Sunday, March 24, 2013

My first try making my own backpack!

9 comments

After seeing many posts online about making your own backpack, I decided to try my hand at making one with some spare fabric I had at home.

I have to say that it's not as easy as making one of these and at times, it can be quite intimidating.  There were a few times that I had to redo a lot of the stitching and more times that I had to just walk away from it.

However, after everything, I was actually quite pleased with the bag.  The beauty about making your gear is that you can design to your own personal specifications and features.

Here are some of the features of the bag:

  • Cinch Buckle and Velcro Closure (like dry-bags)
  • Side Pockets
  • Front Shove-It Pocket
  • Inner Pocket for CCF Pad
  • Made with 1.9 Ripstop and Nylon Cordura
  • Final Weight - 9 oz.
  • Capacity - not really sure...maybe 40L?
Things to add:
  • Sternum Strap
  • Hip Belt
All in all, this project took about 10 hours to complete...due to human errors and frustrations :).  Now for the good part...some photos!


Empty Pack @ 9oz.
Back portion
Loaded with gear
Right Side View
Left Side View


Yours Truly...happy with the results!
I plan on making another pack now that I made one with spare fabrics.  Anyone got any good deals on Dynema X fabric?  Anyway, I hope you guys like it...leave a comment or let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for looking!

9 comments:

  1. Is there one of those coming with the stove ;) looks good, good job. My wife is really good at sewing maybe I need to give her some ideas.

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  2. Stove is on the way. Of you like, i can send you the measurements for the pack. She can make me one too :)

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  4. I am in the process of doing the research for the pack i will be making soon ;), looks great, was wondering if you could tell me a little about why you chose the fabrics you did??

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    1. Thank for tuning in. Simple answer is, it was what I had laying around. It was left over fabric from previous projects. To be honest, I didn't think this pack would come out the way it did. So to minimize cost, seeing as this was my first MYOG pack, I didn't want to shell out the money for Dyneema or Cuben.

      I'm actually working on a new pack, it will be a similar design but the approach on the build will be a lot different and easier in my opinion (less seams to sew). Look for that update soon. I'm just waiting for a shipment on some plastic hardware (triglides, buckles, etc.)

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  5. Nice job! Once I have a friend measure my torso, I am going to pick up a Teton ultralight backpack. the one i am looking at is 2.4lbs pack weight.

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    1. Hi Christine! Thanks for tuning in and I love your site BTW.

      Teton makes great packs but might I suggest, if you haven't yet, that you try on different packs. Most retailers like REI will allow you to test out a bag to get a feel for it. I also would suggest bringing your backpacking gear to the store and ask that you pack your gear inside the bag you want to try out,

      In my opinion, there is nothing worse than getting a bag you "think" you're happy with but later find out in the middle of the trail that it doesn't ride very well.

      Hope to see you on the trails sometime and thanks again for tuning in :)

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  6. 10 hours is not bad! Well done, u lookin trim too!

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    1. HA...thanks! Saw your work on Stough Canyon. Though I disagree with the ethics, I hope you guys just do that sort of work on man-made structures and not on natural ones like rock faces, etc.

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