Nothing spectacular but I thought I'd post the modifications I made to my Ion today.

Added a pocket inside the lid for key, ID, ATM & first aid. Also added hang loops for my hydration bladder:



Added a bungee to the back for wet gear and stuff I want to store on the outside.



Added an unplanned hole while removing stitches when I sewed several layers of the pack together. Followed up with hole removal process:

putting holes in your gear makes it lighter!!!

Nice work Don! I really like the outer bungee and inside pack lid. I just picked up an ion on sale. I cut the waist strap off and removed the sternum strap and now the size medium pack weights 7.3 ounces!

When you added the loops for the outer bungee did you just sew them on top of the side seams?

Edited by brianjbarnes on 08/24/2008 19:58:19 MDT.

I just sewed the bungee tabs on as close to the original seam as possible. In one thread someone added a rear mesh pocket by completely removing and re-sewing the original seam. That was a little ambitious for my skill level. I'm headed on a trip this weekend so I wanted to make sure my pack was in one piece. DM

looks good Donny.
I took the hydration sleeve out of my Jam2 and it will work perfectly to replace the fragile no-seeum i added to my ION last week. Almost as if its made that way...so I did end up likeing the design of the mesh pocket, and the Jam2's hydro pocket is a durable stretch mesh that Id love to see GoLite add as a permanent feature of the ION.
I know for 2009 they have some changes coming, waist belt pockets on the Jam for instance. The ION desperately needs some sort of water holder. Thanks for posting your work, looks very functional. Mike

hi don and michael.

timely posts. i just got some grosgrain and bungee, and am planning on putting a bungee system on my Ion too. this will allow attaching trekking poles (or an ice axe) when scrambling, or to put a windshirt and r1 flash onto the back (when space is at a premium inside).

a question: what's the easiest way to do this with a sewing machine? is it possible/easy to just make a small cut between the Ion seams at the six loop attachment points? then you could easily insert the grosgrain loops, sew across them to attach them and seal the Ion seam up too? (while the pack is inside out)

any hints on adding loops and a bungee?

thanks!

Edited by DaveT on 08/25/2008 10:58:36 MDT.

If I had it to do again I'd open the main seam for the bungee loops and re-sew them that way. This would make access easier and would probably be stronger than my current solution. It will take a little more preparation but its probably worth it. I did everything with a sewing machine. If you really want to get crafty you could add a mesh pocket on the back that goes 1/2 way up and bungee loops at the same time.

and Faster...

"SPEED HOLES"

http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2009/5/3/633769682999145560-speedholes.jpg