MYOG Pack — Modified Ray-Way design in white VX07
Hey all,
Wanted to share my most recent build, and my first pack. Hopefully this will be of interest to all the followers of the prophet Jardine out there. I purchased his Ray Way pack kit, size 2200ci, large shoulder straps in blk/grey/grey and made a version of it using his plans with some tweaked features. The finished pack weighs 12.1oz (need to get a photo on the scale later).
1. Made the whole pack body out of white VX07 I had on hand. I did use the grey pack front panel material provided (coated ripstop nylon) for the extension collar, and I used the provided material for making the straps.
2. Added a small mesh pocket (low stretch) to the left shoulder strap. This is a perfect fit for sunglasses, chapstick, sunscreen, trash or a bar. Ray/Jenny’s strap design doesn’t leave much room for pockets.
3. Angled the side pockets to allow for access with the pack on.
4. Added a bunch of grossgrain loops to the backpanel for shock cord lashing.
5. Substituted the two non-adjustable grossgrain straps on the sides for a single row of grossgrain loops. Pictured, I have it set up with a simple shock cord tensioner.
6. Simple roll down closure, no draw string as in Ray/Jenny’s design.
7. Different top strap (no V on the front panel side, combo haul loop/top strap on the back panel side)
I found the instructions very clear and thorough. I used MARA 70 thread and a microtex needle. The whole build took about 30hrs, but that included the time designing the additional features. If I were to do it again, I could do it in 15hrs or less. I think the most tedious and difficult portion of the build was the shoulder straps, once you finish those the larger panels come together quite quickly and the pack starts to take shape. All in all I’d highly recommend this kit as an intro to pack making — I feel it gave me a really solid basis for what I’d change in the future and how I’d approach pack design.
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