What percentage of your gear is homemade?

[jasonklass]

Just curious about how much of the gear you regularly carry is homemade. I'm guessing I carry only about 10-15% between my stove, windscreen, pot cozy, match case, pillow, etc. I'm sure a meager percentage by some standards, so, how about it?

[Just Jeff]

What a good question. Not much for me, actually - I just have different versions of the same things. Hammock and hammock sock, snakeskins, tarpskins, a few stuff sacks...Jack makes the Gear Hammock/Pack Cover but I designed it...that's about it.

I have a pack design bouncing around my skull, though...whenever I figure out where I put my motivation I'll make it.

My kids take homemade quilts and hammocks, too.

[Tinker]

The only things I've made from scratch are my pot cozy, my alcohol stove (many, actually), and several windscreens for my three types of stoves, alcohol, cannister, and white gas.
I've modified just about everything I've bought, though, from shortening and drilling out the handle on my ti spork to cutting down the excess straps (removing some of them, too) on my packs, changing the drawcords and tent/tarp lines to spectra, etc. I don't build, generally, but I sure do love to tinker. (Hence, the trail name).

[Seeker]

other than my stove/stand, walking staff, fleece hat, a tarp, and a couple stuff sacks, everything i have it 'boughten'... but most of it has been modified in some way... pockets in my HH, line pockets in the tarp, pockets on my pack, etc... overall, i'd guess not much of a percentage... maybe 5 out of 50 items...

[DebW]

It could be 5-25% by weight, depending on what I'm carrying. I have duplicates of many things, some homemade, some not. Homemade pack, pack cover, homemade hammock with bugnet and tarp, homemade alcohol stove, pot support, windscreen, cozy, many stuff sacks, silnylon rain pants.

[peter_pan]

With the exception of socks everthing I own or carry at one time was self made or modified...Pack, Tarp, quilts, hammocks, stoves, pots, hydration, compression sacks, stuff sacks, lights, even pegs... Today most of what I carry is commercially available.... But there is always an experimental or test prototype item or two in the pack...

Pan

[Patrick]

Great question.

Stove, stove stand, windscreen, pot cozy (in progress)
Top quilt from a Ray-Way kit, underquilt for my hammock
All of my stuff sacks

I have one of Jeff's homemade hammocks and I like it a lot. I'm torn because I love my HH, but think it would be really cool to be hanging entirely in equipment I made myself.

[stupe]

stove, tarp, poncho.

[Doctari]

Not much I'm sad to say: Stove, pot support, wind screen, pot, ground cover, winter hat, kilt.

Modified: pack, trekking poles, tent stakes.

Use of gear not designed for: mini multi tool as pot holder, bottom of mini "spring form (baking) pan" as skillet (4" dia), Coke bottle for fuel, Small "mini M&Ms" container for; salt - pepper - cayenne.

Am thinking of making a quilt, don't know if I really want to put out that kind of effort.

Doctari.

[lbbrown]

2 Rayway quilts-one under and one on top when using my HH. Rayway tarptent when ground sleeping with one quilt and carry it all in a Rayway homemade backpack.
Last weekend, my son and I hiked from Caledonia State Park to Quarry Gap Shelter and back as a little practice hike. I carried backpack,HH, 10x12 tarp,stakes, 2 jetboils, 2 liters of water, 2 quilts,2 fleece jackets, JRB weathershield and lunch for 2. Weighed 20 lbs 2oz. MYOG (make your own gear)
Quarry Gap Shelter is a Palace!! Good job Jim Stauch!!!!!!!

[Tha Wookie]

By styles:

Rayway (made by me):

2-person Quilt
pack
headnet
stuff sacks
knife handle/sheath
bow drill
water filter bag
seep collector
umbrella cover
soon: tarp and bugnet, need to sew

Island Mama (made by her):

Cozy hat
Cozy socks
Cozy mitts
110 camera lens case
soon: making me a journal from scratch & elkskin journal case

Wookie (my design & I made them):
stove
other bow drill style that I carry
discoidal blade
cane tube
filter belt case (adapted from cd case)
debris hut (don't carry)


Other things:
REI shirt
REI pants
Marmot rainjacket (about toast by now)
housewrap groundsheet
evazote foam pad
patagonia capaline top (from 1981)
Ray-stlye tarp and bugnet that I currently carry
journal
pen
film camera
film
tripod
camera case
pot
spoon
fork
toothbrush
ankle wrap

That's all I think of.... about 60/40 homemade?

[jym beam]

I would think that Rain Queen and I are around 50-50 on the homemade gear. Our homemade gear list is pretty similar to tha Wookie's only that we made fleece and shell mittens. Our Ray-Way projects (tarp, net tent, and quilt) worked perfectly on our southbound PCT thruhike last season. I just wish Mr. Jardine would offer a kayak building kit for our next adventure.

Peace

Jym Beam

[Just Jeff]

One of these days Wookie's gonna make himself a hammock...

[general]

pack cover, shelter, ground cloth, stuff sacks, hi fi stereo system (adaptation)

[Almost There]

Nothing!!!


Maybe one day, I'll make something...then again on second thought probably not!!!

[neo]

very little just a few stoves,need to learn to sew neo

[littlelaurel59]

Alcohol stove/windscreen/pot support.
Bowl/cup made from a Tang jar.

Quilt currently under construction.

Tarp in the planning stages.

[Doctari]

Just realized some I forgot:

I made:
3 of my 4 stuff sacks, Zip lock Cozy, pillow case (fleece, uses my Platypus 1 Ltr canteen as "stuffing") that doubles as extra insulation for the cozy.

Friends made: PVC hole flute in E. Or: Bamboo flute in D.

Modified: Sleeping pad cut to fit 5' 7" me (& I rounded the corners) that also has 2 game boards on it: a 9 man morris & a backgammon board.

Use not ment for: coffee filters to pre filter water before treating, not sure if it helps, but I carry 2 anyway.

Hmmm, I seem to have more homemade stuff than I thought. I'm guessing nearly 50%, WOW!

Thanks for asking, Great post.

Doctari.

[hammock engineer]

It would be fun to some day hike only with gear that I had made, well minus footwear.

I will just have a tarp, top and bottom quilts, and stuff sacks. Finally got all the fabric in the mail. FYI PCT fabrics has good prices on ripstop nylon, but shipping takes forever.

[Almost There]

Oh I just thought of something. Ask Lone Wolf to tell you about Tyvek Man. From what he told me that I remember there was this guy one year who made all his gear...including his pack out of Tyvek. Wolf if you read this chime in.