Another Bindle Concept: Custom lightweight backpacks and rucksacks.
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! 🍾
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
| Volume | min. 20L typ. 25L max. 40L |
| Dimensions | 50x28x5cm (roll-top closed, flaps completely overlapping) |
| Weight | 730g |
| Carries | comfy. 6kg max. 10kg |
| Fabrics | X-Pac X10 (Cotton outer fabrics, and PES layer for waterproof-ness) 350D Cordura |
| Closure | Roll-top Quick Release + Velcro Flaps |
| Back Padding | 8mm Closed Cell Foam pad (80% surface covered) 4mm 3D mesh |
| Strap Padding | 3D Mesh without CCF padding |
| Hip Belt | Not 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!
The final shape is extremely pleasing, and mostly due to the combination of the V-shape design and the very subtle curves. To ensure the cuts were symmetrical given the slightly higher complexity than usual, this was the first time I spent the time creating a mostly complete pattern for the main panels (all but the roll-top panels) prior to cutting any fabric. I usually build patterns – a posteriori – as a mean to record a shape I ended up with, if it turned out to be pleasing.
All in all, there are 14 different panels of various sizes that came into building the main compartment (shoulder straps not included). I only created a pattern for the major parts, and cut the rest out of “experience”.
The best way I’ve found to build durable patterns is to cut them out of thin Tyvek as I explained briefly here. It’s a little more investment than simple paper, but it holds a lot more abuses.
The Skinny is an experiment with adding very slight curvatures to an otherwise V-shaped day pack. It stays lightweight by using black on black Dyneema®/Nylon Ripstop (160 grams per square meter) while reinforcing abrasion-prone areas with Cordura by minimizing the overall features: only two relatively small side pockets and a few accessory loops.
The pack also re-imagines the load-lifters by using instead a high-strength 4 mm elastic cord distributing the lateral and front-to-back movement of the pack to the shoulder straps. The load-lifting is minimal by design due to the small volume of the pack, but still adjustable through the tension of the top vertical compression strap.
The breathability of the back panel is provided a full-length wide 3D mesh, and the back panel is padding with a thick (8 mm) high-quality closed cell foam protecting the spine.
In order to avoid the discomfort of rubbing against the 3D mesh – which is worsened by the humidity that can gather within the mesh during a prolonged effort – the bottom part of the back panel is doubles with a soft low-denier Cordura where the skin could be the most irritated. Another mitigation against the same discomfort is done by the shape of the lower part of the backpack, essentially curving to avoid a sharp edge resting on the iliac crest.
Without further due, here are the specs, followed by a huge amount of pictures covering all angles and details. I hope you like it!
| Volume | 18+4 liters |
| Dimensions | approx. 50x27x13 cm (roll-top fully closed) |
| Weight | 310 grams |
| Carries | comfy. 6kg max. 8kg |
| Fabrics | Dyneema/Nylon Ripstop (black on black) 350D Cordura |
| Closure | Roll-top with quick release buckle Vertical compression strap |
| Back Padding | 8mm CCF padding + 3D Mesh (80% of surface covered) |
| Strap Padding | N/A (except for the 3D mesh) |
| Hip Belt | N/A |
| Pockets | 2 (small side pockets) |
| Attachments | – Small gear loops on the side panels (x4) – Strong gear loop with metal D-ring on the front panel – Full-length daisy-chains on both shoulder straps. |
I love building backpacks. I just do. But the one thing that I enjoy the least, is building padded shoulder straps. Between the threads making a mess, the clearance below the presser foot not being enough, and the needle breaking because of tensioning issues, I moved away from padding shoulder straps entirely. Nonetheless, here is a example of what you can do with some patience. And I will also throw in some other pictures of the complete build for the city hiker pack.
