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1,800 cu in day bag for hunting with Challenge Ultra 200

This topic has 14 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 1 month ago by Philip Tschersich.

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Nov 20, 2023 at 2:21 pm #3793560

Philip Tschersich
BPL Member

@philip-ak
Locale: Kodiak Alaska

Seek Outside makes amazing load-hauling frames and suspension systems for hunters. They also make a decent variety of pack bags in different sizes and pocket arrangements to go with their frames, but the smallest is 3,500 cu in (setting aside their tiny Merlin day bag). That’s the size I use on a 5-day elk hunt in Alaska, not what I want to carry on a day hunt. So a few years ago I started playing with designing my own day pack for my SO platform, and this is the latest iteration. So far I have made 4 of them and given them away to friends who also use the SO platform.

In the past I always used Xpac in VX21 or VX42 as I really like that fabric. But this time I went with Challenge Ultra 200, and I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with the fabric. It’s incredibly difficult to cut, so once I picked up a powered rotary cutter (which works great) and was actually able to cut my panels, the rest was smooth sailing. The Ultra 200 plays nicely with my sewing machine, is easy to manipulate, takes stitching brilliantly, folds effectively and holds its shape, and is just a pleasure to work with in every regard. Very light and insanely tough.

Here are the individual panels of the body finished and ready to join:

The side panels attached to the bottom panel which will create a 2″ bathtub bottom:

Three of the 4 sides joined:

I goofed one small detail up (the position of a gear loop), but otherwise I really like the final product:

My minor booboo: I meant to have the gear loop on the vertical seam above the top of the bottle pocket, not below it.

Anyway, I’m happy with it and from a sewing perspective I can heartily recommend playing with Ultra 200 as long as you have a way to cut it.

Nov 20, 2023 at 4:59 pm #3793573

Nicholas P
BPL Member

@io
Locale: Acadia National Park

Nice work!
One of these day I’d like try my hand at the MYOG game. I don’t hunt but I would really like to design and build a splitboard specific pac as there really aren’t a lot of UL offerings for packs with the feature set I would like.

Nov 21, 2023 at 9:53 am #3793624

Dan Ransom
BPL Member

@danransom
Locale: Utah

That looks outstanding. Nice work!

Nov 21, 2023 at 11:22 am #3793628

Philip Tschersich
BPL Member

@philip-ak
Locale: Kodiak Alaska

Thanks guys. Nicholas- yes, definitely get into MYOG. Sewing takes patience and experience to get right, but like any skill you learn by doing. Start with basic items like stuff sacks and work your way up. Once you get a basic level of proficiency, it’s cool what you can create. Also, it allows you to modify existing gear to better suit your needs.

I weighed the bag and it came in at 220g (7.75 oz). It’s interesting that dropping down to Ultra 100 from 200 only saves 0.5 oz/yd (3.0 oz vs 3.5 oz) so a fair amount of the fabric weight is the Mylar backing, the 45 degree crossply yarn in the 100, etc.

Nov 21, 2023 at 11:34 am #3793630

David Thomas
BPL Member

@davidinkenai
Locale: North Woods. Far North.

Sweet. And good looking!

Nov 21, 2023 at 7:54 pm #3793662

Greg Pehrson
BPL Member

@gregpehrson
Locale: playa del caballo blanco

I really like MYOG posts like this one that show stages of the construction process. And when the builders talk about oops moments along the way. As someone who has lots of oops moments in my sewing, it’s very reassuring.

Philip, the pack looks great! The way the orange loops pop against the gray is such a nice color contrast and I bet makes them that much easier to locate and clip into. What do you use the vertical loop along the lip of the water bottle pocket for?

Thanks for sharing.

Nov 22, 2023 at 10:50 am #3793688

Philip Tschersich
BPL Member

@philip-ak
Locale: Kodiak Alaska

Greg- the vertical gear loop on the bottle pocket is an anchor point for when I want to cinch the roll-top of the bag down along the sides rather than clip it to itself, or if I run a top lid. On standard SO packs you just use one of the normal gear loops, but it ends up pulling the loop at a 90-degree angle to the loop’s intended pull direction. So I just gave myself an optional spot for vertical strap pulls.

Cheers

Nov 22, 2023 at 4:27 pm #3793721

Logan K
BPL Member

@logan
Locale: Florida

That looks great! What an awesome idea for the SO platform!

Nov 24, 2023 at 11:28 am #3793815

Philip Tschersich
BPL Member

@philip-ak
Locale: Kodiak Alaska

Believe me, every time I sew one of these I send pics to Kevin at SO and prod him gently to make something comparable. He hasn’t bitten yet, but I think I’m wearing him down, haha.

Dec 16, 2023 at 6:32 pm #3799774

Eric Blanche
BPL Member

@eblanche
Locale: Northeast US

Looks great Philip!

Dec 16, 2023 at 6:52 pm #3799775

Thom
BPL Member

@popcornman
Locale: N NY

Very nice. I agree they need a mid size pack.
thom

Dec 17, 2023 at 3:00 pm #3799817

David Gardner
BPL Member

@gearmaker
Locale: Northern California

Pro quality work. Excellent design too.

Dec 18, 2023 at 5:48 pm #3799893

Diane “Piper” Soini
BPL Member

@sbhikes
Locale: Santa Barbara

Wow, great pictures and a nice looking pack. The orange and gray is a nice combo. I really appreciate the 4-sided assembly picture because it helps to understand how a bathtub “floor” for a backpack is made. I’ve been thinking of trying a 4-sided pack instead of the 2-panel packs I’ve made where you have 2 pieces for the pack body instead of 4. I’ve also been thinking of trying a pack where it’s really one big piece for the back, bottom and front and then 2 separate pieces for the sides. I am not sure what all the advantages and disadvantages are.

Dec 20, 2023 at 5:30 am #3799967

Greg Pehrson
BPL Member

@gregpehrson
Locale: playa del caballo blanco

Piper, my experience has been that the main benefit of a 4-sided assembly is that it allows you to sew all of the pockets and webbing into the seams instead of onto the middle of a panel, and the seam spreads out the stress load. My first MYOG pack was just one piece of fabric that I sewed 2 bottle pockets and front mesh pocket directly onto. I sewed it into a cylinder (with the single seam running up the back between the shoulder straps), and rolled the bottom and squared it off (like making a flat-bottom stuff sack). Granted, I was using a lightweight nylon ripstop, but over time, the weight of the bottles in the side pockets started to create stitch elongation where the pockets were attached to the main bag, eventually leading to holes there. If I were to do a one or two piece pack construction now, I’d use a more durable fabric and/or add a strip of reinforcing fabric to the back side of anything I’m not sewing into a seam.

I’ve made four backpacks at this point and consider myself very much a novice still. Philip’s construction is exponentially better than mine.

Dec 20, 2023 at 1:09 pm #3799994

Philip Tschersich
BPL Member

@philip-ak
Locale: Kodiak Alaska

I would be happy to post some of my design scribbles if anyone wants to copy aspects or the complete bag. The only slightly tricky bit is the oddly-shaped outer zippered pocket.

I’m glad folks are getting some DIY inspiration from this. Cheers.
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