Backpack hardware

[BPLwiia]

I’ve got a Seek Outside pack and am looking to attach the top lid to the pack. There are straps with gatekeepers that work perfectly but I’d like to get rid of the extra length of strap. One way would be to find hardware that has open loops on both end. The picture attached to this post shows a “bachelor buckle” that has one open and and one closed end. I want to find something like this that has two open ends.

Any ideas where to find one?

[Ken Thompson]

I use an s binder to accomplish that on another pack

 

[BlackHatGuy]

Why not just use an S-biner?

[BlackHatGuy]

Mr. Ken and I thinking alike.

[Rex Sanders]

A bachelor buckle with two open ends would probably fall off and get lost eventually. You’ll likely want at least one end to close like a carabiner.

Another possibility – attach the bachelor buckle closed end to the top lid, using the existing straps shortened into a loop with a bar tack. Cut off the existing buckles on the pack, but leave the strap loops intact. When you want to use the lid, connect the bachelor buckle open end to the short loops on the pack.

That way the extra 17 grams for two bachelor buckles stay with the top lid when you aren’t using it, saving a little more weight over the standard configuration.

— Rex

[Nathan Coleman]

What pack do you have, and is the newer version set up for gatekeepers, or the older SR version?

Instead of using the two long gatekeeper straps to run all the way down to the bottom of the pack face you can redirect the middle compression straps to the lid, or anchor the lid to the attachment points for the upper or middle straps.  That would save you some strap length.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

1.Use a “standard plastic ladder buckle

2.Make a diagonal hacksaw cut in the bottom “rung” of the ladder buckle (in the middle of the “rung”)

3.Slip webbing thru the diagonal slit

VOILA!

Been using this in two of my packs and never had a “rung” failure of a buckle.

[BPLwiia]

I bought the Revo 6,300 in 2018 so it has the gatekeepers, which I love by the way. Ingenious. As you know better than me, the Fortress bag has loops sewn into the bag to which the gatekeepers (or other hardware) are affixed.

My purpose for doing all of this is to reduce the length and/or number of straps and “clean up” the spaghetti of straps that can take over a backpack. Another solution would be to cut the existing strap so it is only 5″ or 6″, sew the ends, and use the gatekeepers. That would eliminate anywhere from 18″ to 30″ of excess strap. The problem is I don’t have the equipment to sew the strap ends after cutting.

I started this thread thinking if I could find the double-sided bachelor buckle, I could remove the straps attaching lid to the top of the pack and just attach the lid to pack with a bachelor buckle on each end. Rex is probably correct that the bachelor buckles would likely slip off.

 

[Roger Caffin]

I don’t have the equipment to sew the strap ends after cutting.
I just melt them – a candle is sufficient.

Cheers

[Rex Sanders]

You can melt strap ends with a BiC lighter if you work fast. Want to get fancy? Heat up an old pair of needle nose pliers over the stove, then clamp down on the end of the strap.

To put a small loop on the end of a strap to keep it from sliding through a buckle: don’t need a machine, almost any needle and thread and extremely limited hand sewing skills will do. I’ve done it many times, starting from no experience and even less training. Just sew shortish stitches back and forth a few times in a line, tie a couple of overhand knots in the extra thread, and trim the excess. Polyester thread is strong enough (no cotton thread), skinnier needles are easier to pull through but skinny thread is weaker so throw in more stitches. If you need visuals, YouTube is your friend. 99.9% of the time there’s no strain on those stitches, so it’s not critical.

— Rex

Standard disclaimers apply: You can hurt yourself if you are a doofus. Don’t be a doofus.

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