this is my first time working with a sewing machine and it was pretty frustrating at times 'couse i had no idea what i was doing(my brother in law helped me finish it), but in the end it turned out ok. i live in romania so i don't have access to all kinds of interesting materials. i just used what i found. i hope it wont fail me on some trail somewhere. it weights about 650 grams without the aluminium bars and the padded hip belt and about 900 grams with them. definitely an improvement over my old pack witch was about 2.3kg.
i would appreciate your constructive input. if i ever get my hand on some interesting materials and a sewing machine i'll probably try to improve the design.
i still have to make a day-pack that will be tied to the front of the pack. i'll post some pics with it when it's finished.

Edited by sandu.lulu on 08/14/2011 05:49:42 MDT.

Alex,

Your first MYOG backpack seems quite nicely done. :-)

"...used what I found."

The materials that you found and the colors seem to have gone together quite well. What are the materials of your pack?

What provisions have you made for carrying water?

Might I suggest that instead of attaching your daypack to the outside you could use it as a stuff sack for your sleeping bag or quilt. It would be less bulky and dual use.

Party On,

Newton

I like it. Very streamlined. I am jealous of the straps, they look very comfortable.

It has an almost "Retro" look to it. Was mountain climbing the inspiration for it?

Very nice looking pack! I agree, it does look "retro", which is awesome.

Alexandru,
I really like the pack climber inspired really nice job. Their is over 30 plus bar tacks I counted on the pack I am impressed. You should add a bar tack or sewn "X" stich over the bottom webbing shoulder strap attachment point to make it stronger. You should have no problem at 13 kilograms or less in the pack. Again really nice design and sewing skills for 1st MYOG pack.
When you need fabric I know of Extremtextil has nice outdoor fabric in Germany,I also think their is fabric supplier in Scandinavia also.
http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/index.php
Terry

The pack looks great! Love the styling, I agree kinda retro with the olive drab and leather patch.

This does look like it would make a great climbing bag.

I was also super impressed by the daisy chains and the bar-tack / zig-zag.

Well done!

I think Newton got the constructive criticisms pretty well covered.

Maybe you could make a little pouch that clips the the side reflective loops to hold water bottles and stuff.

Edited by ctwnwood on 08/14/2011 12:29:51 MDT.

I am just starting to learn how to sew on a sewing machine and what you did is well out of my technical ability. Congrats -- the shoulder pads look comfortable!

i'm glad you liked the design of the pack and thank you for your kind words.
i/ll try to reply to all your questions and suggestions but please forgive me if i accidentally leave something out (it's 2AM and i'm a bit tired).

my inspiration was a pack made by mchale (http://www.mchalepacks.com/ultralight/detail/Little%20Big%20Packs.htm). i really liked the simplicity and versatility of this pack (and the color combinations of course) and on top of this i tried to fit my needs with the materials i could find. but the big kick was cris zimmer's first pack (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=41102&skip_to_post=349371#349371), it really gave me the amount of confidence that i needed to start sewing. i always liked the clean lines of climbing packs (although i'm not a climber, i have a very limited experience with the outdoors but i hope to change that in the future) so i'm pretty pleased with the looks of the pack.

initially the plan was to sew two stretchy pockets on both sides of the pack (kind of the stretchy material that the front pocket on the granite gear blaze 60 is made of), i even found some nice brown stretchy material but i could not sew it because it kept on stretching while i was sewing it so i decided to do exactly what Tyler Hoecker said and attach a pocket or a pouch to the right side for my water bottle. i don't have an internat pocket for a water bleater.

as i said about the materials i bought what i found. i don't know exactly what they are. the back and the bottom i was told is some sort of cordura and the face of the pack is some ripstop nailon i guess, both seem to have a pu coating on the inside. there is a big wear-house where they have literally tons of materials but they don't really know what is what (they said that the materials come from all over europe especially from factories that run out of business and wand to get rid of the materials they have in stock). so i just walked around and picked the thickest ripstop they had. they even sell it by the kg (4 euros/kg or about 3$/meter - cordura, and 2$/meter for whatever water resistent nailon you want). so i don't really know what materials i used.

about the day-pack i did thought about something like marmot kompressor or the north face flyweight, but to be honest it's a bit hard to decide because i really like how the small day pack looks on the above mentioned mchale and my curent sleeping bag takes a lot of space inside my backpack so the extra space in the externally attached day-pack woud be useful.

the shoulder straps are confortable but they are a bit wide so they look kinda odd on me (i'm about XS - S men sized)

also thanks Terry for the tips and the link. my bigest problem is that i can't rely afford some high tech materials (the pics were taken at my sister's house and their place looks pretty good :)) but hopefully things will change for the better and your tips could become quite useful.

Edited by sandu.lulu on 08/14/2011 17:22:31 MDT.

What's the volume?

the volume is 50 litters or so (3000 cubic inches) of usable space.
circumference of the pack is 92cm, the bottom measurements are 29cm x 17cm and the max usable height is 75cm.

*i calculated the volume of the pack as a cylinder

Joking aside, that's more or less exactly what I've been visioning for the last week. Not wanting to put out the money for a new pack, windrider or such, I'm going to make my, second, own pack.

I too have been looking at the McHale packs for inspiration, lately also at cilo gear.. but keeping the weight down -> frameless. Kind of hard to decide for all features vs weight though. I'm opting for a do it all pack, including travel...



Think the dimensions would be quite like yours, but with a roll top closure with Y-strap and some sort of daisy chain / buttonhole webbing like yours for attachments. I've also been thinking about the stretchy, not mesh, material some manufacturers use for outside pockets. I'm a bit sceptic about the mesh catching twigs and stuff when buschwacking/putting the bag down... Dreaming of attachable outside pockets.

How many pieces of fabrics have you used? (back, front, sides, bottom etc?). My style is trying to keep the number of pieces down, reducing seams and water leakage.

Thank you very much for sharing!
Daniel

hey daniel. your sketches look nice. the stretchy pockets were too tricky for me, but they are a very good idea. a downside is that they might tear from abrasion.

i initially designed the pack in 4 peaces: back and bottom one peace and front and lateral faces, but i miss measured something and ended up with 2 small lateral sides for the bottom to.
you could probably do just fine with a single peace for the front and lateral sides (i don't know exactly how it would influence the shape of the pack) as for the bottom and back what i can tell you is that it is way more complicated (at least for me it was) to fold an sew the bottom from one peace of material than to sew it together using more than one peace.
also about the bottom of the pack it looks way better if you give it a less rectangle shape on the sides. i mean it looks nicer if you make the sides of the bottom more like a upside down rectangular trapezoid. the mchale packs use a more complicated bottom shape to achieve this less rectangular shape. it's a little detail but it does have a big effect in the end.

have fun sewing an i hope you'll post some photos with the new pack soon.

I really like the daisy chains. I wish my pack had those instead of the wierd back pockets it has. They offer much more flexibility in packing.

Hi.

One should do a poll about the use of mesh vs stretch fabrics for outer pockets and also if the problem with mesh snatching onto stuff when bushwacking really is a problem, or if I'm just nervous. One problem I do know about though, is the mesh catching onto stuff when traveling. I own a Exos - the king of mesh(!?) - and once ripped the mesh when I cramped it into a locker. Also, I wouldn't trust the airport handlers with mesh. :) Might just make the daisy-chains and design some pockets to it.

Thank you for the description of the fabric parts. I have planned to make the bottom trapezoid shaped like you suggested, didn't know if I'd make it a one piece together with the back though...

On the sketch, it was kind of hard to find one good sketch-up, I have a couple of them, sometimes designs spread over several pages. :) I love the design stage of it all.

Keep on making stuff when you have the flow.
Daniel

Awesome pack Alexandru! I'm impressed with the look especially since you just used what you could find. Those shoulder straps look comfy! Keep it up.

Chris

Pretty amazing. Great job.

> there is a big wear-house where they have literally tons of materials but they don't really know what is what (they said that the materials come from all over europe especially from factories that run out of business and wand to get rid of the materials they have in stock). so i just walked around and picked the thickest ripstop they had. they even sell it by the kg (4 euros/kg or about 3$/meter - cordura, and 2$/meter for whatever water resistent nailon you want)

Sounds like my idea of heaven... a big warehouse full of lovely cheap fabrics...

Nice-looking pack, well done.