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First MYOG backpack


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  • #3412672
    Will B
    BPL Member

    @will-b-2

    Locale: Colonia Centro

    Hi all, first time poster after many years of eavesdropping on your conversations here.

    I was one of the recent beneficiaries of Sam Jepsen’s MYOG materials firesale. As I grew out of old gear I’d had since high school/college, I realized that (a.) I wanted lighter stuff and (b.) couldn’t afford it. I bought a sewing machine instead of a sleeping bag and made basically everything my GF and I now use—except for a my backpack. Without all the free information you guys have shared in this forum (a shout out here to the hammockforums guys, too) I probably never could have done it, and certainly wouldn’t have.

    It just seemed too complicated: so many seams, so much coordination of materials and load bearing points to worry about, etc. For the last few years I’ve used a Gossamer Gear G4, more or less the cheapest lightweight bag I could find at the time. It’s been good to me, but it was always too big, esp. the bottom, and altho I made various mods I still wasn’t satisfied.

    The materials I got from Sam were more or less exactly what I wanted, mostly 140D Dyneema X and PU-coated 70D. The grid of the Dyneema is esp. helpful for sewing more complicated projects if you are, like I am, unused to doing so. I didn’t base my design on any specific bag, and really didn’t have one when I started snipping the fabric, but my dad and a friend have Granite Gear bags and I like their side compressing system. I wanted to try a roll top bag, I wanted to get away from the G4’s giant side and front pockets which my friends routinely used as trash bags, but mostly I wanted a smaller, more compressible package that stayed closer to my center of gravity.

    I made the shoulder strap and hip belt attachments points so these components could be changed out over time. For one thing my Singer Heavy Duty, despite its name, can’t handle the ultra-cushy foam Sam generously gave me. Instead I found a child’s backpack abandoned in the middle of Nostrand Ave and harvested its not-so-padded shoulder straps. The hip belt webbing might seem too narrow (I was certainly worried it would be) but I’ve found it to be comfortable with the loads I’m carrying for 40 or so degrees, less than 3 days of food, and no real water carries to moan about.

    The weird mushroom head thing going on up top is something I’d like to avoid in the future, perhaps by using a different side compression system. It hasn’t been a problem but it looks weird. Any ideas would be appreciated.

    Anyway, I’d really appreciate your thoughts and advice, esp. any possible concerns over the longevity of high stress areas on the bag. So far I’ve had it for a couple weeks and done two long weekend trips to the White Mountains and the Adirondacks, but altogether a little less than 100 miles is really very little testing.

    Once again, thanks to all of you who have participated in discussions of gear, esp. questions related to MYOG projects, which enabled me to save a small amount of money and get addicted to making things for backpacking ;) Special thanks, once again, to forum member Sam Jepsen. I wish I’d had the disposable to get one of his tasteful, no-frills packs when he was making them, every review I read was really impressed by their quality.

    Pardon the quality, some of these photos were screenshot from Instagram:

    #3413220
    Taiga
    BPL Member

    @taiga

    Wow nice job. Any photos of the hip belt?

    #3413222
    jimmyjam
    BPL Member

    @jimmyjam

    Locale: Mid Atlantic

    Nice job! I like the way you angled the top of the side pockets.

    #3413225
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    Nice!

    I always like the small imperfections.  As long as the item is still usable.  Makes me laugh.

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