Sea To Summit UltraSil DayPack Mods

250g seems quite a bit for a plastic frame. Maybe use a closed cell foam to just pad your back instead since you can't transfer any load to your hips anyway with that design.

I wouldn't discount your MYOG ability too soon. If you have access to a sewing machine it's pretty darn easy to make a pack at least as useful as that STS pack. I'm currently working on one similar in design to STS' waterproof Sil nylon daypack, made out of much tougher fabric, with much more comfortable shoulder straps and an external pocket that weighs 200g (no frame). Sure, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't that hard either. Main obstacle for me was time and fussiness of design.

Seriously if you want to make a simple, functional pack just whack a rectangle of fabric together (I did front/sides/bottom out of 1 piece of fabric and back out of one), sew a zip, drawcord or rolltop closure and add padded shoulder straps like here: http://www.zimmerbuilt.com/padded-shoulder-straps.html

Or just buy one. Someone's gotta keep the cottage guys going ;)

Edit: Forgot to mention, MYOG is fun! And satisfying!

I think it's cool that you're experimenting with modifying and trying different things on this pack, but as a fellow owner and user of this pack, most of the mods have me asking why. The beauty of this pack is that it weighs less than 3 oz and really it's not designed to carry much volume and especially not weight. Frame? Who needs a frame when you're carrying between a range of 4.5 to 10 lbs total pack weight? If you need to carry more than that, why not just use another pack which is functionally designed to do so?

The one mod i made to my pack was i sewed some linen-poly blend fabric onto part of the straps (the part that goes over the shoulders). Those sil nylon straps sure are slippery, and the linen-poly material helps to reduce that and absorbs some of the sweat also reducing slip factor. I find with having somewhat wide/broad shoulders, combined with the mod, and with keeping my pack weight low, i don't need a sternum strap or the like otherwise.

Anyways, i appreciate you sharing about this, as i have an innate respect for any person or project involving mods or scratch creating/designing. Far too many people never even really try it out and are missing out on a lot, and those of us interested in same learn from others and their projects and/or make us think more deeply about things.

Well done! I'm already in the poor house/dog house with all the gear I'm buying this spring so what's another $30?

My Ohm 2.0 should be landing tomorrow or Friday. I'd like to try this, the REI Stuff Travel Pack, or the Flash 18 as a means to dip my toes into a SUL overnighter.

This looks like it has multiple uses as a food bag or for a bodacious super duper ul side excursion pack.

Have you put 24hrs worth of gear in there successfully?

I've been agonizing over this choice for several months now. After looking at all the choices, I kept coming back to the ULA Ohm 2.0. It has a great reputation and seems to be a nice compromise of low weight and durability plus it can carry 25-30lbs. I hope to keep my total pack weight below 20 but we'll see. The hip belt was 50% of the decision for me. I was going to buy the Circuit as it is bear canister friendly and I'm considering the JMT next year. The Ohm is ~ 10oz lighter and I've had my heart set on it for a while. If I made the wrong choice then it seems to have good re sale.

I'll deal with JMT and the Bear Canister issue next fall/winter.

Even going further into the weeds…

My short term goal was to get my gear solidly into the UL realm with a total pack weight <20lbs (trip dependent.) Yes the number is arbitrary but establishing that as a goal forced me to make tough but correct choices in gear along the way. My Hexamid Twin won't be here until next month but I'm projecting a base weight of 8-10 lbs. Much better than the 50lb life draining tick I was carrying in the Cascades not so long ago.

My long term goal is to transition to SUL for more ambitious trips with a total pack weight under 15lbs. I'm going to have to let my debit card cool down from all the recent abuse so that'll be a next year thing.

I won’t even get into my pulk project…

Edited for felonious run on sentence modification.

Hi Daniel,

I made bit of a mistake earlier, i assumed that you packed uber light when using this backpack, which is why i didn't understand some of the mods you talked about. Sounds like you've found a good and pretty lightweight alternative way of carrying more weight making it more comfortable for you and your needs.

Re: recommending another pack, i'm no pack guru by any means. There are many more people here that are much better to ask that too. I just don't have that much pack experience–the only reason why i commented on this thread is because i do have and use this pack, but i've learned i use it differently.

Best of luck and keep us updated with the mods and you're experience.

Ian, i have two of the Sea to Summit UltraSil "day" packs, one with a mod and one without. I really wouldn't mind at all sending out the un moded one to you for you to try for a bit–i trust that you would return it. I would need it back before June 15th because of a trip that my wife and i are taking together. Shipping should be super cheap because of how light and small this thing is. I highly recommend going as light and minimalist with this pack for an over nighter as you can, if you decide you want to try it. I regularly do over nighters with this pack (well, my new job wherein i have to work every other weekend has slowed that down lately)–its now my go to overnighter unless i'm hiking with my wife.

Justin,

That is an unbelievably kind offer! I'm making a run to REI tomorrow to pick up some gear. If they don't have it in the store, I may take you up on that offer.

Thanks!

Ian

No big deal Ian. Yep, let me know. I have today off, so i could ship it today.

For Daniel:

Earlier you asked for an alternative. I haven't tried this pack yet myself, so this is not a real or trustworthy recommendation, but i've been looking at and considering the MLD Newt for a little while now. At 70 dollars, its bit more than twice expensive as the Sea to Summit pack, but you should be able to comfortably carry more weight straight out of the box, and it has 8 more liters of volume capacity. Should last significantly longer as well (but i'm just guessing on that).

Some might be interested in what i usually pack using this pack. These are for my solo overnighters in non winter season:

I pack my EE 40 degree slim and short quilt, sometimes my medium Stoic hadron anorak jacket w/ hood, NeoAir All Season M pad, sometimes my Sea to Summit poncho-tarp (being replaced soonish by a custom Zpacks cuben poncho-tarp, which will be bigger but less weight) or sometimes the kite tyvek bivy i made, some titanium stakes (if i bring the poncho tarp), an emergency Frogg Toggs poncho, sometimes Sea to Summit 1 p NANO pyramid net, a pair of extra, warm socks, some food, and a bit of water. Depending on forecasted conditions, my total pack weight usually ranges from about 5 to 8lbs.

When i go for over nighters, i usually hike where there is plenty of good water easily available so i don't pack much water. I also don't tend to eat as much as most people having trained my body to a consistently lower calorie diet (as well as being a shorter person), so i don't bring much food. Lately, i just bring cold, light but energy dense food hence do away with stove, cookset, etc. I just don't find it necessary on short trips, unless it's cold. Since i have and will hike when temps drop below 20 degrees (not -20, but less than 20), i do then take my stove/cookset but in those winter cases i don't use the Sea to Summit pack but either my Golite Jam 70L pack or my home-made Carbon Fiber arrow and dyneema cord pack (which i need to fix since one of the epoxy corners cracked–having not been reinforced enough).

I also often hike on the AT (Shenandoah N.P. more specifically), and often take take advantage of the shelters if there is space (will move if thru hikers show up and need/want the space).

People hiking under different conditions, who eat more, bring a cookset, have much colder temps (eg much higher altitudes), do a lot of bushwacking, etc., may find that this pack for overnighters is just not for them for lack of space, durability issues, not comfortable when carrying heavier stuff, etc. I also often use a Zpacks cuben multi pack in "fanny mode" in conjunction with the Sea To Summit pack, for the essentials–fire kit, small knife, headlamp & extra batteries, a space blanket, sawyer squeeze filter and pouch, lightweight cord, etc and usually i put some spare snacks in there for easy reach. Since i don't really "feel" this or the minimal weight, i tend not to count it in my total pack weight and consider it more on skin weight. Perhaps that is considered cheating here, i don't know and frankly don't care ;)

I used this pack for hut-to-hut hiking in Switzerland. Somehow I found about 12 pounds of stuff to put in it, which included water, a lot of extra clothes I never used and binoculars that I forgot I had with me. I added a sternum strap made from some leftover nametag necklace or some such strap that had a clip that made it easy to unhook. The sternum strap attached just below the end of the webbed part of the shoulder straps. The sternum strap kept the shoulder straps from slipping off my shoulders, but caused them to bunch up instead of staying flat on my chest. I think a proper sternum strap for this bag would consist of a couple of triangles of silnylon sewn to the inner edges of the shoulder straps, with either a clip between them or some light cord that could be tied together. This would allow the shoulder straps to stay flat, and the sternum strap itself would be more comfortable as it would be at a better height.

I found that the shoulder strap adjusters would slip at this weight, so I tied knots in the cords to prevent this.

I haven't tried it, so could easily be wrong, but I don't see the use of a frame sheet in this pack, except maybe to keep things from poking you in the back if you are unable to pack them in a way to prevent this. I would be worried that the edges of the framesheet would lead to high wear spots.

I think this pack maybe should be made out of plain untreated nylon. The zipper has zero water resistance anyway, and a drizzle left me with water trapped in the bottom of the pack. Keeping your gear dry must be done with supplemental equipment, so why not save the weight and cost of the coating? The coating seems best at making your back very sweaty.

Daniel: That corrugated plastic is a handy material to keep around. But closer than your nearest Home Depot and $6 cheaper is to take it off a power pole (Being in charge of a electric utility, I can assure you that the utility doesn't want that stuff on their poles). So my projects say things like, "Lose 30 pounds in 30 days" and "George Doofis for City Council" but I figure I'm improving the scenery in the process.