Your ZPacks Arc Blast Customizations – (or other UL/MYOG packs)

I had them do a pretty minor mod – that of adding some small
loops to attach a thin bungie between two points on the left side below the side pocket. I do this on all my packs now as a DIY. The lower bungie, covered by plastic tubing plus a bungie loop on my left shoulder strap (no zpacks mod needed there) is used to stow my trekking poles under my arm while moving. I stole this from Osprey, who I'm sure stole it from somewhere else – possibly the only one of their "added features" I have ever liked over the years. Anyway, this is very light and allows me to stow the pole while walking if I need to climb or otherwise do stuff with my hands.

Oh, I also made sure the removed and otherwise sealed up any features associated with hydration systems, which I do not use.

I had Joe add a pocket on the inside of the pack, up against my back. It's a small zippered pocket about 6" x 6". I wanted this to place in my car keys, driver license, money, and credit card. These are important items that I don't want mixed in with the rest of my gear. Once it's zipped up I don't unzip it until I get back to my car.

I figured out where I had read about splitting the large pocket.
See Cesar’s Write-Up
I would love to get opinions on this.

Love my Arc Blast…

But I'd double down on what two other people have said:

– some type of 'permanent' pocket for keys, money, ID is nice. My REI packs have this and you just shove your stuff here until your trip is over.

– The primary front / mesh pocket can get a bit crowed. It becomes a pain trying to access things at the bottom. I basically have to dump everything out.

I was thinking of having a new Arc Blast in 60L capacity. It's only 14g more in weight? If that's right paying 14G for 8L of extra storage is a no brainer!

I'm pushing max capacity now due to food and full length UQ…

I might keep my current Arc Blast just for the summer …

I'd recommend going with a 60L if you can.

Joe modded one for me to fit my 2013 ICON…

I had mine made with no mesh for the front and side pockets just solid cuben less to get snagged when bushwacking but still get the extra space the pockets provide

I found the side-loc buckles on the hip belt pockets to be fiddly and difficult to close–have to reach around with two hands. Joe replaced the side-locs with an elastic loop and a mitten hook, which works great as I can operate it with one hand while on the move.

I am very happy with my modification of two pockets. My Arc Blast has several section hikes under its belt now, and there have been no issues with the pockets at all (or the pack in general). They work great, and pretty much exactly as I had imagined them to work if they were done right, which they were. I can organize my outer-pack gear easier, and having one mesh and one hybrid Cuben works very pragmatically. The bottom pocket has more exposure to abrasion from setting the pack down all the time, and the hybrid Cuben is more suited for this. The top mesh pocket is not as exposed, plus I can still use it to dry out gear like socks and gloves.

Though I am a bit obsessive when it comes to having little baggies and items, I should add. If you're one of those people that likes to just dump all your stuff into one big ditty bag, this mod is probably not for you. What usually goes in these two pockets are: tiny little stuff sack with my spare socks, my small ziplock FAK, small ziplock diddy bag, tiny stuff sack with my head net, 10m of rope neatly wrapped up, spoon, tent stakes in stake sack, head lamp, maps, and often one or two odds and ends find their way in there for each trip.

Still very contented with both packs, btw. In the future I am thinking about getting another very similar Zero to the one I have now, just so my wife can have a smaller and better pack for weekenders and such.

Another thing I should comment on is the space. For me 52 liters is more than enough than I need–plus the side straps and top/bottom straps also give you a lot of flexibility to put more gear/food if needed. On my last section hike, it was 3 days but I packed for 4 days of food (long story, check my last trip report). Fully loaded I could still roll the roll-top down 3 or 4 times. I'm pretty sure that I could stack two 8 liter dry bags full of food one on top of another, which for me would be about 10-12 days of food–and this of course includes my 3 season kit(s).

Hope this helps. Damn fine packs.

I went on to order one of the newer hip belt pockets with the buckle. I would agree that it can be tricky to open with one hand, but after some time I got the hang of it. However what I found to be the best solution is to simply keep the hip belt unbuckled most of the time. When I take off my pack I buckle it, or when more intense hiking is going on, or if it is raining. Otherwise I just fold it over and it works great. Easy to grab my camera, compass, or twin double-edged axes to slay all those annoying trolls and goblins. They're a real pain in the ass this time of year too.

Cesar, are you saying that you had the big front pocket made as two separate pockets?

I have one on order and have definitely pulled up a chair to this thread.

JR – Yes, I am saying that. Check out the link posted above by James to a blog article I posted about it in a first impressions/long term double review.

Oh and btw, thank you kindly for the link James. :)

Yeah, see it now — was only looking at your post. I have two eyes, I'll start using them both.

Looking forward to reading your review.

My arc blast:
52L
no hydration ports

pretty much it. I wouldnt change a thing. Except to remove the side compression cord, because I have never needed to compress a pack unless to use it as a daypack.

I make everything Zimmerbuilt style. I'm working on a cuben hybrid pack with a waterproof pocket integrated into the back mesh panel. I'll be done next weekend for my Zion narrows trip. I'll post it in MYOG section. When you make your own pack you think of ideas as you go along, fun stuff!

After receiving my arc blast with the hip belt pockets I didn't like them at all. I sold them and put on two zimmer built hip pockets which I think are perfect.

Awesome. I'm pretty intrigued by Kuiu's new Ultra 3000. I just realized that they're located less than 20 minutes away from me so I'm going to make a trip over there to check it out in the flesh.

The large pocket from Elemental Horizons (very similar to the Vimmebuilt ones) are also excellent. I too wasn't too happy with the zpacks belts pockets.

OK, so far it is looking like I'll probably do a 52L (I could get by even smaller but will suffer the few additional grams) and add Cesar's mod with the front pocket/s. I'll also and follow John's suggestion about the permanent key/ID/permit pocket. I'd already decided to incorporate Marko's suggested mods – no hydration port and pole holding provisions. I took a look at those pockets by Elemental Horizons, I'm wondering about the 'slick clip' attachment. I'll likely order one and check it out. I find that I am still letting my OCD run wild on the whole hip belt pocket conundrum.

Does anyone have thoughts on Solid vs Mesh water bottle pockets?

I know from experience that I will find things that I would like different – even on the theoretical perfect pack, I'm just trying to leverage the BPL Brain Trust to smooth out as many of 'em as I can.

Thanks again for all the wisdom… keep it coming :)
Pictures are a big +.

Someone PMed me about this so I thought I would just post a picture here. Pretty much the same as the pole carrier on the Osprey Exos, and mostly likely predating the Exos. Nothing new or special here.

I have had other packs with such loops attached to the strap only, but never used them since having them mounted vertically in front is awkward when hiking. Attaching the loops on the back of the pack back means you have to take off the pack. The way it works, of course, is that you put both poles handle first through the strap loop from the bottom, tighten the bungee below the handles, and then reach back and tuck the tips through the bungee on the side. No problem doing it in reverse order if you prefer. All while walking. The poles then go under your arm, and after a few moments you hardly notice. Having the pointy ends point back behind your arms means you can scramble and climb with ease, almost as if they aren't there. Also pretty comfortable in town.

In this case (I just remembered) Zpacks put the webbing loops on the wrong side – normally I have them on the left side of my body when wearing the pack. Remember to specify what left/right means in term of the pack if you care about the side, since it could be interpreted both ways.

DIY Mods can be done on a lot of other packs without anything special if you can find points to attach the lower bungee. The ideal place for the lower bungee attachment points is at the front and back of the SIDE of the pack, at or just below the side pockets. Alternately, as done here, you can attach the front to the side of the belt close to where it attaches to the pack. Adjust the height of the strap bungee to get the angle of the poles the way you prefer.

OK, already way too many words for such a simple mod. Here are a thousand more:

I got a zpacks 60 liter a few months ago…had a copuple of things done to it..side pockets taller to hold tent on one side and 2 liter platy on the other side. On hindsight, I wish they were even taller (up to the frame)so I could add some items above the tent/platy, like my cookpot or my PB "no cook" jar

I also added a 1/2 height cuben pocket over the mesh front pocket. The thinking was to add some protection. It didn't get as much gusset to it as I would have liked, but Ill make it work.

REALLY like the pack, cant wait till June so I can get it out on the PCT for a good test!!

@Marco

Do you know how your mod differs from the zpacks trekking pole holders here? ->

http://zpacks.com/large_image.shtml?backpacks/options/trek_holders_l.jpg

His "star wars arm" is blocking the lower shock cord loop so I can't tell how it is attached or "what" the loop is (like if it has a vinyl tube or not).

And it looks like all you did was tie the shock cord (bottom loop) to the daisy chain on the hipbelt and to the included "base straps" on the zpack? Nice….and yeah, it does look exactly like the exos trekking pole holders.

On the zpacks picture he has a trekking pole under each arm….do you just put both poles on one side like the exos?

del

@rick

So….no, I'm not quite following you…are you saying your trekking poles are directly against your back?

del