210d Dyneema X Gridstop-Question

My old Golite Gust backpack is made of dyneema gridstop and has a drawstring closure at the top. It closes just fine. I can't decide if I should unpick the whole pack and use it as a pattern for Dyneema/Cuben hybrids. I really love it as a pack and of course once it's gone…
Matt

If you have doubts about the stiffness, just make the actual tunnel out of a different fabric, lighter and more flexible.

Daryl, the X Grid closes just fine.
It only gets slightly thick.
We do it all the time.

How tall the tube is has a bearing on it also. A tube short in height would be harder to close than a taller one. Ours must be close to 1.5" to 2" tall. (I'm away right now so can't measure.) Grommets are the alternet, but drawstrings can hang up on things you are trying to stuff in small circumference packs.

Mathew, Paul, Dan,

Thanks for the responses.

I am now more than prepared to move forward with confidence toward closure on this subject.

sew in a bunch of tiny loops of grosgrain or webbing can take the place of grommets.

David, great idea, I never thought of that.

Another way is to heat a hole through the fabric with a paperclip, or thicker. High heats will burn it (like red hot. Slow work, it may take 5 minutes to do a pack. The melting seem to form a good ring around raw fadric. On heavier stuff, like tarp/staff keepers, I use a 12 or 16 penny nail.

Hi Daryl,
if it's any help, here are a few photos of the Golite Gust.

Here is a closeup of the collar. It has a good 1 inch tube for the drawstring, as mentioned above.

Here it is closed up:

There is slight resistance to the drawcord when you close it up, but that is from the heavy PU coating. The grommet is just straight through the dyneema, but I would be tempted to add some grosgrain and go through both layers with the grommet. Personally, I would also use 140d dyneema for the whole of the collar as it is a low wear point. Good luck.
Matt

I'm adding the grommet ideas to my trick bag. I'm sure they will come in handy somewhere.

Mathew,

Photos were very helpful.

Thanks.

Daryl,
I did what David Olsen suggested with a dark green 'white widow' spectra gridstop pack made in 2007. The fabric is similar in weight, around 4 oz. For strength, a light half inch webbing was used rather than grosgrain or twill tape for the loops.

The sleeve does not go completely over the pack contents, leaving an opening of a few inches when tightly cinched at the top. But this is OK, because there is another sleeve sewn inside it made of lighter WP fabric that has lighter loops of quarter inch wide cord with another drawstring and cord lock. The inside sleeve cinches up to a tight closure (there is a top pocket that goes over this).

The idea was for the outside sleeve to take all the pressure of compressing the pack contents, and the inner sleeve to provide water resistance. It has worked very well, with no loops pulling out. I don't think grommets could have withstood the pressure I put on the outside sleeve when jamming everything in for a week.

Sorry I don't have a photo of the pack with the top pocket off and the sleeves in view. The dark green gridstop makes it hard to see any detail anyway. Here, you can see what I mean:

In addition to the top pocket and tailored bottle pockets on the outside, there is an additional envelope pocket on the inside for maps, notebooks, flat items that need to be kept dry.

Samuel,

"Sorry I don't have a photo of the pack with the top pocket off and the sleeves in view."

No problem. Your words paint a good picture.
Thanks for the example, experience and info.
That's a nice looking pack.