This pack was used in Montana on the Continental Divide Trail and sewn to accommodate a Garcia bear canister. Next week, I will reconfigure it to the Packless System. Read more about this at Trailquest's Packless System. I used this system on the Pacific Crest Trail. Testing, and results are posted on that page.
My home page http://trailquest.net/BRindex.html
has gear lists, trail journals and more I hope will inspire your efforts.
Starting next week, I will blog daily about how to do this yourself.
You will need an external frame pack, some silnylon fabric, a sewing machine, and some simple hardware. If you'd rather modify what you have around home, choose some larger stuff sacks and be prepared to do a little hand sewing.
Any external frame will work. I got mine at a thrift store for $5. You can find them at garage sales, church basement sales, a hiking buddy, your relatives, up in the garage. Look around and you're sure to come up with one. They are nearly indestructible and designed for easy adjustments. Don't worry if the pack on the external frame is shot. We're going to replace that anyways. You can order new sholder straps or hip belts from Campmor.
I love my external frame pack. Stripped down it weighs under 2 pounds and will carry anything I need. Sherpas use them all the time for carrying heavy loads into the mountains. If you only need a few things, you can strip off the extra bags and carry just one sack.
Ok.
So where do you get some fabric? You can order fabric, Velcro, hardware, Cuban fiber, zippers, fleece, just about anything you'd ever want from the links posted below. I've worked with each of these companies and would highly recommend them.
http://www.questoutfitters.com/ 800-359-6931
http://www.owfinc.com/ 208-402-0110, orders:800-693-7467
http://noahlamport.com/ These people mainly do fabric.
I'll post these links on the Favorite Links page attached to my BrawnyView blog for easy reference.
See you here next week.
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