My DIY bag for duplex

[WoodBow]

I bought a duplex last year and ran a diy cargo panel and diy bag. The bag was basically just a large 500d cordura stuff sack. It was held to the frame only by the cargo panel. I ran the ilbe lid on it. When we made camp, i ditched the bag and just ran the lid and cargo panel. It all worked just fine but not having the bag attach to the frame was kind of annoying when loading and strapping. I also had the itch for something fancier. My sewing skills have come a long ways so i decided to dream up the perfect bag for my use and to go for it.

I ordered webbing, 3 bar sliders, and 1000d cordura from ebay. I scavenged a large zipper from my cannibalized ilbe. The buckles came from the ilbe as well. Id guess i have around $20-30 in it.....and many many hours. The actual construction is not terribly time consuming. It's the planning. Having never built a legitimate bag before, i really had no idea about dimensions and such. I just kind of winged it. I never even drew it up on paper.

Close to the end i borrowed a friends high camp to see how it attaches to the frame and such. I should have borrowed it in the beginning and it would have saved me a lot of time. I did my best to plan 10 steps ahead but some details got overlooked and were more difficult to add to a sewn up bag vs when it was still in panels.

All sewing done on an old husqvarna viking 6430 that i bought at goodwill for $25

Around 230 bar tacks later.........

I made a grab it for it yesterday. You can see that in my other thread.

 

[WoodBow]

Where the bag hooks over the frame, it is reinforced with hypalon....once again scavenged from the ilbe. I sharpened a piece of 1.5" emt to cut the holes with.

I really missed the side pockets on the ilbe so i decided those where a must have for me. These are pretty big. They will hold a puffy or rain jacket no problem.

My only regret is that i made the bag about 1.5" too short. So when i set the bag down it falls over because the bottom of the frame hits first. Pretty annoying. But like i said, i had no clue what i was doing. Now i know.

 

[kipper09]

That's tremendous work. Turned out great. Love the zipper and the side pockets. Should serve you very well

 

[machinethomas]

That looks very very good. I like the side pockets and that lid looks slick. Well done! What's the estimated size cubic inch wise?

 

[WoodBow]

I considered a lid with volume but i didn't want to wait for a zipper to ship. A no volume is also much simpler to design. So i figured the best compromise was more molle so that i could attach a pocket later if i so desire. I could have obviously gotten away with a lot less webbing and just done attachment points like kifaru but i didn't know the placement and spacing so i erred on the side of excess. I also like the look of molle and im not a weight weiner.

I have no clue about volume. Somewhere between 5 and 7k.

That looks very very good. I like the side pockets and that lid looks slick. Well done! What's the estimated size cubic inch wise?

 

[wyodan]

Where the bag hooks over the frame, it is reinforced with hypalon....once again scavenged from the ilbe. I sharpened a piece of 1.5" emt to cut the holes with.

I really missed the side pockets on the ilbe so i decided those where a must have for me. These are pretty big. They will hold a puffy or rain jacket no problem.

My only regret is that i made the bag about 1.5" too short. So when i set the bag down it falls over because the bottom of the frame hits first. Pretty annoying. But like i said, i had no clue what i was doing. Now i know.

That's why I wish Kifaru's smaller bags would go all the way to the bottom of the frame. Excellent looking work! I currently have no sewing experience, but looking at this inspires me to give it a shot.

 

[Stid2677]

Very nice!!

 

[justinspicher]

Looks good.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

That's a fantastic job! You went far more elaborate than I did on mine.

 

[Jimbob]

Wow that looks really good

 

[WoodBow]

For those that might want to give it a shot, making a bag with limited molle, no pockets, and no zippers would be very easy if you understand basic sewing. Zippers and pockets add a lot of time if you're like me and just figuring out how to do it as you go. I think i seam ripped the zipper and flap off 3 times before i finally figured out how to make it all come together the way i wanted. I have always been a fan of the guess and check method.

I will probably make something along the lines of a markhor or tahr eventually, just because i am a gear junkie and i like making stuff.

 

[Jimbob]

What are the dimensions of your bag?

 

[WoodBow]

What are the dimensions of your bag?

I didn't even think about calculating the volumr off measurements.

Bag is 29.5 X 9 X 14. Side pockets are 9x6x3. So unless my math is wrong, that gives me a total volume of 4,041. That sounds really low. The smaller highcamp is what, 4800? And i know its bigger than that.

 

[Jimbob]

Dimensions just give an idea of physical size they do not relate well to volume. You can at least times those calculations by 1.6 to get volume (I read that somewhere but also think its wrong). The only way to measure volume is to fill it with some beans or something and measure how much of them can fit in.

 

[justinspicher]

As long as it hold everything you need, it is the right size.

 

[yardwork]

Very well done. You obviously spent a considerable amount of time lining everything up and keeping things parallel and square which is something I struggle with the most when *building* with fabric.

Did you wash your Cordula before sewing it? I didn't with some 1000D I got from Rockywoods that I've used for a two test pockets. I think before I attempt anything else I'll wash it to hopefully make it a bit more supple to work with.

 

[WoodBow]

That makes sense about volume. Its kind of hard to wrap your mind around why the two would be different. 1.6x would put it right in the ballpark that i guesstimated.

I did not wash the cordura. I kind of like it stiff for straight seams but i could sure see and advantage to it being softer when working around a radius. I did spend a lot of time on layout with thr webbing and such. Each piece had a full length layout line to butt against and marks for each bar tack. I used the black spring paper clips exclusively. No pins. Only way to go. The bag is comprised of essentially 2 side panels and one front/bottom/ back panel. Calculating the length of that main panel is seldom accurate for me. Especially when going around the radiused corners at the bottom. So in cases like that, i just leave it plenty long, sew the seams, and then trim the excess. Perfect every time. If you look at the snow collar you will notice that there are two seams, one on each side of draw cord. I didnt have a piece of 500d long enough so i had to splice a piece in. As long as you put the effort in to make it look professional, people will just assume it was supposed to be that way.

My favorite unplanned feature is that the straps for the lid line up with the outermost molle slots on the front panel which allows me to run the excess through them to keep it tidy.

 

[realunlucky]

Excellent work wood bow

 

[DaveC]

Nicely done.

 

[yardwork]

Thanks for the added info and what is the color of the cordura, light brown or a tan?

You could put those photos in the Backpacks forum as a new Kifaru pack on April Fools Day and have a bit of fun, it looks that good.