New Zimmerbuilt pack

He makes beautiful stuff, doesn't he??
Nice pack!!

That's a sweet looking pack

Looks good. When you receive it, please post some photos and words to describe the frame. Particularly, how is the frame integrated into the pack. Thanks!

I've been sketching some designs and plan on contacting Zimmer soon.

He makes beautiful stuff, doesn't he??

Yeah most definitely Jen, … if someone wants some great construction in a UL/lightweight pack … and knows precisely what they want, a Zimmerbuilt pack is definitely a functional work of art.

Thanks Timothy. Been thinking about this pack for some time and Chris Zimmer's construction pulled it off flawlessly.

Alex asked about the … frame …

Photos have flash since my pack is black..

The frame is a standard hooped aluminum dual stay going down to the bottom of the pack (so do not think I'm giving anything away here). There's a thin pocket for a thin Gossamer Gear pad to fit into. It's the same frame set up but it might be a bit burlier than (iirc) other cottage packs … The plan is to use this as a winter daypack and general travel pack too, so what's an oz or 2? ..

Below is the hoop in detail (came in sideways):

By loosening the webbing, the frame comes right out.

For the sides and top, I went with heavier webbing for equipment but also monster compression when transferring through cities and transportation hubs. On the outskirts, find a grocer and fill with food, water, wine (transfer to collapsible bladder), ….beer. Looking at similar Zimmerbuilt packs, these probably account for a few extra oz's. Thought about compression webbing on the bottom ala Golite but trying to keep it light.

Congrats. I have had two built by him and lust for a third. It'd nice to be about to design your own pack, and not have to build it… looks good lots of storage.

I also like the vx21? For the base, it still be much more waterproof. The x grid would start to fray and absorb water over time, the x pac is essentially like a bathtub.

Thank you for posting the photos of the frame and your description. I'm now even more intrigued by Zimmer's work.

I've used my new Zimmerbuilt ZB2 on two backpacking trips and decided that I need to do something about the hipbelt. The padding, shape, support, and fit feel good, but the relatively narrow one-inch webbing that connects the two sides can get annoying after a while. Due to the narrow width, it begins to dig in to my stomach and cause discomfort. How hard is it to replace the narrow webbing and associated buckles with something wider like HMG uses (2"?)?

I'd imagine you would just need to anchor the new webbing on the hip belt (mine is sewn in using two series of stitches on either side). Getting the stitching down may be tough if you cant sew into foam. I haven't had a problem with my ZB-2 hip belt with a 9 lb. baseweight.

Alex: Here's my hip belt attachment detail

I would think you would just need to replicate the stitches with a bigger size, coordinating with the daisy chain on your hip belt. Might want to ask Chris though.

Nice stuff!

Nice design and a very good choice of pack maker.

If'n I ever get a custom backpack it will be a Zimmerbuilt.

After taking my first sewing class! I would think it shouldn't be too hard to remove the stitches holding the webbing in place and just add a wider one. Send Chris an email – he might be able to do that for you pretty easily.

I don't understand pack design–what's the purpose of such long padded shoulder straps, with padding that goes all the way down past the shoulders, to the lower attachment point?

Delmar – That's a picture Chris always sends before mailing a pack and there's slack in the webbing you are not seeing. When you put it on, the pack isn't as big and there's plenty of slack for a custom fit.

Right, I understand about the slack, but I'm wondering about the long vertical length of the padding in the shoulder straps? The lower portion of it would seem to be padding against the air under your arms. Or does it pad against the ribs?

I'm asking because on my pack (a GG Crown), I think I have half the length in shoulder strap padding, and have never missed not having more. But maybe placement is different on the Zimmer pack and the lower portion of the shoulder strap actually rests against the body somewhere?

Or maybe this pack rides lower than I'm imagining, and the shoulder straps loop a ways up before coming over and down. Because now I do notice the sternum strap seems to be pretty low, also. Or maybe the pack is built for a guy with a really huge chest.

These are not criticisms–I don't understand pack design and am just trying to learn.

I have a large chest measurement so for me, the longer padded section of the shoulder straps are ideal. Ironically, the short padded shoulder straps are one of my beefs with the Crown. Obviously this has to do much with individual body types…

@vDelmar : ribs for me but my torso has always had a large "tailors drop". My old Granite Gear Vapor Trail (L) was a great fit too but discontinued after the bottom was sliced open. Took me a few tries but I got a "right fit" via my 23" Zimmerbuilts. Felt great when loaded.

HK Newman and Jennifer,

Thanks for the confirmation. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to "rip" the stitches holding the current 1" webbing and resewing wider (2") webbing in its place. I planned on talking to Chris about it, but wanted to ping it off the forum for ideas. I'll contact Chris shortly.

Delmar,

Exped actually does this to their shoulder straps on the Lightning packs. The portion over the arch of the shoulder is comfortably padded but after that it thins to pretty much just double sided nylon until the armpit where it connects to webbing with a ladderloc. It works fine, but the straps on this Zimmerbuilt pack are much more comfortable and fit me better. As Dave mentioned, I usually find the padded portion of the shoulder straps too short on most packs.

Chris said he'll do it! He doesn't have the necessary hardware and webbing (1.5" or 2" wide) so I'll have to source that, but that shouldn't be too hard, right?

/

I slid a Gregory 3D belt over my Zimmer. Its the best!

"I slid a Gregory 3D belt over my Zimmer. Its the best!"

Haha, awesome! The hipbelt on my Zimmerbuilt pack fits and supports really well. It's just the relatively narrow webbing that's bothering me. Anyways, thanks for sharing.