MYOG Climbing and Ski Packs

[Andrew Stevens]

I know these packs don’t really fit in a category here, but I have been busy trying to make climbing and backcountry ski packs.  It’s an area that despite all the popularity of climbing, doesn’t really have packs that work well for climbing.  I keep making new ones because as soon as I finish one, I want to try something different.

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[Muddles]

I love the angled bottoms, which are critical for climbing packs, but lacking in hiking packs.

[Lester Moore]

+1 on the angled bottoms, and nice colors too, especially the yellow and teal one. That would be a good shape for a fastpack too – would be fun to try making one. Have you ever carried oversized fanny packs for climbing? They work pretty well on multi-pitch alpine rock – so long as it’s summer and you don’t have lots of clothing (just light rain gear). You can swivel them from front to back for chimneys – the rope and rack can always be carried fairly comfortably on the body for hiking.

[Andrew Stevens]

<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Lester,</span>

Thanks, I made the yellow and teal one to match my approach shoes. I’ve never like fanny packs for climbing because they get in the way of the rack and chalk bag.  I also don’t like the weight on my hips and stomach;  I do like the swivel option for eating and drinking though.  I’ve run with the packs but would probably build a vest if I was going to do a lot of running with it.  I pretty much only fast pack with whatever I’ve made.  I just try to go sunrise to sunset without stopping except for water.

[nunatak]

Very nice!

What’s the blue back panel made of on the second to last ski pack?

[Andrew Stevens]

thanks,

X-pac 21 and then gridstop on the bottom and top of the back panel.

[Muddles]

Have you ever tried one with a one-piece back (or is it the front)? Like, in the first picture, having the coyote and grey material be one piece of fabric, minimizing seams. The guy from Alpine Luddites is  a big proponent of minimal seams for strength.

[Andrew Stevens]

I only put seams where I want to reinforce webbing straps.  In the case of the ski packs, there is a lot of weight on the pack and I wanted to incorporate the webbing into the seam.  I liked the parallelogram look that this created, but some people haven’t like it.  On the teal and yellow pack, I eliminated a seam on the front of the pack.  I call it the front because the back touches your back.  I seal all the seams on every pack I make with cuben fiber tape so they’re still waterproof.

[Muddles]

Do you sell these? If so, where would someone go to buy them?

[Andrew Stevens]

You could contact through the message board here and we could exchange emails.  Thanks, Andrew

[Muddles]

 You could contact through the message board here and we could exchange emails.  Thanks, Andrew

Ah. The designs were so good, and the packs so numerous, I assumed you were a professional.

 

[Morgan Rucks]

Super super nice!

Interested in a long torso sized pack.

 

[David Chenault]

Look functional and pretty.

[Author]

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