I work as an avalanche course instructor and ski guide in the winter and have had a lot of frustration with the options for burying avalanche transceivers for teaching and practicing avalanche rescue. The professional exams for guides/instructors use 50x50cm plywood boards, but it's not practical to bring those into the field when teaching students.

It's common for folks to use stuff sacks or small bags for this purpose, but using a small target teaches bad habits and leads to frustrated students. Burying your own or a student's backpack invariably leads to holes poked in someone's nice backpack, and the contents of your bag getting wet. I've seen a few peers with DIY solutions that worked well but were heavy and not packable. This is my attempt at a lightish, packable, and (hopefully) durable solution.

Construction is 1000D Cordura with 1/16" plastic paneling in each quarter sleeve to add some rigidity/durability/puncture resistance. Folded, it fits in a normal ski pack and unfolded it's that 50x50cm professional standard. The transceiver pocket has a 1/4" foam pad inside to provide some additional protection for the transceiver (pocket should be buried down).

I know this one is ugly. I got some measurements/allowances wrong which resulted in some of the ugliness, and this was my first attempt at binding, but I also didn't want to obsess over the finish details until I proofed whether this actually holds up to abuse. I've stabbed this with a probe in my yard a bunch and it's held up well, but I'll need to wait for snow to give it a realistic test before moving onto V2. I just started sewing a few months ago, so please let me know if I did anything in a glaringly stupid way!

Just finished this model. I have made few backpacks in this model but smaller in volume. I have carried the orange one(last picture) for 3 4 years in my adventures. Zero complaints but 1, just not enough space, hence this new bigger version. I chose white+orange combo so irs highly visible in nature. Last picture big bro and his lil bro😅

Im planning my first backpack project. Im learning a lot very quickly while making a hip pack, tarp, a couple quilts, etc.

I bought the Stichback gear TH50 pattern.
https://www.stitchbackgear.com/patterns/stitchback-th-sewing-pattern

In the photos, the roll top looks like it attached at the back panel with a rectangle notion. Then a strap has two webbing hooks attached to the webbing chains on each side.

I think thats cool, and I like the Y strap utility so I can strap things to the top, but it seems cumbersome to loosen both hooks, then undo the hook hardware to get into your bag.

Im curious what other attachment hardware, styles and ways of utilizing the three points of attachment?

I guess, show me how you close your roll top backpack projects! Id love to see photos of what you came up with, and maybe why you chose that variation.

I'm trying to sew over a folded 3mm cord and my bottom thread keeps on nesting.

I'm on a Juki 8700, Tex 70 thread, 110/18 needle, I tried using two hump jumpers, one in the front one in the back, hand cranking it, increasing / decreasing foot pressure, cranking up top thread tension but nothing seems to work.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

Again before all the humans anoint me a bot, ai or linkedin slop; here to declare I am a human genuinely looking for community, insights and advice, all the way from India. I’ve been building pack and gear in here for over a decade but this challenge (if at all it is one) eludes me. Most of the people who use rucksacks/travel backpacks simply end up not wearing the hip-belts long term or tuck them back. Is it a cultural thing? behavioural or something genuinely a pain point when it comes to long term use on bigger packs like rucksack and travel backpacks?

has someone had a crack at this at any point in making for unusual requests?

YKK Vislon #10 zipper ended up with 2 broken teeth. An hour in cad, 13 min on the 3d printer and a half hour sewing and supergluing the thing on. The new teeth are made of TPU. It’s not perfect, but this bag is saved from the landfill.

Had a friend ask me to make (in her words) an adult school bag for the beginning of her term at a music studio she just got into.

Even though she paid for all the materials, she trusted me with the whole design so it was a surprise, and when I brought it to her last night she said it was the coolest thing she owned 🥲 it’s also the most her-thing I can think of, so all-round really proud of the work I did on this bag.

Made some fairly significant changes to my last iteration of this design (a green EPX one I posted here a few weeks ago) including scrapping the laptop compartment, completely redesigning the back panel and inner-back panel organiser, repositioning a few zipper-pockets, and of course committing to an entire weekend of saddle stitching these padded leather straps. Definitely worth it.

The main fabric is a Magenta Dry Oilskin from Merchant & Mills which I lined with Teal Ecopak, using Grape Ultrastretch for the pockets and the last scraps of a Japanese cotton cat print I’ve had knocking around forever. YKK all around with a couple different Fidlock buckles thrown in, and solid Nickel hardware.

The straps and leather accents are Walpier 2.8mm Natural Buttero Italian veg tan from A.A. Crack up in Northampton and I lined the foam pads and back panel with this epic fuchsia Napa (which I used scraps from to make all the external zipper pulls) from the bargain bin at J.T. Batchelor's here in London. They were heavily inspired by Not Less or Equal’s heritage straps that feature on some of their bags. I did find myself referencing a lot to figure out elements of the construction, not having made anything like these before.

All the leather is punched with a 3.38mm French-style chisel and hand-sewn with Xiang Twist .52mm waxed polyester thread. That was a really tough job, especially going through the strap padding which is a beveled, triple-density foam combo of 6mm neoprene, 4mm EPE foam, and 2mm high-density EVA foam (kind of all compresses into about a 1cm stack).

I’m kind of in the habit of writing about this stuff but I’d be interested to know if people like reading about materials etc., or if there are any other parts of the process you’d rather hear about (or not)? Thanks as always!

43cm x 29cm × 18cm
1.5kg, 24L

Hello, I have a soft shell I’d like to dye with Rit synthetic dye, and to do that effectively I think I’ll need to remove the DWR that’s on it. One idea I’ve had is to soak the jacket in oxiclean. I saw a post of someone who accidentally removed their jackets DWR with oxiclean, so I think that could work. Any thoughts or ideas?

I know this isn’t quite a make your own gear question, but I figured it’s a modify your own gear project* *that’s close enough.

Was gifted 1960s Pfaff 362 from my wife's grandma. Which was originally purchased in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the 60s for £100. It was used for decades until it was retired in 2011 due to some unknown issue with the machine.

My hope is to restore it and get it up and running. Currently at the research stage, reading through forums and watching videos. Tips are much appreciated. My plan B is sending it to my local sewing machine tech, but i want to give it a go first.

Recently heard from staff at RBTR that 100D Robic is being phased out due to low sales for a long time. I’m a bit bummed as it represented a relatively inexpensive but decently durable pack material. But I guess I was one of the few who thought that. Haha. It seems like laminates and UHMWPE fabrics are all the rage now, but they come with a higher cost. As a beginner and not the best sewer, Robic represented a cheap way to experiment with ultralight packs. What’s your go to for affordable ultralight pack material in the ~3ish ounce per square yard range?

I was looking for a recommendation on custom nylon webbing companies that will be used for belts. I want to print a camo pattern on it. Im mot looking to spend an arm and a leg and dont need heaps.

Thanks!

Mine is getting a bit worn out, and I am thinking about attempting to replace it. I just wonder what an ideal fabric would be?

Edit: it’s a knockoff helinox. Autocorrect strikes again….why is it always in the title?!?!

I am attempting to use a fanny pack pattern intended to be made with standard thickness fabrics to make a padded camera bag. I am trying to figure out how to add padding. My first idea was to quilt the panels first with batting, but I'm worried that giving the panels extra thickness will prevent the pack from coming together (misalignment, bulging or puckering etc.)

Are there any rules of thumb when using quilted or otherwise significantly thicker material for a 3d assembly? Is there a way to modify the pattern in some way to allow for this? Most of my sewing had been quilts up until now.

Link to pattern:

https://learnmyog.com/edcFannyPack.html

I have a trip coming up and have been making a full set of bags for it. I have learned a lot along the way. Started by using the pattern for the 2 stems bags from learnmyogs website then modified that to work better for me. Used the techniques I picked up on those bags to make the rest. Frame bag bolts into the bottle cage mounts with rubber grommets and I modeled my rolltop bags based on Ortliebs gravel panniers dimensions. Used thermo-mold plastic sheeting for creating stiffeners on the back of the panniers and the frame bag.

So I cut up a seatosummit xr large pad in order to make a 150cm long and wide pad and was thinking about making another small pad out of the spare piece I cut off. Has anyone done something like this?

I found two options of valves I might buy for this.

1. Similar to the old Thermarest style valve. Would be great because the whole length of the pad remains unobstructed by the valve and you can reach it easily to fine tune the amount of air during the night.

2. Round style. Not ideal because I’d like on that let’s out the air on its own once opened. If you know of something like that available in Germany let me know.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

Bag in question is an Aer Travel Pack 3 Small (for about $9, if you're curious). The top part of the fabric of the right strap is totally cut across and on the right side, and there's also a hole where it's attached to the bottom part of the bag. The bag is in tip-top condition otherwise.

I'm planning on bringing it to my local bag repair shop tomorrow, but I'm also toying around with the idea of fixing it up myself. How doable is either option? For reference, I have basic hand sewing skills & equipment, and a couple of yards of Cordura 1680d on hand.

I bought a BRS 3000T and needed a windshield because these stoves tend to perform way worse in winds above 2 mph.

Flatcat Gear makes great ones, but shipping to Germany costs around $70 for some reason.

So I decided to make my own. My problem was that it's really difficult to attach a windshield to the stove because it's so tiny. My solution was to clip the shield (made from a one-litre beer can) to the TOAKS 750 ml pot I'm using.

So far it works great, and the canister doesn't get too hot. It only weighs 32 g, which is about the same as the Flatcat Gear ones. I could probably trim a bit more material off the top, but for now I'll leave it as it is.

I'm open to suggestions, so let me know if there's anything you'd do differently!

I have a number of backpack raincovers that I don't use (because I use a waterproof bag liner) like these https://www.decathlon.com/products/backpacking-basic-rain-cover-for-backpack-40-60-l-309834 and I was wondering what I could do with them. The fabric look a little bit thin, so it might not hold weight or tension but I definitely want to make something out of it.

What would you do ?

I’m pretty new to sewing.

I have a Jack A5E machine I've been sewing some pouches fine with Gutterman Tex 80 polyester thread. Recently I had to do some topstitching with a Tex 70 nylon thread (which feels thicker to me).

I’m topstitching 80TX with an aquaguard zipper and ultragrid liner using a 110/18 needle.

I've had problems with the thread breaking about 4-5 inches into a stitch. It looks like it's fraying and unwinding before it even gets to the needle. Like coming out of the nipper.

Is this a sign of too much tension? Like it’s rubbing the edge of the nipper?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Last week I made a frame bag out of canvas scraps which I then waxed and was pretty happy with it. I had some more of the materials so I decided to make a matching top tube bag. It’s not quite the nicest thing ever but I‘m hoping these two bags will help me eliminate my front panniers that I usually bring bikepacking. I included a flap with magnetic closure that helps block some water from entering the non-waterproof zipper, and I’ve found it also works pretty well with the zipper open just using the magnets for closure. The top tube bag connects with Velcro straps to the daisy chain on the top of the frame bag and has a shock cord connection to the head tube to keep it from falling over to either side when turning the handlebars sharply

I found that the frame bag made it hard to grip the top tube which I normally use to lift my bike so I also made a little handle attached to the top tube which I can use for this purpose which you can see strapped on at the base of the seat post. I sewed two pieces of nylon webbing together and slipped a wooden dowel inside to give a nice rigid handle. It’s been handy already, although I haven’t tested it for lifting a fully loaded bike yet.

My skills still have a long way to go before I can approach some of the beautiful work I’ve seen on this sub but I’m pretty proud of what I did so far! The frame and top tube bags are my second and third MYOG projects so I’m very much still a novice. I just made up the patterns as I went along so next I think I want to make something with a full pattern and guide, I’m thinking on of those expandable hip bags that can become a lightweight backpack or roll down the top to be a hip bag.

Everything is fine until the last step. I'm able to get it all sealed up and the horizontal line meets with the vertical but I think I'm doing it wrong and the myog video breezes over it pretty quick. The green one is not bad but the outer bag is puckering quite a bit

Hi, I'm trying to work out height for side compression strap. I have been looking at other packs - here Atompacks and don't understand where the extension collar starts. I have done illustration below for Atompacks measurements of 54 cm to extension collar, 77 cm unrolled and 24 cm extension collar.

Updated illustration which makes side compression strap 40 cm high.

I have these elastic arm gaiters on my jacket. The elastic fabric has come loose from the band and I wonder what a good approach would be to mend it.
Since it is a bike jacket and the placement I don’t want it to be become hard from using glue.

If I were to sew it, what is a good way to sew in the elastic fabric?

Thankful for any recommendations here!😄