Looking for a great off season project?
I love tweaking my gear before each trip. For years it was just small things like removing padding, cutting extra straps off, trimming data books and such. But before finishing my hike of the AT I decided to try a simple little DIY project, making a alcohol stove out of a cat food can. It was simple, and the only tool needed was a hole punch. The funny thing was that it became one of my favorite pieces of equipment. Not because it was so great, but because I had taken a little time to make it, and it worked.
A New Project
After understanding the self-satisfaction that comes with creating a simple piece of equipment I decided to take on a more ambitious project. Enter the Ray-Way Backpack. This was a project that I wanted to try since the first time I heard about it, but I honestly didn't think I was capable of undertaking such a project, I was worried that I lacked the skill, that I would just be wasting money, time and nylon fabric. But eventually I decided to just go for it.
What Have I Gotten Myself Into
After I received the materials, instructions, and the instructional DVD it seemed that my fears would be coming true, this appeared to be even more complicated than I originally thought. I put all of the information and fabric in the closet for a month or two before I decided that it was time to get started.
Learning To Sew
My sewing experience was zero starting off, but the users guide that came with the sewing machine was actually pretty helpful with adjusting tension, threading the machine and winding the bobbin. There were two things that really helped me a lot. Looking at seam on everything! I was looking at other packs I had, different articles of clothing, quilts, whatever. I just wanted to learn what a good stitch should look. The second thing that helped was working on some test fabric. I messed around with some cotton sheets trying out different stitches, and stitch lengths and eventually did a few more tests with the supplied materials.
The Pack Is Born
I'm not going to go into every detail to make the pack, if you want to do that visit Ray Jardine's site, but I will say that I just took it one step at a time. It was a lot like a thru-hike. Starting off I knew I had a long way to go, but that first night my only goal was to cut out the pieces, then the next time I worked on it it would be just one shoulder strap and thats how I continued and kept myself at it. Sometimes my schedule would not permit me to work on it every night, or I just didn't feel like it but my only goal was to finish it before any Spring time hiking trips, so there was no rush.
Now, even with the small goals I set for myself everything didn't go smoothly and from time to time I shared a few words with the machine. I had to deal with needles breaking, fabric bunching up and thread tangling wildly on the underside, but I just had to step away calm down and fix the problem. As time went on my skill began to grow a little, and I ran into fewer problems.
Things I Learned
Did I learn how to sew? Yes. Am I a pro? Ha! My pack is far from perfect, but I actually have a lot of trust in it, because I know how it was made. I even have the confidence that if something were to rip on it I could repair it in the field(a needle and thread will accompany me on trips from now on). While working on this project I learned techniques that could be helpful in any number of projects, and now I'm not quite as apprehensive of them.
Whats Next?
First up, some field testing(will post review of pack performance after enough testing is done)! After that, who knows. I have been eyeing that tarp kit as well!
Specific Questions? Let me know! View more photos of the pack on Picasa.
View the Ray-Way Pack Field Test
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| The finished project! |
A New Project
After understanding the self-satisfaction that comes with creating a simple piece of equipment I decided to take on a more ambitious project. Enter the Ray-Way Backpack. This was a project that I wanted to try since the first time I heard about it, but I honestly didn't think I was capable of undertaking such a project, I was worried that I lacked the skill, that I would just be wasting money, time and nylon fabric. But eventually I decided to just go for it.
What Have I Gotten Myself Into
After I received the materials, instructions, and the instructional DVD it seemed that my fears would be coming true, this appeared to be even more complicated than I originally thought. I put all of the information and fabric in the closet for a month or two before I decided that it was time to get started.
 |
| This is where it all began... |
My sewing experience was zero starting off, but the users guide that came with the sewing machine was actually pretty helpful with adjusting tension, threading the machine and winding the bobbin. There were two things that really helped me a lot. Looking at seam on everything! I was looking at other packs I had, different articles of clothing, quilts, whatever. I just wanted to learn what a good stitch should look. The second thing that helped was working on some test fabric. I messed around with some cotton sheets trying out different stitches, and stitch lengths and eventually did a few more tests with the supplied materials.
The Pack Is Born
I'm not going to go into every detail to make the pack, if you want to do that visit Ray Jardine's site, but I will say that I just took it one step at a time. It was a lot like a thru-hike. Starting off I knew I had a long way to go, but that first night my only goal was to cut out the pieces, then the next time I worked on it it would be just one shoulder strap and thats how I continued and kept myself at it. Sometimes my schedule would not permit me to work on it every night, or I just didn't feel like it but my only goal was to finish it before any Spring time hiking trips, so there was no rush.
Now, even with the small goals I set for myself everything didn't go smoothly and from time to time I shared a few words with the machine. I had to deal with needles breaking, fabric bunching up and thread tangling wildly on the underside, but I just had to step away calm down and fix the problem. As time went on my skill began to grow a little, and I ran into fewer problems.
 |
| Crap, looks like it's time for the seam ripper... again. |
Did I learn how to sew? Yes. Am I a pro? Ha! My pack is far from perfect, but I actually have a lot of trust in it, because I know how it was made. I even have the confidence that if something were to rip on it I could repair it in the field(a needle and thread will accompany me on trips from now on). While working on this project I learned techniques that could be helpful in any number of projects, and now I'm not quite as apprehensive of them.
Whats Next?
First up, some field testing(will post review of pack performance after enough testing is done)! After that, who knows. I have been eyeing that tarp kit as well!
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| This was one of the more trick stitches. |
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| 9.1oz, now thats ultra lite! |
View the Ray-Way Pack Field Test
Took the pack out for it's first trip and it worked great... although I did manage to put a hole in the extension collar. Will try to put together a full write up to give full details.
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