Framesheet, stays or?

[Brett Peugh]

I have a Klymit Motion 35 pack that is okay for day trips, weekenders and longer hikes if I hit a store every few days.  The thing is it has an Airbeam inflatable pad to give it strength and rigidity.  I was wondering what it might take to put some kind of framesheet, stays or whatever to give it even more rigidity for weight and take the Airbeam out.  I do have an old Gossamer Gear eggshell NightLight sleeping pad that I can’t use anymore so that could be cut up and used for padding.  Just looking for any thoughts.  Thank you.

[Monte Masterson]

I find I get far more rigidity and support from Thermarest Ridgerest (with the ridges placed vertically in the pack) than any other ccf pads. If I need more than 1 section I cut and tape them together with clear Scotch packaging tape. Sounds unorthodox, but the tape holds far better than you might think. Take this frameless pack for example, I have 2 cut up sections of 10″ X 19″ Ridgerest taped together and folded. I can also use it as a camp seat or to enhance my sleep padding.

[Brett Peugh]

Thanks Monte.  I guess I have to get to the point in my head where I cut up a $20 Thermarest pad but it is a great idea!  Thermarest is much more rigid than what I have.  It is a small section though.  I might be able to double it up.  Thank you for the thought.

[Brett Peugh]

Aren’t there also thinish sheets of plastic that will add rigidity also?

[Steve S]

Montbell used to make stays using Coroplast (or some such corrugated plastic) with thin aluminum rods inserted for extra stiffness and to allow shaping the stays. Two layers of coroplast glued together should be fairly stiff if one layer doesn’t do the trick, making the rods superfluous.

[Sam Farrington]

“OR?”

Just a note to say that butterfly frames made out of very light tubing can be very comfortable.  LL Bean made a pack about ten years ago called ‘AT55’ that had a nice suspended mesh back panel for ventilation and was very light.  Modded it into a fishing pack for a friend, and he loved it.  Unfortunately, Beans then added all kinds of pockets and gee-gaws to it that made it much heavier.  Butterfly frames can be built much lighter than one might expect.

Here are some photos of the first gen. AT55 and frame:

[Rex Sanders]

In the early 1980s my second-favorite backpack of all time was the Alpenlite Superlight. Less than 2 pounds (900 grams) and about 50 liters, when almost all packs started at 4 pounds (1,800 grams) and 60 liters.

Its main claim to fame was the framesheet. Basically a thick layer of polypropylene plastic plus a thin layer of open-cell foam cushioning against the back, sewn into place between layers of polyurethane-coated nylon that made up the rest of the pack.

I’m sure Alpenlite put lots of time into shaping that sheet and sewing through the all the layers in just the right places to make it work well. That pack was far more comfortable for me than roughly a dozen other packs, until I met the HMG Windrider.

The Windrider works for me because of two thick vertical-but-curved aluminum stays firmly attached to the hip belt and held in place by a webbing channel. Sandwiched between the stays and my back is a thin sheet of CCF foam that provides a little rigidity, but not much. Good weight transfer to hips gets important when total pack weight is much above 20 pounds (9 kg).

HTH.

— Rex

[Brett Peugh]

@ Steve S, is that kind of like the plastic they make the current political yard signs out of?

@ Sam Farrington, can those butterfly frames be bought or?

@ Res Sanders, thanks but that is way out of my price range.

 

 

[Steve S]

Brett, yes on the plastic type..

I was surprised how well the stays worked in a large pack with loads that were not ultralight. The stiffeners seemed to be light aluminum welding rods about 3/32″, iirc. Only 1 per channel in the plastic, with not all channels filled. Use enough to assure the load won’t overwhelm the coroplast — or get thicker rod if in doubt.

 

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