I just picked up an Ion to mod, and want to give it pockets, make the waste belt removable, and maybe change to a roll-top.

I'm debating between three pockets, two side and one front, or one big wrap-around pocket. If I go with three I'll do them all out of stretch mesh, but if I go with one I was thinking of having a non-stretch portion in the center with a buckle at the top connected to a strap to hold down the roll-top closure.

All of the Ion mods I've seen have either had three pockets or one small front pocket - for those of you who have one, do you like that configuration? The benefit I see of one wrap-around pocket is added volume - have you found the front pocket to be awkwardly small and narrow, or has it been a non-issue?

Other thoughts or suggestions?

Also, if anyone has some pieces of stretch mesh they'd be willing to part with, let me know.

-David

David I would say it depends on how much work you are willing to do for convienance. I have normally just put on pocket on the front of my MYOG packs because of the simplicity factor. This worked well enough when I was hiking at a more laid back pace and getting into the body of my pack fairly often wasn't a big deal. On the other hand when I was hiking the Colorado Trail I used the Absaroka pack with its large side packets and hipbelt pockets. Those were REALLY nice because I could access water, snacks, my map, and my camera without taking the pack off.

Another trick I used to add volume was to put two straps on the top of the pocket so I could strap on a stuff sack. That gives you a similar volume increase to adding an extension coller with a lot less work.



It might actually be more convient that way since you can either access the stuff sack or unzip the top and go directly to whats underneath it.