Tag: 3D Mesh

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The Ultimate Alpine Ski-touring Pack

I recently finished a one-of-a-kind ~35 liter Alpine backpack completely custom made for an Instagram follower who reached out to discuss a custom version of The Alpine Pack I recently posted about. We spent a lot of time together designing the pack, carefully selecting the features, and studying his previous backpacks for important points to consider and I think we achieved something really amazing.

I must admit, it was hard to let this one go after about 60 hours of combined work over a couple of months. But I think that particular bag will have the life it deserves, filled with hiking, climbing and ski touring equipment!

This backpack is a slightly bigger version of the previous alpine pack I made, but is built like a tank! It has many reinforcements on all four sides, and other areas prone to wear and tear. It is made almost entirely out of white Ecopak Ultra EPL 400 (a hybrid UHMWPE and recycled polyester fabric which is incredibly abrasion resistant) and boasts sturdy padding and a hip belt, a set of ski attachments (front and A-frame options), dual ice-axe attachments, rope tie-ins and a relatively huge roll-top extension for the approach.

The need to accommodate long hours of climbing and belaying meant that the bag had to have a relatively low profile when closed to not interfere with a helmet when belaying from below, and is therefore a little “fat” compared to previous designs. That being said, its owner being in fantastic shape, the increase in diameter should not interfere with arm movements in the slightest.

In the end, the complete pack weighs in at exactly 700 grams, which I am really proud of achieving with as little compromises as possible.

The back panel is of a relatively simple construction, and also out of Ecopak Ultra EPL 400 for its abrasion resistance if the pack needs to be hoisted. The complete back panel, the shoulder straps and hip belt are padded with high quality closed-cell foam for durability and to bring a little comfort when carrying high loads.

The interior is also very lean, and only offers a couple of gear loops and a small zipper pocket for IDs and other small items. All the seams and the load-bearing bartacks are reinforced and double stitched to prevent fraying of the Ultra EPL fabric in case the backing material starts to degrade. In retrospect, I think I would reinforce the seams and bartacks with a white backing fabric next time to blend in with the rest of the pack better. Since I make that backing “tape” myself, I can easily make it in the colors/fabrics of my choosing. This particular black liner is a 210D Diamond ripstop polyester fabric with polyurethane coating to act as a mild waterproofing tape as well..

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The Alpine Pack

I’ve been thinking about making a specialised alpine pack for a long time now. There are a couple of considerations to take such as weight, abrasion resistance, equipment attachment points and all without impeding the wearer’s freedom of arm movements.

I’ll cover the reasoning and building process in more details in some future posts, but to achieve a decent ratio of weight to material strength, I selected a tough woven UHMWPE fabric (ultra high molecular weight polyethylene more popular name is Dyneema). These woven fabrics are extremely resistant to wear and tear. In the end, I settled for a relatively new fabric from Challenge Sailcloth called Ecopak Ultra EPL 400. The future will tell if this was the right choice, but after working with it, I like it a lot.

Since Alpine packs get more abuse than most bag – if you ever had to haul a pack up a wall, you know – I wanted to be able to remove most of the straps and cords in a pinch to replace them, or to be able to prevent snagging in more difficult conditions. I also reinforced the most exposed parts to prevent critical failures during an expedition.

In order for the compression straps and ice-axe attachment to be replaceable and removable, I decided to use the daisy chains as the main static feature. Each of the removable element ties into them using T-bars. In the end, this also allows me to rearrange the attachments if I need a different configuration or longer compression cords for some reason.

In order for this to work though, the daisy chain spacing for each “loop” must be relatively small (about 22mm) which would potentially make it difficult to attach climbing equipment directly to it. Since this was not my primary concern, I went ahead with that design. You’d be surprised how much every detail counts in a design like this.

The side compression straps themselves do have a fixed point (non-removable part) where the quick-release LineLoc ties into the bag. But beyond that, the cord and the T-bar can be removed in a pinch.

On most bags, I do like to have one small quick-access pocket where I can store papers, energy bars, keys and so on. Since I still wanted to avoid any potentially snagging, I went for a very low profile design with a zipper closure. It will not hold much, but it will do the job and not protrude from the bag.

As we were talking about hauling earlier, I was debating options for a while. I always build strong roll-tops so I can carry my bags grabbing the loop they form. I use small high-end carabiners that can take up to 30kg of load and always use metal D-rings instead of the usual Nylon to make sure this won’t fail over time. I decided that would make a poor rope attachment point for hauling since the D-Rings are too small for a climbing carabiner and you could reach 30kg of pulling force on a bad day’s haul.

Instead, I went for a handle style carrying attachment that would fit the needs for hauling quite well and double as a handles if you prefer a straight roll-top rather than dry-bag style closure. Since I wanted the bag to stay levelled and haul straight, I decided to add symmetrical attachments so that the pack would be balanced. Each handle was tacked well and should be handling loads in the 20kg range without any problem.

I would not expect the pack to be filled to the brim for a haul, but if it is, this design will not be ideal if the roll-top stands higher that the handles. In this case, one should haul with only one handle and hope for the best.

The last feature worth mentioning is probably the ice-axe attachment although there really isn’t much to talk about. It is a very simple design, tried and true. It can support a single axe or a hybrid setup (2 smaller axes). To secure the lower part of the axe, a simple webbing and quick release is tried between the two daisy chains. This strap can be lowered or raised depending on the axe configuration, but there is probably no need for this. I admit I was a bit worried about the strength of this puny little quick release that fits a 10mm webbing. After fiddling with it for hours, I figured it would do the job. It’s anyway easy to replace and upgrade but if anything ever fails on this bag, I assume this would be it.

Since we only talked about the front so far, it’s only fair to show you the back. The padding is minimalist, with some 3D mesh on the lower back, and the shoulder straps are lightweight as well. I rarely use foam in ultralight shoulder straps, but it also limits the maximum load that one can comfortably carry. Everyone is different, but for me these stay comfy up to about 7kg.

And the best part is, it only weights in at 410 grams. Ok, now enough with the talking, let me just dump a boatload of pictures! Stay tuned for more detailed discussion about this bag!

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The back panel of the Ski Touring pack

The back panel is probably the most interesting part of that pack. Since it is an ultralight children’s pack, I added a shoulder strap’s height adjustment option to let the pack grow with the owner.

The back panel also contains a padding sleeve with a hook and loop tape closure to be able to add a foam pad and some more structure is required.

The daisy chains will be taking some serious load when the pack is full and skis are hanging on its sides. So the daisy chains will need to hold under strain. The achieve that, the pack’s fabric is carefully strengthened along the daisy chain. In the following pictures, the daisy chain is blending with a folded seam. It also is the point where the padding sleeve is sewn into the back panel, which backs the fabric without any specific weight penalty. Nonetheless, the seam is sealed and hidden with a strip of VX21 RC, which also adds strength to the bartacks, totaling the layers of fabrics to 3 behind the webbing.

The rest of the back panel is relatively simple. Thee is a thin layer of closed-cell foam and 3D mesh on the lower part, decorated with a mountain-top pattern.

The shoulder straps lower attachment is a standard load-bearing triangle and webbing designed to use with a nylon ladder-lock buckle. A lightweight hip belt is also important, since the pack loaded with skis would have an unusually low center of gravity. I added a removable gear loop on the hip belt

There you have it! These were the most important details of the pack’s back panel.

Since you read it until the end, here are a couple of bonus pictures that did not make the cut.

Have a great day!

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Make the Winter Pack from White X-PAC VX07

I have already covered all of the techniques I used to build the Winter Pack in other posts so I will not dwell on the details too much. The pack is relatively simple in terms of features, it has an almost vertical daisy chain, a side zipper pocket, a roll-top closure and a padded back. Plus some quality of life details.

For most of my builds, I design the front (1) and back (2) panels first, then I sew on the side panels (3, 4) to the front panel. The last pieces of the puzzle are to set the height of the roll-top with multiple parts if required, and only after that do I sew on a wide panel for the roll-top across the 3 front and side sawn panels.

Representation of the cut panels (not to scale)

The bottom panel itself is more often than not the last thing I put together, and stitch it to the front and side panels before finishing the pack by attaching the completed back panel (2,5,6).

I wanted a decent back padding for this pack since I might have to carry pointy or uncompressible gear (water bottles, alcohol stove) and not a lot of temporary padding. I went for an inversed T-shaped pad with 8mm closed cell foam topped with 3D mesh. All directly sewed on the back panel to keep every light and water resistant. To avoid wasting a lot of mesh, I decided to stitch two parts together with a flat-felled seam. The foam itself ended up being a three parts piece.

To secure the shoulder straps, I usually embed the ends in between separate panels (2, 5). I also use the same technique to add the load-lifters and the roll-top compression strap (2,5,6). The smaller pieces of the back panel will define the height of the last roll-top piece (7).

The shoulder straps are just my usual design, with an outer shell out of Cordura and 3D mesh inside. I always add daisy chains to to the full length of the shoulder straps to attach the chest strap, or smaller equipment. For this build, I went with ladder-lock buckles instead of Lineloc buckles since weight was not a huge concern.

There isn’t much else to talk about really. The front panel is very lean, with just the daisy chain attached to the main fabric without reinforcements (if the daisy chain was planned to attach heavy equipment, I would back the VX07 fabric to avoid future tear outs.

The pocket itself is just a flat pocket sewn onto on side panel. Since I am right handed, the most logical side to put the pocket on was on the right side (when wearing the pack) so I can slide the bag on one shoulder and access the pocket while walking.

That’s it! I did not cover the side compression straps since there is really nothing special about it. Enjoy!

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The Winter Pack

I thought I’d make something nice for myself and since I wanted a functional day pack for winter hiking, I went right ahead and built one. What’s so special about a winter pack might you ask? Well, I might need to carry warmer layers although not necessarily wearing them so that’s a bag that can hold its volume. I like to hang gloves off of the exterior of the pack so I’ll need something for that. I would often carry a hiking pole (sometimes two) so attachments are a must. If it’s a warm day and I do not have much to carry, I would prefer a pack that can be compressed down to a low profile. I’ll need a simple hip belt if I’m scurrying through some annoying terrain and don’t want the pack to move around. And… that’s it. More of less. Ah yes, and I want some quick access pocket so I can grab a snack on the way to the top. So I made that!

There you have it, my perfect winter pack. Here are more pictures, I wouldn’t want you to have too much to read before getting to the good stuff.

In the end, the bag volume can almost pretty much double if I loosen the compression strap and use some of the additional volume the the roll-top offers. I don’t have great pictures of this, but the following snapshots should help see the difference between the compressed and non-compressed volumes. The roll-top can be extended some more to really double the volume.

Stay tuned for some behind the scene pictures!

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The Very Merry Christmas Pack 🎄

Here we are, pack is finished and ready to be gift wrapped. I think words speak less than pictures, so I will now paste some pictures! Unfortunately, I had little time to take snapshots before wrapping it up and leaving for vacation. But stay tuned, since I do have a mountain of behind the scene pictures coming up.

Thank you for the great support this year! See you in 2020! 🍾

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Walkthrough building Santa’s Pack

Given that my goal here was to make a good looking day-pack which can double as hiking backpack for a Christmas gift, I did not go overboard with the design and details, and stayed within the realm of lightweight and simple designs with more generic features. I opted for the lean front instead of a cargo pocket I was considering in the design to keep the day-pack feeling, and made use of the front zipper pocket idea to keep in line with daily commuting habits and needs. I know you are curious, so without further due, here is a picture of the (almost) final pack.

What do you mean that’s not a bag yet? 😁

The finished pack ended up a bit fatter on the bottom side than the pattern it was based on (you will see some differences with the Skinny pack) but I kept it in line with the overall slimness/tallness of the original design. To get a bit more volume out of it, I also extended the maximum capacity of the pack with a higher roll-top, which brings the typical volume of this pack to about 25 to 30 liters. Another key difference is the much bulkier side pockets, which are clearly highlighting the hiking side of the design.

Side Pockets

To counter the risk of water pooling in the side pockets due to how waterproof the X-Pac fabrics are, I finished the bottom-most side of the pockets with a strong mesh which acts as both a water drain, and a more stretchable fabric for the pockets themselves. The same design with only the VX-07 fabric would not allow a bottle to sit all the way down the pocket. This one does.

Padding the back panel

The back of the pack follows my most recent padding concept, with a high quality 8mm closed-cell foam pad coupled with a 3D mesh to offer a decent level of comfort and good breathability. This construction only covers the center part of the back panel. I find that the weight-to-support ratio of this construction is a good balance, and although this does not really qualify as ultra-light, I would probably consider this on most of my personal upcoming hiking and trekking packs.

The dimensions and V-shape of the padding are meant to follow the human torso’s shape, and I find that sweat mostly accumulates following the vertebrae, which is where the 3D mesh will make the most difference. I also consciously pack bags to avoid sharp edges anywhere my bones protrude (shoulder blades, pelvis) and found that this configuration give me adequate protection for my back without sacrificing too much weight.

Simple shoulder straps

If there is one construction stage I enjoy the least, it’s making the shoulder straps. I’ve been through many different concepts and iterations, and never quite liked the result or the process enough to make it my standard approach. That is, until recently, when I decided to completely avoid padding the straps with any kind of foam and rely on a better profile to spread the weight on one’s shoulders.

I designed curved straps which rely only on 3D mesh, and present a bit of a wider profile to compensate the lack of foam padding. Depending on the expected pack load and the fabric used, I usually add a daisy-chain webbing all along the strap, or only at both ends for the load lifters and accessory loops. The reason I mention load is that I found with loads higher than 6 kilograms the fabric’s normal stretch and the 3D mesh limited padding will be hampered by the webbing, which then tends to dig into one’s shoulders, effectively removing the benefit of a wider shoulder strap. If the webbing does not cover the shoulders, the fabric’s stretch will help spread loads more evenly.

The reason for me to ditch the foam was mainly due to how cumbersome and over-complicated it is to build strap with high-quality closed-cell foam. I have used Evazote EV50 in different thicknesses (mainly 4mm and 8mm) and always preferred building the straps as a sleeve (seams on the inside) for comfort as well as robustness. The major drawback of this method is that inserting the foam a posteriori never really yields perfect aesthetic (at least, I’m not skilled enough to make it look good). On one hand, EV50 tends to be very “sticky” and making the whole inserting process quite annoying. On the other hand, the sawing machine I use has limited clearance below the foot, and the stack of 3D mesh, 8mm EV50, fabric and webbing is just too much for a household machine to handle.

Now enough with the text, and on to the pictures! I have limited pictures of the final pack because I was running out of time and had to eventually gift it away, but I do have a significant amount of behind the scene pictures, which hopefully will be as satisfying to you as these are to me. Stayed tunes for the next post.

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Backpack Design 101: You’ve got to start

I must have been spending hours on the concept itself, and just mentally iterating through constructions and ideas, starting from a burrito shape, to ultra complicated constructions, until I finally landed on a appealing concept. After that, I easily spent 20 hours building the pack itself. But between the build idea, and the first cuts, there really wasn’t time at all.

That the last scribbles I made before jumping right in.

You’ve guessed it, I worked slow to avoid mistakes because I was still improvising quite a bit. I sketched a few different drawings and highlighted the details I wanted to add, then marked all the small things that are easily missed, and I got cracking almost immediately. If you look closer at the sketches above, the idea I started with was to have a third compartment that would have been strapped atop the flaps, securing the secondary compartment, creating essentially a sandwich pack. As you can see with the finished pack, I quickly dismissed that idea.

This workflow is somewhat an evolution to my normal process. I usually spend a lot of time sketching and doodling and measuring and thinking, before starting to work fast. But I definitely recommend the exercise every so often! It’s a good way to test your spatial acuity and your building habits.

On a side note, this is the second backpack I build with unpadded shoulder straps, the first one was also a spur of the moment thing. I was just tired of struggling while trying to slide the foam inside the straps, and decided to give that a try instead. I’m quite happy with the comfort the 3D mesh provides for small to medium loads (up to 6kg) and I’ll probably stick to this construction for a while. But sometimes, an idea will make things worse, just keep that in mind!

The shoulder straps are just made of 3D mesh (3mm) and a top layer out of Cordura.
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The Monarch Pack

After the more classical Ballast and Skinny packs, I really wanted to try something new, and different, while still keeping the overall look and feel of the series! This November I present to you: the Monarch! I do not mean the head of state guy, but rather the butterfly, and if you read on, you’ll understand where the name comes from!

The Monarch started as a concept a long time ago, and went through quite a few iterations before I started actively working on it. I was looking for a commuter bag that not only has the looks but also the brawn. As I walk or ride a bike to pretty much everywhere, I sometimes need a simple laptop bag, other times I want to be carrying heavy supplies from the hardware store, and often I have the need for a bigger size backpack than what I have with me at the time.

And that’s where it all started: the need for a small but extensible backpack. Now some of you will just tell me that I can use compression straps and shock cords to “expend” a packs size, but really, all you do is to compress a big pack. The Monarch is a tad different, and without any more words, the following pictures will tell you why.

As you can see, the Monarch is part waterproof bag for the main body, part duffel bag in a loose sense for the extensible secondary compartment that can be used to carry quite a few things.

The main compartment is made out of X-Pac X10 with a roll top closure and designed to be very water resistant (not yet seam sealed, but that’s planned for later) and contains a laptop sleeve (not padded) and a small pocket.

The flaps on the other hand are made out of a 350D double layer uncoated Cordura, and designed in such a way that they can be folded back with adjustable overlaps in order to extend the secondary compartment’s volume. The closed flaps are secured with two compression straps with quick release buckles for easier access.

In the pictures below, I “wrap” around one of my sturdy camera cases. The whole point of this design is to allow you to pack more only when you need it, but not have to fiddle around with you pack when you don’t.

Now to the juicy part, here are the specs of this particular build.

Volumemin. 20L
typ. 25L
max. 40L
Dimensions50x28x5cm (roll-top closed, flaps completely overlapping)
Weight730g
Carriescomfy. 6kg
max. 10kg
FabricsX-Pac X10 (Cotton outer fabrics, and PES layer for waterproof-ness)
350D Cordura
ClosureRoll-top
Quick Release + Velcro Flaps
Back Padding8mm Closed Cell Foam pad (80% surface covered)
4mm 3D mesh
Strap Padding3D Mesh without CCF padding
Hip BeltNot Applicable
Pockets– Laptop sleeve inside the main compartment
– Small key/phone pocket inside the main compartment
– Extensible 5-25 liters flaps
– Optional zipper pouch secured with Velcro
Attachements– Daisy chain for accessory on the front of main compartment
– Small gear loops inside the secondary compartment
– Velcro on the left flap to add gear pouch/accessories
– Horizontal front compression straps (x2)
– Front flap daisy chains (mostly for securing the flaps with the lowest compression strap)

Stay tuned for behind the scene pictures, and some more commentary!

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