Frame pack ideas

[Coffee]

I was thinking about your gearskin on a frame idea last night. The normal gearskins close in sort of a taco shape. You might want to try it as more of a sandwich. Where the back piece comes completly off. With the frame you might have problems getting the bottom to fully compress. If anything else it will help you to get gear out of the bottom easier without undoing the whole pack.

Just a thought I had while thinking up way to pack my gearskin when it finally comes.

[Drop]

Just a slight aside, but an idea thats been kicking about my mind for a while.

Removable poles from a frame rucksack could be usefull for setting up a tarp for ground sleeping. (I know sacrilege, but some of my plans this year involve the risk of having nowhere to hang.)

[jakethesnake]

I love my Atoms, I have the 35, and have loaded it up with lots of food for the zoo and done one overnight backpacking trip with it. My back stays dry, I need to try hanging a bladder in the gap still, but I plan on using that option for sure.

[Grinder]

My homemade gearskin worked out fine for my short hike up and down from Springer Mountain. The ccf Pad folds over/ around the load to form a soft frame.

I didn't catch the nature of your shoulder problems, but did notice that with the load lifter straps, I could just unweight my shoulders and carry all the weight on my hips. The shoulder straps seemed to pull back against the front of my upper chest.
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The people that know (like Sgt. Rock) seem to double and triple up on water proofing, with a HD trash bag or trash compactor bag over waterproof stuff sacks.

Apparently, the fear of wet down overrules gram weenieness <G>

Miles of Smiles

Tom

[blackbishop351]

I've got something like what you made in the works, too, but I realized last weekend that no matter what, an internal frame-type pack can't get ALL the weight off your shoulders. Unless there's a different design out there that I haven't seen yet.

The load lifters DO remove a lot of the weight, but not all of it, and on an extended hike my shoulders still end up killing me. Another problem is that the load lifters kinda just transfer some of the pressure from the top to the front of your shoulders, and I've discovered that that isn't really any better for me.

[Peter_pan]

Blackbishop351,

I can get 95+ percent off my shoulders with internal frames as long as there is 20-21 inches from the bottom of the waist belt to the shouder strap attachment straps tie in/attachment point....

I hike the levels and gentle down hill in this mode all the time to vent my back.... a sternum strap is required to keep the shoulder staps from falling off to the sides.... The shoulder straps really are that unladen.

Key is to get the hip belt properly adjusted above the hips and cinched tight....at that point I loosen the shoulder staps all the way to the stops...the pack will fall away 4-6 inches at the top and my hips have all the weight at this time... The shoulder straps become "sway limiters" in this mode...When my back has dried or the terrain get more challenging I simple grab both tabs, hop step while cinching, and all is balance secure...

Altenatively I often loosen the hip belt to take 100 percent on the shoulders...

All this is possible with a tall, narrow, and thin pack design... and of course, full out pack weights between 8 and 18 pounds depending on how much food has been eaten down.

Pan

[Just Jeff]

The hand loops I put on my Speed also take the weight off of my shoulders. Just as Pan describes...tighten the hip belt so it's all on my hips, loosen the shoulder straps, and the hand loops control the sway.