MYOG – Hacking and modifying BPL clothing items

[Gary Dunckel]

After all these years, I’ve pretty much come to the realization that very few gear items quite work for me right off the shelf. They usually must be altered somewhat. This might be adding something, subtracting something, modifying something, or just outright hacking it dramatically. I expect that I’m not the only BPLer that feels this way. The following post will show you a few things that I’ve done lately. These are modifications I’ve done on some BPL clothing items.

[Gary Dunckel]

Project #1

This one is the least impressive, but I have to include it. I bought 2 pair of the BPL merino boxer briefs when the Gear Shop still existed. I never really liked them much, as they were way too long in the legs – kinda like a pair of surfer shorts. So I did a hack on them. I shortened the legs by 4 inches. Then I removed the redundant elastic cord (there was already an elastic waist band sewed into it). I am thinking they were designed to double as a swimming suit, and the extra draw string would prevent the shorts from escaping while in a public hot springs or commercial spa. I say this because there was also a small pocket sewn into the inside of the waist band, probably to store a locker key or something (I also removed this).

Now I had a couple pair of boxer briefs that I rather like – proper length, nice fit, with the obvious benefit of being merino wool. The weight dropped from 4.2 ounces for each pair to 3.5 oz. These are still a bit heavier than my Ibex, Icebreaker, and Smartwool boxers, which average 3.0 oz. Those 3 are made of 150 wt. merino, whereas Ryan confirmed that the BPL version was 145 wt. I suspect that the BPL boxers will prove to be a bit more delicate than those other 3 brands. I have already found 4-5 1.0 mm holes in the only pair that I’ve worn (maybe 3 washings only). My final impression of these boxer briefs is that they were over-engineered, overweight for the grade of merino used, and likely less durable (time will tell).

Project #2

I bought a Cocoon balaclava from the Gear Shop 10 years ago. I think it was designed for use with a quilt. What I didn’t like about it was how small the face opening was. I’d always wanted to hack it into something else, since I don’t sleep in quilts often, and my Marmot sleeping bags have great hoods that eliminate the need for a balaclava (a simple hat will do).

I took it to a seamstress for the modification I wanted (I have no sewing machine). She ripped the front center seam, leaving about 2 inches at the bottom to maintain the shape. She then placed 4 snaps along the front, which allows me to open it as much as I want, or close it up fully. I removed the shock cord that slips under your arms to keep it in place while sleeping.

My intent for this finished product is to use it for additional head/neck warmth in the winter, such as during breaks while skiing or snowshoeing. It will also convert several hood-less jackets into full parkas. It especially matches up well with the BPL Cocoon hood-less pullover (the blue one with the zippered chest pocket).

What I like best about this balaclava now is that I can snap it shut for maximum warmth, or I can unsnap it for eating lunch more easily. What is also a nice attribute is that is stays in place well, as long as the jacket is pretty much fully zipped up – the bottom of the balaclava is held in place by the jacket’s collar.

The addition of 4 snaps and the deletion of the underarm shock cord added just 0.1 oz. to the stock weight – from 1.8 oz. to 1.9 oz. That’s pretty sweet for a functional winter hood that nicely augments my Black Rock Gear down hat.

Project #3

Ok, so here’s the real deal. I expect this to put me in the running for the Nobel Prize for Gear Hacks.

I like shirts with two chest pockets. I always have – one for ID cards, reading glasses, a small clock, or maybe even my flip phone or a GPS when on a day hike. The other pocket is for storing my sun glasses and maybe a couple of other things.

I have pretty much loved my BPL Thorofare shirts and pants. They seem to be sort of like wind garments, in that they breathe OK, and they are a bit windproof.

But…the shirts only came with one pocket, a zippered one which is nice for securing valuables like ID, insurance card, and cash. But where do I store the other things, like those sun glasses? Something had to be done. So I did.

A couple of years ago I bought a set of tan Thorofare shirt and pants on Gear Swap. They were size XS, but they were priced fairly low. I thought I would give them to one of my petite lady pals. I contacted one of them for her mailing address, and she told me, “You’re sweet, but I already have 2 sets of those – give them to someone else.” They ended up being forgotten while in storage in a closet. A few weeks ago the light bulb came on – I could sacrifice the shirt from that set to make my 3 tan Thorofare shirts complete.

First, I carefully cut the shirt’s chest pocket off (I couldn’t figure out how to rip the existing seams). I allowed an extra 1/2 inch all around so that I could fold it over to give a seamstress something to sew into. This would take care of one of my shirts.

Next, I figured out a way to make a snap pocket from the right side of the shirt, and also a top flap from what remained from the left side of the shirt after removing the zippered stock pocket. Again, I put a crappy hem on the periphery of all the items. Then it was time to search for a good tailor or seamstress to put things together (my great friend Barb told me that her sewing machine went bung, and that I would have to find someone else to help). I found a wonderful Boulder tailor who did a fine job for me. Here are the final results:

The shirt that received the zippered pocket:

One of the 2 shirts that have the snap pockets I’d made:

Then there was the problem of doing the same thing for my lone dark brown (sepia) Thorofare shirt. That particular color was pretty much impossible to find some material that would match well. I hit a couple of thrift stores and fabric stores, but I found nothing that would work. This wasn’t a serious problem, because I doubt that I’d very often be hiking in such a dark colored shirt. I’d lived in Saudi Arabia long enough to know that one must absolutely never, ever wear dark colored shirts while in the direct sun. But still, every shirt must have two chest pockets, remember? Then I finally found a funky swatch of material that could sorta, kinda, maybe work. I made the pocket and top flap, and the tailor placed the snaps and sewed things on. Here’s the final product:

If I ever find another sepia Thorofare shirt from which to hack a pocket, I can just have the tailor rip the other (‘camo’) one off and put the real one on. In the meantime I’ll just have to go with the one that is on it now. The squirrels probably won’t respect me much though for my color choice. But at least they won’t find and mess with my sun glasses, since they’ll be concealed in the camo pocket.

Edit: Ooops, I forgot to list the final weights of these shirts with the added pockets. Originally, the stock weights of these shirts was an average of 4.8 ounces. The finished weights are as follows: The 2 tan ones with the snap pockets weigh an average of 5.05 oz; the one with the 2 zippered pockets weighs 5.2 oz; the brown one with the heavier camo pocket and slightly heavier brass snaps weighs 5.3 oz.

 

 

[Ken Thompson]

Bespoke hiking clothing $$$$$$

[Gary Dunckel]

What do you mean, Ken?

[Ken Thompson]

BPL clothing was not cheap. Sacrificial pieces. Plus the tailoring.

What’s with the love affair for two pockets? I never use mine. Everything gets soaked from sweat.

edit:please don’t take my comments as unappreciative judgement.

[Matthew / BPL]

Is bespoke the word of the year for 2018?

[Ken Thompson]

? Hip since the 16th Century.

[Jerry Adams]

You guys are so funny, no one understands what anyone else is saying, that’s normally what I do : )

Nice hacks Gary.  I like that camo pocket, not matching but sort of complimentary.

There is something called a seam ripper you can get from fabric store or https://www.amazon.com/Dritz-638-Deluxe-Seam-Ripper/dp/B0001DSIVY $2.99 from amazon.  With that you can rip out seams.  Anyone that does any significant amount of sewing makes good use of it.

[Gary Dunckel]

Ken, I thought that I had stated my case for having 2 pockets. Never mind that cost you alluded to. If I didn’t invest another $50 into getting those 4 shirts just right (for me), then they would have gone to Goodwill. This way I get some shirts that I like a lot. You seem to have a problem with this, but I most certainly do not.

You’re likely right, Jerry, I probably need to get a cheap seam ripper. The thing has been, I didn’t think I actually needed one before. But maybe I do now? Thanks for the comment about the camo pocket. Today I went to the shop that sold me the material, to show the sales gal what we did with the swatch she sold me. She wasn’t there, being on vacation, but the elegant matronly owner of the fabric shop that was celebrating her 79th birthday lauded the pocket and said it looked ‘exquisite’ on me. So all is good, except for perhaps the ‘bespoke’ people…

[Matthew / BPL]

The pocket is sharp looking. Reminds me of some of the fixes Patagonia’s Worn Wear does. No reason to hide the modifications.

[Jerry Adams]

The “bespoke people” were well intentioned, sometimes conversations just go sideways, especially on the internet, I know well, aluminum Moulder strips being a good example : )

[Ken Thompson]

Just means custom. Never knew it was inflammatory.

[Gary Dunckel]

It’s all good, Ken. By the way, I looked up ‘bespoken’ in my Oxford English Dictionary, and their definition was a bit different. It wasn’t entirely clear, but it seemed like it meant something like “having the ability to properly speak,” or something like that.

[Roger Caffin]

Odd.
‘Bespoke’ in my copy of OED says ‘clothes made to order, opp of ready-made clothes’.

Cheers

[Gary Dunckel]

I went back to my Oxford dictionary, this time looking up ‘bespeak’ instead of ‘bespoken’. It turned out that there were a dozen different “meanings” of the word. I won’t go into all of them, but it certainly is true that what Ken and Roger mentioned was one of them. But that meaning was just one of many, and some were quite different. The word’s first use seems to be about 1583 A.D., in England of course. I think if I ever get another cat, I will name it ‘Bespeak’. Most certainly no other pet will have that same name…

Today we will have one last (?) day of this heat wave we are currently enjoying. I might retreat to the cool basement war room to make yet another option for storing my sun glasses. I noticed a small loop that Ex Officio puts on their Air Strip shirts, I assume to hang your sun glasses. They don’t secure the glasses well, but they work OK for temporary storage, like when I go into the grocery store. I am thinking of sewing them onto the flaps of the MYOG pockets. This way I won’t need to unsnap the pocket if I’m just looking for quick and temporary storage of the sun glasses. If the sun goes down, or it becomes a cloudy afternoon, I would secure the sunglasses inside the pocket and snap it shut for security.

These are gonna be Thorofare shirts like Bubba ain’t never seen before – hot damn!

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