Hello all,

I’m looking to change my backpack design a little and in redoing the shoulder straps I’m going to do away with the pockets. For my limited trips they just don’t prove to be very useful.
What I’d like to find is an open cell or mini cell foam that I cold sew though, I’ve looked at neoprene and some mini cell but they were both a bit stiff.

Thanks

Joe Federici

Edited by need2boat on 11/01/2006 08:14:33 MST.

Sorry... I don't know the answer to your question... but you might just use sleeping pad foam. Kind of stiff... depending on the pad... but easy to find!! I would think that Neoprene would be far too heavy.

Also... one last thought... I've taken to using my GG G6 without any padding at all. Through experimentation... I've found that the shoulder straps are actually much more comfortable without any padding at all. I find the padding is not resilient enough and thus all it does it press against my collar bones... whereas... with no padding... the material conforms perfectly to the shape of my shoulders... like a hammock. I might add some really thin 1/8" foam just to maintain the shape of the straps... but from now on... I won't use any foam or other material for padding. That's my experience anyway. Would vary I suppose depending on your pack, your pack weight and your body.

Edited by davidlewis on 11/01/2006 10:17:23 MST.

When I first used the pack I when without padding and wore a hole through my shirt. This may have been due to the fabrics or weight of the pack but I will do a bit more trsting and try.

Since I tend to use a hammock I hadn't even thought about a sleeping pad. That's a good idea.

thanks

Joe F

I used foam i took out of an old life jacket. It came a 6 layers thick from the life jacket and I used one of the layers as a thin buffer and to add structure to the straps.

Its worked well up to 25 pounds.

David,

I'm with you - I use 1/8" foam on all my homemade rucksacks.

I even have 1/8" foam in the shoulder straps of one of my internal frame McHale Packs. It's great for keeping the shape of the strap, as you say, but not thick enough to interfere with comfort.

I can't remember where I got mine, but the remaining stuff I have for my MYOG projects came from a sleeping pad. It's yellow, so I'm thinking it may be the 5mm stuff from MEC. I've also used the Thinlight pad material from Gossamer Gear.

/R

Edited by ryan on 11/01/2006 22:57:03 MST.

Joe, your pack looks beautiful. Tell me about your framesheet!

http://www.canalrubber.com/

they might have some foam of various sorts and densities that might work.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm new to making my own gear but finding the sewing to be funner then I would have thought.

For the frame sheet I tried to do something like Go lite. The art shop near me sells shets of plastic much like used in the mail boxes but a bit thiner. I then used 3 think 1/16 tubs in the sheet after I cut to size. After installed in the shet I just bent how I liked and used black electrical tap around the edges so it wouldn't cut into the fabric.

WIth the next pack I think I will make a pocket or something to hold it from sliding around inside the pack. This is only a problem when it's 1/2 full.

JFF