Got the main body finished last night (finally) I'm stoaked! Its a pretty big pack. Bigger than the Bomb pack its replacing, and about 1/3rd the weight. Built to hopefully withstand random alaska climbing and bushwacking adventures.
Here it is stuffed with both -20 and -5 down sleeping bags.
Used Dyneema 210d gridstop for the body and straps, Spectra 500d powergrid for the bottom and part of the beaver tail, Spandura cordura for the pockets and beaver tail, Scholer for the back padand sholder straps, and 1.1oz silnylon for the top and an internal pocket.

Up next is cleaning everything up, reinforcement stiching and starting on the top lid.
Cheers

Eric

Edited by EricP on 03/07/2007 11:51:15 MST.

wow ... now THAT is an awesome pack ... sometimes, you just gotta have bombproof stuff and that is an awesome example ..

wow, very nice. care to share some more detail on the design? this looks like the perfect go anywhere pack

Basically the general configuration of the beavertail I copied from my ancient Dana designs bomb pack Which I've gotten so Dialed to using for pretty much everything that I was pretty hesitant to try a differnet design.
The Hip belt pockets Idea I got the idea from seeing one of the Ula packs.

Everything kinda has its use. The side strech spandura pockets easily fit 4 section paddle blades, snow pickets, fuel bottles no problem.
The velcro ice axe holders are similar to the ones on Arc-teryx packs. Insead of big heavy daisy chains of webbing on the beavertail I just have 4 strap points for my foam pad. There is also a big piece of elastic on the hip belt for storing gloves/ hats when over heating in the winter.

The foam padding is just simple blue foam, pretty thin. double layered on the back panel, I hope it holds up.

There is a full length sleeve for adding a frame sheet if decide to put one in at some point. There is also an internal sinylon hydration bladder pocket.

Fun to have it mostly complete!

Edited by EricP on 03/07/2007 18:38:23 MST.

I am assuming that you used the blue foam for the hip belt as well? how comfortable is it? also curious about your sewing setup for the foam? sorry for all the questions Eric but im a newbie to this site and the myog. thanks in advance

Jeff

Eric-

The pack looks really nice. I like the use of Spandura cordura, Scholer. Many people will tell you the bottom of the pockets need to me mesh but I'd say 80% of time and most of the winter it's just not needed.

How does the velcro work on the back of the pack. Does it just hold the chain wich in turn holds the ice axe?

In these time of ultra light it's nice to see a mix of extra's, like load lifters and pockets. Yes that add weight but something needs to be said for good design and sewing!

cheers

JFF

Thanks guys!
The velco pieces are at the very top of the beavertail, they are just simple loops with a tiny tab of ribbon to grap. They wrap around the shaft of ice axes instead of using a buckle and strap.

I thought about using mesh for the bottoms of the side pockets but they are pretty tight against the pack and I dont expect them to accumulate much moisture when it rains. Also with climbing/ glacier trips as one if its uses I'll be shoving snow pickets and wands down there which would eventually tear up mesh.

Yep its got bells and whisles, but it wasnt my goal to make a super light pack, I wanted something custom I could use for lots of different things and would last a while (and be 1/2 the weight of what I'm using now!!).

I'm already thinking about what to make next with the first set of side panels and bottom that I scrapped because they looked too small.

Jeff - Working with foam is time consuming, The construction of the hipbelt and sholder straps are basically sleeves that the foam is slided into then closed off when attached to the pack. You have to attach everything to one side of the strap, then sew the other side on like it would be inside out, then like a sock, pull it through so that the seams are inside, then slide the foam in. Using material with some strech like I did with the shoulder straps allows for some error in the shape of the foam, which is a good thing.

I'm really happy with the results but next time I'm going to try a differnet method for ease of construction.

ps - christopher I got your PM but couldent reply to it for some reason. I did get the Dyneema through OWF, its too bad they are out of it. The Spectra 500d I got through Rockywoods fabric in Loveland colorado www.rockywoods.com The spectra powergrid is really strong stuff and a bit heavy for all but the highest wear areas IMO, about twice the weight of the dyneema.

Edited by EricP on 03/08/2007 12:02:28 MST.

Thanks for all the info Eric. im picking up the sewing pretty quick. my lines arent straight or pretty but it gets the job done for sure. i cant wait to try my hand at a pack.....thanks for all the ideas

Finished it up this weekend and took it out on its first thrashing on sunday - a 10hr ski mission. Worked great. I used a political sign (plastic-corugated cardboard like) as the frame sheet and it worked like a charm, perfect fit. I'll throw up some photos of the finished pack in a bit.

Eric,
Good-looking pack. Neat sewing and fine design that ought to work with the hipbelt with the framesheet in place. Be sure to look at Jordan's analysis on frameless packs.

Edited by vickrhines on 03/12/2007 19:09:16 MDT.

Finished the Lid a while back. The main pocket came out a little smaller than I had hoped, but the mesh pocket on the underside is awesome. Its not totally cleaned up yet and still have to change a few things to be perfect but I'm done and using it for now.

Check it out..

Oh yeah, it came in at an unofficial 38oz on a cheap kitchen scale.

Not bad for a 4,000 cu in technical pack with bells and whisles...IMO

Edited by EricP on 03/20/2007 11:15:16 MDT.