Making Alice. Pack Project, v1.

[Troy Henderson]

So, I've been in the planning stages for quite some time to make a pretty involved super-pack. Oh yes, I know, nobody wants to see pictures of this pack like I do. However, for the time being, I simply need a backpack and I need this first version to function well, or at least partly well, without a bunch of remakes. So, bypassing the elaborate drawings I have, I decided to return to an early idea that I had.

In December, I had decided that the military Alice pack was a pretty sweet looking pack. I made the first 3 pouches to start building one of my own. These pouches then sat unused, taking a back seat to my water bottle holder project.

Rather than start from scratch, I decided to complete this Alice Pack. I built the main compartment and added a pseudo daisy chain for attachments. Following the traditional Alice design, I installed grommets and a drawstring closure. At the end of the day, I had a sack with three pockets attached.

In this pic you can see my water bottle kit, overseeing the process.

The next day, I built an inner pocket, short frame sheet and attached the lid. I finished the pack on day 3, installing and adjusting the straps. The finished pack…

All in all, I think this pack turned out pretty good. I may do some more work on the outer pockets so that their lids seal things up better. I may adjust the suspension more as well, though it doesn't ride too bad. I'm happy with it, even if it is just a bunch of pouches stuck together.

[Ken Thompson]

Nicely executed. What material are you using?

[David Goodyear]

Good work !

What a timely post, as I am in the final planning stage of sewing my first pack. I just ordered the fabric and supplies.

What did you use as the edging?? grosgrain? What material did you use for the pack? Looks like it can take some abuse.

Mine will definatly not be ultralight and would probably be banned from this site, but I need a pack that can carry a variety of loads for Search and rescue ops.

Nice pics, and thanks for the inspiration

Dave

[Troy Henderson]

Thanks for the compliments! The material is 500D cordura and I used grosgrain for the binding. I do SAR as well and expect this material to hold up fine, though most of my gear is 1000D. It's surprisingly lighter than I thought it would be – my scale says that the pack is 2.5 lbs empty and without the water bottle kit.

I look forward to seeing what you do with your pack. Be sure to post pics! :)

[Bob Gross]

It is a little hard to tell the size. Can you say how large the main bag is with respect to a bear canister? Too many packs are sized all wrong for a bear canister (a typical one is a cylinder of maybe 9" diameter and 8-16" long). Or, they will hold a bear canister but have no space left for anything else.

–B.G.–

[Troy Henderson]

This pack is probably small for a bear canister. The main compartment is 6x11x16h. A canister could be carried strapped between the lid and the main compartment if needed.

[David Goodyear]

it looks like you have made some attachements with rivets. Are they brass? How do they hold up? Do you have a source?

I want to make a sort of molle webbing, but find that the bar tack stitch can weaken the base fabric. I thought about sewing a "box" type stitch for added strength, but I am intrigued with these rivets.

Thanks for your help

Dave

[Troy Henderson]

Hi Dave,

I sew the webbing with a bar tack then reinforce the high stress areas with a copper rivet, purchased from an area leather craft store (Portland Leather). To protect the base material, if it isn't several layers thick, I use a plastic washer to distribute the stress. There's also a drop of superglue at the hole to keep the fabric from fraying.

Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks again!

[David Goodyear]

Hey Troy,

I just posted the pics of my finished modular pack.

Thanks for your help and inspiration

Dave

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?bo=watch&forum_thread_id=48577

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Interesting project. So you don’t like the newer MOLLE packs?

Frame “sheet”? Made of what material?

I’ve used 1″ aluminum stays in two of my packs that had wimpy frame sheets. Bolted the frame thru the pack cloth and frame sheets by melting holes with a red hot spike held in Vis Grips. Works great and transfers the weight to an aftermarket (REI) padded hip belt.

 

 

[BlackHatGuy]

Ummmm, you do realize this thread is from 2011, right? :-)

[MJ H]

Still, looks like nice work.

[Author]

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