I'm looking to redesign the hip belt on my 20 year old 'big' internal frame pack and I was wondering if anyone can snap a few photos of a McHale "critical mass" hip belt and the connection to the aluminum "bayonet" stays. The photos on the McHale site are good, but I'm puzzled by the photos on this page:
http://www.mchalepacks.com/sarc/05.htm
My current pack (made in Vancouver by Coast Mountain, formerly on 4th Ave) has a pair of aluminum stays that are directly connected to a 5'' wide foam belt via stays. The belt is suffering from stitch-rot and the attachment point at the rear of the belt is failing. I'm also taking ideas from a friend's Dana Design arc-flex pack but it seems to be over-engineered to me.
NB: These aren't technically lightweight packs… I'm heading out for a 3 week mountaineering trip to BC/Alberta in a month and was checking over my "heavy gear" in prepearation this morning.
