Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and somewhat to UL packing. I received from a friend as a gift a MH Scrambler pack. It's very dandy but the straps are lacking. Does anyone know an easy way for me to upgrade the straps? They are just a webbed fabric with no support or foam. I really like that pack, it's exceptionally well made and just super neat. I may also like to sew on a padded hip belt or at least a hip strap, anyone have experience with that either? Any ideas and resources would be appreciated.

Thanks, Ben.

Edited by benmullins on 02/27/2008 10:11:36 MST.

You could try to get some closed cell foam (blue $5 pad from walmart) and some extra ripstop nylon (also from walmart in dollar bin), and just sew strips as big as you want to the inside of the straps. As for the hipbelt, I'm not sure if the scrambler will hold enough weight to justify the added weight of a hipbelt. Just some thoughts, and great to have you to the forum!

I've just finished writing up how to do a padded hip belt.

You could do the same thing for the shoulder straps.

I've made one pack where the straps were 3d mesh on the back of 50+mm webbing and I've just finished a second pack that uses webbing only (60-40mm).

If you are planning to cut off the existing straps I'd suggest leaving the last 2" attached to the pack and then you can use that as a base to flag-stitch the new straps on.

Straps attach to a pack at an angle and it can be a little creative to get it right.

For the last pack I did the straps attach to the pack with a D-ring each. The only reason for this is so that the straps naturally align with my body and it's easy to experiment with different styles of straps...

Another method which I use is to make up a pair of pads out of blue foam and poly-cotton to slip onto the shoulder straps. Something 8" by 2.5" is probably fine. When the foam wears out, replace. I use poly-cotton rather than nylon as that grips onto my clothing better to keep the pad in place.

Hey guys thanks for the ideas. I'm still torn between a floating, removable type of pad and a permanent sewn on one. The straps could really use some spacers which I think I can make out of light plastic. I'm going to play around with it this week while I'm off and try and get a picture of two up. Hope MH won't be mad I snagged their pic.

Ben,

Roger's idea of removable pads is a good one - it allows you to play around with ideas easily. Sewing straps is often best left to you know what you want. The weight difference will be almost zero.