Do you know the difference between canvas fabric and duck fabric?
At Kawanishi Bags, we often use canvas, but there is also a material called duck fabric.
At first glance, they look almost the same, but what is the difference between them?

What is duck? What is the origin of the name?

Duck is a fabric that originated in America, and its name is said to come from the Dutch word "does," which means cloth.
It is said that the fabric came to be called "duck" because a picture of a duck was printed as a mark on thick flax or hemp canvas that was sent from England to America.

Types of Duck

There are three main types of ducks.
These are numbered ducks, army ducks, and flat ounce ducks.
Here we introduce the issue duck and the army duck.

Issue Duck

The specifications for No. 10 duck are determined by ASTM standard D-230-44.
A blue line is woven into the edge of the fabric to serve as a guide for where to overlap and place the sewing machine when sewing.
It was used for coal mining bags, mail bags, conveyor belts, wagon hoods, etc.
This refers to fabric woven from twisted No. 7 thread.

The fabric for the original LL Bean bags was also made from this same duck leather.
By the way, what is the ASTM standard?

What are ASTM standards? <br data-mce-fragment="1">ASTM standards are developed and published by ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials), the world's largest standards organization. As of 2014, over 12,000 standards have been published, with over 30,000 members from 150 countries participating in their development. Although ASTM standards are voluntary, they are widely used internationally, being used as the basis for legal regulations and other purposes in 75 countries around the world.

It may be easier to understand if you say it is a US Federal Standard.

Army Duck

Among ducks, this meat is relatively medium to thin in texture.
Thin threads called No. 12 to No. 18 are used to increase the density of the fabric.
Therefore, compared to size duck of the same weight, it is thinner but has a high density finish.
It is used as military supplies for the U.S. Army in shoes, hammocks, sacks, tents, backpacks, and other items.

The difference between canvas and duck fabric

Thick, plain-weave cotton fabric was often called duck fabric, and some people called canvas duck, while others called duck fabric canvas, but it seems that the thread counts are actually different.

However, in Japan, canvas was imported before the war, where it was called "zuk" (a corrupted version of "duck") and was also known as "American canvas," so it seems that domestic canvas was originally made to imitate American duck fabric.
They were first imported into Japan before the war, and the name "zuk" came to be a corrupted version of "duck."

summary

To be honest, I didn't really understand the difference between duck fabric and canvas, but after reading this summary, I now understand it a lot better.
However, to be honest, at a glance you wouldn't be able to tell which is canvas and which is duck fabric.
The variety of both fabrics has increased dramatically.
In the end, the feel of the finished product will probably change depending on the weaving factory, loom, and thread used.