Has anyone tried using corrugate plastic as a framesheet? It's bascially 1/4" plastic that resembles cardboard. I was thinking of using a 12"x24" sheet behind a lightweight 1/2" piece of foam padding.

I think it would be a good middle ground between stays and going frameless or just using a pad. I'm not sure how much it would weigh though. Also, you can't shape it very well, so it's up to the 1/2" foam to conform to your back. You might be able to get some large radiused, shallow curvature out of it though.

I've used it with my Jam. Mine was cut from a corrugated plastic lawn sign. It was cut to 7.5"x17" to fit into the hydration sleeve, and weighs 2.3 oz. You're right; it does provide a middle ground between frameless and using stays.

Edited by Dondo on 05/17/2009 18:14:23 MDT.

Search the forums for 'corrugated framesheet'. There are several threads.

Adding aluminum or titanium stiffeners seems to be popular.

Practicalbackpacking.com also has a entry from 6/20/06 titled 'Lightweight Framesheet for a pack'.

Edited by Lancem on 05/17/2009 18:26:34 MDT.

Why wouldn't it work? Just ran across this. There sure are a lot of real estate signs in yards these days.

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Packs/Internal%20and%20External%20Framed%20Backpacks/R2%20Custom%20Pack/Test%20Report%20by%20Jason%20Boyle/

I think it's called 'Coroplast' (although we used to call it Corflute when I were a lad) and I'm using it in some MYOG panniers I'm making at the moment. I've riveted an aluminium sheet that's bent over the top to make it laterally rigid (I stole the Idea from some Carradice panniers I have) and works great.
I think it would be brilliant for a pack from what I've seen so far.

I keep planning to try it, I just can't find any that has the corrugations running vertically.

The larger signs are even thicker. My neighbor is using them
for paddles on a land/water craft. They are the thickness
and stiffness of 3/8" plywood but much lighter. I think
they would make good stays too.

You may be able to laminate them like plywood, across
the grain for better rigidity for some uses.

Hey Joe,
(no pun intended)would it work by turning it through 90 degrees? We have for sale signs outside houses in the UK that are plenty long enough both ways for any application i can think of.
Sorry if I've got the wrong end of the stick,
Matt

Most of the corrugated signs i see here are landscape (as opposed to portrait), so they are too short to use. Rare to see one that is tall and narrow, with vertical corregations.

I don't need anything that thick. Something thinner would give a nice balance between flexibility so it countours to your pack, but still having at least a little more load transfer.

I found it on EBay, it's just one of the many things I haven't gotten to lately. Looked at using Kydex, but it would be a lot of trouble.

Hi Jeff,

I have a Golite pack that uses the stuff for the framesheet, and it seems to do the job. It's not a quarter-inch though, more like an eighth.

I know it's tough because the Postal Service has used it for letter bins for decades.

Cheers,

Rick

at ace hardware.. 18x24 in 4mm thick size, $2
20x10 (although reinforcements run horizontally, $1)
the 20x10 is pro'lly the perfect size for my Conduit.. may try it with a can of 3M spray glue to hold the ccf in place.

Edited by mikeinfhaz on 05/23/2009 10:01:54 MDT.

Another place to look is at sign printing shops. I work at a repro shop and we throw away alot of that stuff that is "scrap" from customer projects. We buy it in 4'x8' sheets and cut it down to what we need. Just a thought. I picked up a bunch for a project a few years ago at the end of an election cycle. Just offer to clean up and you can get all kids of it.