Making a Pack

[Mark W Heninger]

I have no idea what got into me. Maybe it was the inexpensive deal on sil-nylon I got from Oware. Maybe it was just that periodic drive to DIY. Maybe, as my wife suspects, I’m a bit loony.

Well, regardless, I decided to sew my own Super Ultra Light pack. I have a Mariposa. I have an Essence (man, that 90 dollar deal was too much to withstand). But both of those clock in above 10 oz. I wanted something that came in at around 6 oz for my SUL gear.

So I spent some time online looking at a variety of packs. I downloaded directions from thru-hiker.com, Gossamer Gear and looked at pretty much every other pack out there. In the end, I decided on something that is a unholy cross between the Fanatic Fringe Alpine Trail, the Golite Breeze and the Gossamer Gear stuff.

Here are some pictures:

Making a Pack

It clocks in at 5.5 oz. It holds, oh lets say about 1700 ci of gear (give or take a few inches).

It sports:

1. 3 big mesh pockets (sides, front)
2. Draw String extension collar
3. Over the top compression strap
4. Silnylon sides/front and 200 cordura back/bottom
5. 2.5” wide straps w/ anti-slip fabric on the bottom
6. Haul Loop

It took about 5 hours to make, give or take some for cutting the silly slippery sil-nylon. Plugged in the Ipod and let it shuffle while I put it together. The assembly was pretty much following the Gossamer Gear G4 instructions but with my own custom pattern. Of course, for the money I spent, I could have purchased a Fanatic Fringe pack, but hey, it’s the journey my friend.

Now to try it out – hope the seams hold <grin>

[Anonymous]

Looks nice.
Where did you get hte mesh for your pack?
What is the mesh called (its name)?
How much does it weigh per yard?
Thanks

[Mark W Heninger]

I got the mesh at Seattle Fabrics.

It was called Athletic Mesh.

http://www.seattlefabrics.com/mesh.html

7.99 a yard.

Dont’ know how much it weighs.

[Jay Ham]

I give it a two thumbs up!! Nice stitch work too.

Jay

[David Stenberg]

Great pack! How did you pad the shoulder straps? Did you put anything inside like pieces of foam or is it just fabric?

[Mark W Heninger]

Used a closed cell foam pad I had lying around. If I were to redo it I’d use some 1/8 Thinlight foam from Gossamer Gear instead – with such a light pack, you don’t need the padding.

Took it on a 5 hour day hike last saturday and it worked perfectly.

[Author]

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