looking for simple backpack directions.

well, the backpack i made from walmart silnylon was barely big enough for my gear, which packs pretty small and 3 days food. It is a piece of fabric 58×15". i put made some shoulder straps with pieces of fabric and foam that were 3x18x2" with the foam being slightly smaller and a few inches shorter. I sewed them to a peice of webbing 15" wide starting about 2" off center each side. I sewed the webbing to the fabric 6" from the top so the straps come out the top of the webbing over the shoulders. grosgrain tieout loops on either side of the fabric are 1" below the webbing and another set 14" below the first. Then i basically made it into a shaped stuff sack and instead of cutting the triangles off the bottom, I snipped 1" off of it so webbing could fit them and sewed 26" in to connect with ladder locks on the bottom of the straps. Add a drawcord and it was done. It took about 2 hours for me.

Thanks David. I have thought of just adding straps to a stuff sack, but I haven't because I thought it wouldn't work. Knowing that you have done it with success, I think I'll try it.

some of the inexpensive, universal, gun straps I've seen can make nice pack straps.

Thru-hiker also carrys pre-made pack straps.

Straps are the hardest part to make …. other than that, a large stuffsack will work for SUL loads, but loads in the 20 lb range can be uncomfortable.

Another way to make pack straps is to take a larger length of material and sew a seam down one side, turn it inside out and you have a long a tube of material.

Cut a piece of base of blue sleeping bag foam wide enough to fit tightly into the tube. Bend the foam and slide the tube over it.

Leave about 4 inches on one end, tuck in the edge, and sew the tube shut, then sew another seam with a zipper foot right at the base of the foam on one end, then the other end.

Repeat

Attach both to your stuff sack using nylon webbing and a ladder buckle.

There are some excellent instructions on this site in the article "5 yards to SUL" in making a pack and a tarp.

You can make that same pack out of 2nd's silnylon and stay under 6 oz.

Just a thought

another, often overlooked, place to find a great SUL pack is just to buy a closeout Jansport bookbag backpack or similar.

I found a 2000 cu in book bag at Old Navy last year on clearance for $5. It weighed in at 21 oz, but was made from a very durable packcloth and was a panel loader to boot!

I haven't got around to it, but I plan on taking the front pocket off with a seam ripper and replacing it with a web pocket with elastic on the top. I also am considering taking the side pockets off and replacing them with webbing as well, making them large enough for 1 L water bottles. That should drop the pack weight down below 15 oz and increase the capacity to 2500 cu in or so.

The suspension is designed to carry 40 lbs worth of books across campus, so I've used it for my 7 lb baseweight kit with NO problems.

The point is … don't overlook what you may be able to simply modify instead of make from scratch.

also, if you do just add straps to a stuff sack, make sure you reinforce the fabric with webbing or a small panel of farbic. Straps sewn straight to silnylon will not last long at all.