Tag: Daisy chain

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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 Laptop Bag

If – like me – you are staying at home in these uncertain times, keeping busy is a necessity and healthy practice. Since I am looking for some practice project and I need a new laptop bag, I figured I’d put 2 and 2 together and make just that.

I have a 13in laptop, so I went for the smallest laptop bag I can fit it in. What do you think?

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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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The Ski Touring Pack

When a friend asked me to design a pack for his young son, I knew I had to give it a try. Little did I know that I would be designing an ultralight Ski Touring pack for a young outdoor aficionado! I mean, what a responsibility!

I wanted to experiment with the ski attachment options and figured I could design the side compression straps with the option to run them across the pack. My original intent was to either hang one ski on each side of the pack attached with the compression straps in a standard configuration or secure the pair to the front of the pack with one side of the compression straps reaching to the other side. Eventually, the choice would befell the future owner of the pack.

Apart from this little experiment, we designed the rest of the pack together, and settled on two front daisy chains and a relatively big zipper pocket. There are also some low-profile side pockets on each side for commodity, but since the main idea is to carry skis on the sides, the pockets are not a main feature. I just find that the weight penalty is small enough to warrant the extra functionality when you need it. Here are some more photos of the complete pack body.

The idea for the shoulder straps was to make a set of test straps first and try the fit, since I was not very confident fitting straps to a child on the first try. Since children grow fast, I wanted the pack to grow with him. Otherwise the pack won’t be useful for very long.

In order to keep this simple and as lightweight as I could, I thought the shoulder straps could attach to a daisy chain instead of being permanently sewed onto the back panel. That way I can add additional daisy chains to allow for higher attachment points and I can make new straps when these ones get too small.

The weight penalty of the adjustable height shoulder straps is not negligible in this weight category, but can be later reduced when adjustment are no longer necessary. A set of “grown-up” straps can be permanents attached to the higher daisy chain and the attachment hardware and webbing can be completely cut-off then. In this scenario, the horizontal daisy chains would remain.

The shoulder straps themselves are actually quite small. In the pictures, these are test straps, which will eventually get replaced after a couple of trips, and are just a way for me to figure out how the wearer wears the pack. The construction is similar to my usual straps except these do not have an S-shape but rather a J-shape.

I can’t wait to see the pack getting some mileage.

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The Burrito Pack

This one is for the Instagram community after I just hit 1000 followers. There is no small victory 💪 and these little steps matter to makers like myself. I don’t build bags nor do I document my work for money, I do it for the community that supports me. Now, what could I do to thank you all? I decided that I would make the ultimate pack.

After a lot of drawings, and a lot of thinking, and a lot of coffee to stay awake, I decided that this special pack would solve the single most annoying problem with ultralight packs. I mean, we’ve all been there, you have that one piece of gear that you know is inside your bag. You know you packed it, but you can’t ever take it out without emptying the entire bag, because this one puny piece of equipment always finds its way to the bottom of the pack. Well, I fixed this once of for all. I present to you… the Burrito pack!

The perfect pack. Nothing more, nothing less.

Bam! There you have it! That puny piece of gear no longer has a bottom to fall to! The Burrito pack opens from the top and bottom with not one but two roll… tops? No, sorry, with a roll-top and a roll-bottom . And since it’s a special build for a special occasion, I thought I’d etch that “1000” on its side.

Roll-bottom forever baby. I can retire now. Oh, you’re still here? Ah you must be wondering what that gorgeous fabric is huh? I knew you would ask. I’ll give you a hint…

There won’t be any behind the scene for this pack, I need to keep this a secret.

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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 Upcycled Pack

The Upcycled Pack

In the last post I shared a few words about one of the best challenges you can try on the cheap. All you really need is an old (or new) Ikea shopping bag (the Frakta), your scrap bin, and a sewing station. The following pictures are the result of the challenge. What do you think?

Since this whole thing was “just for the fun of it”, I though I’d use the opportunity to snap a different kind of pictures for once, so I convinced Mrs. ABC and our dog to help me spice things up. Bonus: I can now prove that I build real-size bags, and not just miniatures.

Unfortunately, I did not take a lot of pictures of the pack while I was in the workshop. I was in a bit of a rush, and then I gave the bag away to the friend who challenged me. So what you see is what I got.

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Upcycling an Ikea Frakta bag is the perfect challenge for you!

In the same vain as the Cotton experiments, I thought I’d also expend the fabric tryouts to the good’ol Ikea Frakta bag, which costs a literal 1€. What started as a joke ended up being the real deal: A friend of mine and fellow maker/hiker challenged me to make a decent looking bag with just one single Frakta bag.

FRAKTA Shopping bag, large, blue, 21 ¾x14 ½x13 ¾ "/19 gallon
That’s an Ikea Frakta bag

Since the challenge was still to build something nice, we also agreed that we could use small recycled bits and pieces and small components, as long as we can keep the overall cost of the material below a few euros. I settled on adding some recycled webbing in a couple of places, and use a scarp piece of light Cordura to reinforce the bottom just for convenience.

In the end, I re-used a few things from previous prototypes and deceased bags to make sure I keep the “bill of material” cost under the price of coffee on the French Riviera. ☕ In the end, it came down to a relatively short and definitely cheap material list.

ItemQuantityPrice (total)
Ikea Frakta shopping bag10.99€
Upcycled 10mm Polyester webbing50cm0€
Remant 15mm Strong Polyester webbing60cm1€
Reused Lineloc tensioners20€
12mm D-Rings (0.30€ each)20.60€
Reused 3mm Cord1m0€
Scrap Uncoated Cordura0.04m²0€
Scrap Hook & Loop Tape (Velcro)25cm0€
Grand Total:2.59€
Call me cheap, but it’s worth every penny.

Now that I am done with it, I think this is a fantastic challenge. Every pack maker should try this at least once no matter how long they’ve been making things for. It forces you practice a couple of important steps in pack making:

  • Properly rip the seams of the Frakta to avoid loosing precious material
  • Work around resource limitations.
  • Recycle stuff you’ve been piling up.
  • Optimize the design to into a small canvas.
  • Think about the stitch type and size based on the canvas properties.
  • Align a patterned canvas parts properly (to avoid crooked looks)

I wouldn’t spoil the the final result just yet since I will upload a few pictures of the final pack in no time, but suffice to say, it looks great ! Better than I thought even!

Spoiler alert!

Stay tuned…

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