Golite Ion mods?

While I haven't done any permanent modifications to my own Ion yet, the two ideas I have in mind are perfectly feasible…I think. They'll just take time, which is why I haven't done them yet. The first one is to sew a top pocket (basically just a square piece of silnylon) onto the inside of the lid. It would be sewn directly to the lid fabric on three sides and closed with velcro on the fourth side. The purpose of this would be storage of things like snack bars or a headlamp. The second mod I have in mind would require hand stitching and would likely be a bit of a PITA. Nevertheless…with handstitching, it's possible to add a few grosgrain loops around the perimeter of the outside of the pack so a bungee cord could be strung through for compression. This system would add probably 0.6-0.8 ounces but I think it would make the pack a lot more functional. The end result would look almost exactly like the MLD Zip's compression system, except I think with the Ion, you wouldn't need as many loops (7 should do it, I think)> Here's a very rough picture of what I have in mind:

I'm realizing that both of those mods would ADD weight, haha. Aside from removing the plastic buckles from the hipbelt and removing the sternum strap, I couldn't think of a lot to save weight. Here's one, though… trim the hipbelt straps to bare minimum and rig up some short length of elastic or shock cord to keep strap length to a minimum and be able to still get everything snug.

It turns out that this didn't have to be hand stitched after all. I really like the result. I can tuck a rain jacket or a wet tarp under the crossed straps and I can use the attachment points to strap a bulky Nightlight sleeping pad to the outside of the pack. The shock cord isn't the best for compression, it turns out. An inelastic cord would do a better job. However, the shock cord works great to compress the pack to accomodate smaller volume loads and an inelastic cord couln't be as trustworthy to hold an exterior piece of clothing.

Before mods, my size L pack weighed 9.5 ounces. The compression system added approximately 0.5 ouces. The plastic hipbelt buckle weighs 0.4 ounces, and the sternum strap weighs 0.6 ounces. I haven't trimmed the straps yet (I hate this heavy duty webbing that Golite uses!), but I suspect there's another ounce I could drop from this pack just by tailoring the straps (probably could drop a lot more if I cut the straps to within an inch of where they connect with the pack and then sew on a lightweight grosgrain of equal width to effectively replace them, but I'm not so sure about the long term strength of this mod, or if my skills on the sewing machine are up to it.

"It turns out that this didn't have to be hand stitched after all."

How did you attach those points then, if you didnt sew them? and where can i get those–you call them grosgrain loops. are they just really light weight webbing?

I did hand stitch actually, largely because the sewing machine I use lives in another city and I didn't want to wait to do this project until the next time I visit. However, since the pack has no frame, I'm pretty sure that it would be relatively easy to get everything situated under a sewing machine needle, even for that bottom loop I did.

Grosgrain is a very lightweight, yet strong nylon webbing. I'm not sure exactly how much lighter it is than standard webbing (though I'm sure somebody here does), but if I had to guess, I'd say that it's probably about 40% lighter than the webbing Golite uses. For a small project like this, there's probably not going to be a super significant weight savings from using grosgrain instead of standard nylon webbing. I like it, however, because it has a softer hand than standard webbing. It's pretty inexpensive stuff. You can buy it at fabric stores, or the fabric section of Wal-Mart. They call it grosgrain "ribbon" there. Or, you can get it from thru-hiker.com where they also sell shock cord, mini toggles, and other ultralight supplies. The downside to that is the shipping cost, which is $6 no matter how small your order is. Some other online stores that probably have it are Seattle Fabrics, Quest Fabrics and Outdor Wilderness Fabrics.

i think i am going to do something along those lines. i want to store my water filter outside the pack so it doesnt leak inside and i dont have to keep putting it inside a ziplock.

thanks for the tips.

i think i will do the loops too for poles.

i'll post some pics when i'm done.