Tight, firm, plain woven with plied yarns in warp & fill.
Number Ducks are the workhorses of the canvas world. Heavy, tight, plain-woven with plied yarns in both directions — warp and fill. Weights run from 12 oz to 32 oz per square yard. Widths from 26 inches to 144 inches. Somewhere in that range is the fabric for your project.
The name “duck” comes from the Dutch word doek, meaning a heavy cotton cloth. Sailcloth importers in the 1800s stamped a duck logo on their bolts, and the name stuck. Textile history is full of things that don’t make perfect sense. We’ve made our peace with it. You’ll also hear the term “Double Fill” ducks thrown around. It implies two yarns in the fill direction. That’s technically wrong, but it’s what the industry says. We know the difference. We just don’t correct people at trade shows!
Third party, USA accredited lab test reports are available. Tensile, tear, weight — the works. We’ll share them when you’re ready to talk. Not because we’re secretive. Because we put real work into them and prefer to know who’s reading.
Construction : Yarns : 10/2 x 10/2 Thread Count : 44 x 32
Weight : ~11.4 Oz/Sq.Yd (385 gsm)
Stock Widths : 36″ to 144″
Description : Lightweight, but it still means business.
The lightest member of the Number Duck family. #12 has a smooth texture and a tight weave at around 11.5 oz/sq.yd. It’s the one you pick when you need the durability of a duck but don’t want the weight of a truck. Think of it as the approachable duck. The one you’d introduce to your parents.
Where it goes: Tote bags. Artist canvas. Conveyor belts in food and baking. Promotional products. Coating. Seat covers. Filter bags. And plenty of other places, if only our customers would share their secrets!
If Number Ducks had a poster child, #10 would be it. Around 14.5 oz/sq.yd. Not too light, not too heavy. Just right for the kind of work that pays the bills. We also stock it in our dyed collection “Pantheon” — same fabric, more personality.
Where it goes: Tote bags. Artist canvas. Messenger bags. Tool bags. Tarps. Director chairs. Military covers. Aeronautical applications. Rubber industry. Promotional products. Carpet backing. Filter bags and more.
#8 is where things start getting serious. At nearly 18 ounces, it’s the duck you reach for when the job involves sharp tools, heavy loads, or rough handling. We also stock it in our dyed collection “Hera” — because even tough fabrics deserve a little style.
Where it goes: Mail bags. Tool bags. Military covers. Nail aprons. Woodworking gear. Oil press bags. Carpet backing. Filter bags. Messenger bags that have seen things.
#6 is not here to make friends. At around 20 ounces per square yard, it’s built for applications where failure isn’t an option and complaints travel fast. The kind of jobs where the fabric works harder than anyone watching.
Where it goes: Tool buckets. Industrial hoses. Agricultural conveyor belts. Rubber coating. Carpet backing. Filter bags. Anything that needs to outlast the warranty.
#4 is a contradiction that works. Heavy enough to handle serious abuse. Good-looking enough that high-end bag makers keep coming back for it. With 5-plied yarns in both directions, it has the kind of strength that earns repeat orders. Treat it right and it’ll outlast most things you put in it.
Where it goes: Boat totes. Pannier bags. Equestrian gear. Construction tool bags. Carpet backing. Designer bags that cost more than our first warehouse.
This bag was made from a roll of #4 Duck rejected by a customer 25+ years ago. They wrote "BAD" on it. The author of this page has owned it ever since, added "SHAH" to make it "BADSHAH" — Persian for "King" — and has never washed it. Not once. The irony is not lost on us. The bag's still going strong. So is the customer, actually. Time for a reunion?
#1 is built for abuse. Electrical tools. Construction gear. The kind of work that destroys lesser fabrics before lunch. With 5-plied yarns in both directions and a weight that crosses 25 ounces, it’s less a fabric and more a statement: this thing is going to outlast whatever you put it through.
Where it goes: Pannier bags. Construction tool bags. Carpet backing. Rubber boots. Conveyor Belts. Jobs where “good enough” isn’t.
The “One O” Duck sits in that narrow space between #1 and 2/0, and it doesn’t apologize for it. It’s built for heavy tool bags and anything else that needs to survive a construction site, a workshop, or a bad attitude. At 28+ ounces, it’s past heavy. It’s deliberate.
A brief moment of textile history: Back in 1943, Federal Spec CCC-D-771B laid out the rules for these Naught Ducks with military precision. The spec went all the way up to 12/0 — a 48-ounce monster made with 9-plied yarns in both directions. That’s not fabric. That’s flooring. We don’t stock 12/0. Nobody does anymore. The world has gotten softer. We still do 1/0 and 2/0 though, for the few who refuse to.
Where it goes: Pannier bags. Construction tool bags. Carpet backing. Belts. Movie prop sets. If someone on set asks if it’s period-accurate, just say yes.
This is the heaviest cloth we stock. 32 ounces per square yard. Woven on shuttle looms with a closed selvedge — old-school, slow, and exactly the way it should be. You don’t rush something built to carry saddle pannier bags, construction tools, or the grudges of a generation.
If the 12/0 Duck from the 1943 federal spec was the battleship, 2/0 is the destroyer that’s still in service. Nobody makes 12/0 anymore. This is as heavy as it gets without calling a museum. James Bond would approve. Double O. Licensed to hold weight.
Where it goes: Equestrian pannier bags. Construction tool bags. Carpet backing. Inside the rubber boots. Things that need to outlive us all.
