MYOG Gone Bad

I don't know Daryl, I think 5+ years is pretty darned good!

Daryl Daryl Daryl….

… Clearly your craftsmanship didn't go bad! She was just too rough on it! :)

Sorry it broke, as I know she enjoyed that pack based on other threads where you've mentioned it. I hope she finds a comfy pack to fill the void for the trip.

It's karma for leaving you behind on the trip ;)

Yeah 5 years sounds pretty good for any UL gear that supports weight. I bet you'll be able to fix the pack when she gets back though, right?

Dustin,

Yes, I can easily fix the pack at home….if she brings it home. I told her to throw it away if she doesn't want to carry it around. No big deal.

I am just sorry she will have to go through the hassle of buying a new pack during her trip. She'll probably end up with a several pound pack instead of the 10 ounce one that broke.

On the positive side I now know where the breaking point is on these frames and what type of margin of error makes sense. I kept going lighter and lighter on the frames and nothing ever broke. I started taking things for granted.

My wife just reminded me that the pack frame was over 10 years old. Now I feel stupid for not having replaced it years ago.

10oz framed pack? Can you show us?

HERE

Steven,

Thread above will give you some examples in the 7-16 ounce range.

Daryl

What will be bad is you'll be stuck with a purchased pack after she comes back : )

Jerry,

I'll have some more stuff to give away.

Just talked to my wife. If she can find two rods or tubes about 1/4" od and about 18" long she can replace the broken ones without tools.

I forgot that I made the pack "field serviceable". (My Marine Corps training must have been working sub consciously when I made that pack.)

> If she can find two rods or tubes about 1/4" od and about 18" long she can replace
> the broken ones without tools.

Archery shop.

Cheers

Where and when is she going to be in NZ?

Assuming she arrives at either Auckland or Christchurch, either Archery shop as Roger suggests, or alternatively major hardware shops carry aluminium tubing of suitable size. Softish, but should do the job. Bunnings, Mitre 10 mega, and Placemakers all do. Suggest she phones first. It will be metric sized, but close enough, in fact may even be exactly so at 6.35 mm.

Roger, Alister, others,

Thanks for the info.

Being a small country the size of UK, with a small population, (4Mil), there are plenty of wild places. In two hours by car, from anywhere in the country, you can get to good hiking (tramping) areas. So outdoor activities are extremely popular, and equipment readily available.
Temperatures are relatively benign, but being between the tropics and the roaring forties the weather is extremely changeable at all seasons. So you have to be prepared for rain, gales, midges and even snow at any time of the year.
So the history is for bomb-proof but rather heavy gear.
Tracks, (trails) are much better now than they were say even 30 years ago. Main ones have plenty of huts, (I understand there is nearly 1000 public and private ones in the country) and the popular trips are well documented. One paperback I have is entitled "75 great NZ tramps" and it does not even include my favourites. But trips can range from easy to near impossible- just choose your own challenge.
Because of the weather and the rugged terrain, ultra-light equipment is seldom used and not readily available. However hiking equipment shops are very common, selling mid-weight equipment such as Deuter, Osprey, Mamont, Mountain Design, etc. One suburb in Auckland, (our biggest city) has 5 Hiking specialist stores within 100 metres. Even my local centre 20 Km from the city centre has two, Tourist centres such as Queenstown, Wanaka, etc are well served.
Prices are slightly higher than in the States, but not greatly so. See https://www.bivouac.co.nz/‎ for a typical range. Take off 15% to convert to US dollars. (You can also get cheap chinese made packs for 60$US, or a dome tent for $50 US).
It is possible to hire equipment as well. Or an economic alternative if staying longeris to buy second hand. Google "TradeMe" for our equivalent to Ebay, but rather more reputable.
Beware of tramping alone. We lose permanently two or three overseas solo hikers each year. The latest was on the Te Araroa trail, which is low level, extremely spectacular, and relatively safe. (Zpacks Joe and his wife recently did it, using his own UL gear).

I'm happy to answer questions.

Wasn't in the Marines. That must be why my MYOG stuff keeps falling apart.

Daryl,
Don't know what's in hardware stores Down Under, but in the US it is easy to find the small diameter solid fiberglass rods that are used for stick-in-the-ground driveway reflective markers and a lot of other things. They are more flexible than carbon fiber, and usually run a little over a quarter inch. Don't know if that's good or bad for your design. But they are plenty strong and designed to hold up against the elements. And they are cheap. Might have to buy the reflector with it though, and suffer an ounce or two more weight from the heavier fiberglass.

Seems like everyone missed the very important point here…

Your wife is going backpacking in NZ, and you are staying home? Now that is a problem! Go down there, fix it, and join her for a few weeks of hiking!!!!!!

Samuel,

Good idea on the fiberglass rods. I wish I could be there to McGiver this thing together for her.

Nick,

My wife likes to travel much much more than I do. I prefer to just backpack in Washington state. In the last few years she has hiked/camped and backpacked on Everest, across Spain, in Patagonia, in Washington and Colorado and now in New Zealand. And last year she bike/camped across the US for the second time…..and she's 68.

If I tried to keep up with her I'd be dead or crazy by now.

All,

I've passed all of your ideas on to her.

Just got an e-mail from her saying she got a guy to cut her a couple pieces of aluminum tubing to replace the broken fiberglass ones. Time will tell how this adventure turns out.

"Just got an e-mail from her saying she got a guy to cut her a couple pieces of aluminum tubing to replace the broken fiberglass ones. Time will tell how this adventure turns out."

With her attitude, it seems it's already turning out pretty good!