Gossamer alu frame addition to MLD CF exudus

[Hanz B]

I grabbed the gossamer gear aluminum frame and was going to consider a modification to my 55L MLD exudus Cuban fiber frameless bag to be able to swap the frame in and out for loads over 20 pounds. My goal would be to add less than 1.5 onces in the form of CF/CF tape, and snaps at the ends of the channels without creating any new puncture holes to the bag.

– do you have any helpful ideas?

– is this bound to fail b/c the bag is designed without it, will this rub holes through the cf or are there seems I will stress by redirecting the forces?

-should the u shaped frame go “u” up or “u” down?

– anything I else I should be thinking about?

Hanz

 

[Luke Schmidt]

1. The U goes down.
2. You might wear holes or create new stress.  Hard to predict.
3. I doubt Cuban tape will hold the frame to the pack. I suspect it will pull loose over time. As far as I know these things are always sewn  in.
4. If you must do this I’d suggest sandwiching the frame between a folded foam pad. That will spread the stress out more. Create some kind of pocket to hold it. Even if your Cuban tape pulls loose the frame sheet might still help some if you tighten down the compression straps.
5. If you really want a light Cuban pack with a frame I’d look at an HMG pack or a MYOG project from scratch. Zimmerbuilt packs are solid too.

[Arne L.]

I did something similar with an older Dyneema MLD Exodus some time ago.

I sewed an elastic loop to keep a foam pad in place and two velcro loops at the top, so I could easily remove the frame if needed.

Then I sewed 4 (two on each side) loops made out of heavy duty elastic to keep the frame in place. The bottom loop was sewn shut so the stays didn’t pop out & that way it kind a connected to the hip belt.

There was ample grosgrain on my pack to sew extra stuff onto it. It added 25 grams in total, and it carried up to 13kg in relative comfort. The pack was obviously far more stable.

[John Rowan]

I’d be curious to know if anyone’s tried this with one of the suspension-modded ones that has a pad pocket already built in, since the holding/anchoring of the stay seems to be the main sticking point (duh). Obviously, it would still need a bit of modding to really lock it in, but it’s a better start than the stock version.

I’ve been fine packing my Burn (Prophet belt) in the “normal” frameless manner (folded CCF sleeping pad), but, as I toy around with a PCT 2018 thru attempt, I’ve been playing around with the idea of adding something more robust and have been eyeing the GG stays.

[Hoosier T]

You could try something I was considering for my recent pack build. Take a piece of 1.0 oz or 1.43 oz cuben and cut it to the size of your backpanel, so 12″ wide ( I think for the Exodus?) by whatever height you need for the frame. Sew the stay sleeves to that piece of cuben, including velcro flap at the top, then tape the whole assembly into the pack. No holes in the pack and any wear would be put on the new piece of cuben, not the actual pack.

[Hoosier T]

Also, to break down the weight…a 12″ x 23″ (assuming a 23″ frame) piece of 1.0 oz cuben would weigh .21oz. Figuring roughly 24″ of grosgrain per frame sleeve puts you at ~48″ of 1″ wide grosgrain, which comes out to ~.16oz. That totals .37oz which leaves plenty of room for the weight of the double sided tape. For it to work best, I would consider covering the entire backside of the cuben sheet with tape so that it’s completely adhered to the backpanel of your pack.

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