Tag: Hip Belt

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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 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 Ballast Pack

The Ballast pack is designed for the lightweight multi-day hiker/trekker. Designed to shave off unnecessary weight, but still keeping a sturdy construction, reinforcing area prone to wear, and providing proper gear attachments and a removable top lid.

This pack’s main compartment offer approximately 35L for your main load, and the two side pockets offer in excess of 2 liters for quick access items like water, rain gear and so on. Additionally, the removable top lid offers in excess of 3L of sealed volume secures with a strong zipper on the side.

Amongst other attachments, the packs offers two vertical daisy chains on the front panel which can be laced with shock cord if need be, one trekking pole attachment with quick release on a side panel, a dual ice axe loop on the front, and an extra strong set of daisy chains and D-rings on the bottom for securing tents, sleeping pads, or anything you’d like.

For padding, the back panel has an embedded (non-removable) full-length 4mm closed cell foam pad, with an additional 4mm CCF band and 3D mesh on the hip. The shoulder straps take a minimalist approach to 4mm closed-cell foam and 3D mesh, but will work well for loads up to 8kg.

And since you’re probably interested in some specs, here you go!

Volume35+5L
Dimensions80x28x18cm (roll-top closed, without lid)
Weighttyp. 500g (no lid)
max. 600g
Carriescomfy. 8kg
max. 10kg
FabricsDyneema/Nylon Ripstop (black on black), 1000D Cordura
ClosureRoll-top + Velcro
Quick Release Top Lid (removable)
Strap padding
4mm CCF padding + 3D Mesh
Hip Belt4mm CCF padding + 3D Mesh padding on the hips
25mm strap with 2-sided quick release buckle
Pockets2+1 (one on each side, different heights, inverted inclination + top lid zipper pouch)
Attachements– Vertical daisy chains (x2) on the front panel for gear or shock cord
– Gear loops on the front panel (4x on each end of the daisy chains)
– Compression strap with quick-release (x1) and with ladder lock (x1)
– Strong Shock cords with LineLoc to secure side pockets content.
– Daisy chains (x2) on bottom, with D-rings (x4)
– Daisy chain on each shoulder strap
– Loop inside for a water bladder
– Top lead attachment can be converted to straps.
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Feature breakdown of the Slumber pack

It’s always difficult to make a distinction between nice-to-have and must-have features. Here is a breakdown you might find useful in your deliberations.

A3mm Cord load lifter with LineLoc.
BCam side release buckle on 15mm strong webbing.
CDaisy chain out of strong 15mm webbing.
DSide compression systems out of cord, hook, and LineLoc quick release buckle.
ESide pockets (different heights for different purposes).
FHip belt out of 25mm webbing and high-quality quick release.
G+HGear loops out of 15mm strong webbing.
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