry at 20 liters of internal space. Its dimensions measure in at 19 inches tall by 13 inches wide by 5 inches deep, and the whole bag weighs in at 3.5 pounds — enough to be very durable, but not so heavy as to become fatiguing after long days spent carrying it.

Made for daily commutes and everyday use, the Rucksac comes with an internal laptop sleeve and collapsible side water bottle pockets. Its extra-padded straps and back panel ensure that it will be comfortable even while you’re carrying it long distances. And like all NutSac bags, it comes with a lifetime guarantee — so you can be sure that your investment will be safe forever.

Best Waxed Canvas Weekender Bag: The Duffel

As the largest and heaviest-duty bag in the NutSac family, the Duffel is our go-to choice for a weekender bag. If you’re traveling often for work or pleasure, it’s a rugged and reliable bag that will make packing and traveling quick, easy, and organized.

At 18 inches wide by 10 inches tall by 9.5 inches deep, the Duffel offers right at about 28 liters of storage space. And since it’s made to go the extra mile, we add a reinforced, abrasion-resistant waxed twill to the bottom so you can throw it in the back of your truck without worrying about its safety.

Two 3-pocket panels on the inside and a zippered compartment on each face of the exterior give the Duffel just the right amount of organizational space, and its full-length top zipper is covered by a rain flap for even greater water resistance.

Waxed Canvas Bags FAQ

And before we go, we’d like to take just a moment to answer a few of the questions that always seem to pop up when people start asking about waxed canvas bags.

Do waxed canvas bags get dirty easily?

Waxed canvas bags don’t get dirty as easily as unwaxed fabric bags, since their wax coating helps to seal out dirt and dust. Plus, if they do get dirty, they’re easy to wipe clean with a damp cloth.

How water resistant is waxed canvas?

Waxed canvas is basically waterproof for everything short of submerging it in water. But you’ll also need to keep in mind that its wax will wear out over time, and need to be reapplied to keep a fresh waterproof coating.

Does waxed canvas rub off or wear out?

All waxed canvas will lose some of its waterproofing over time. But the good news is, you can reapply a fresh coat of wax to refresh and reinvigorate the fabric, returning it to full waterproof capacity.