Odd thoughts

[shrimp]

So, I was thinking about this, and not sure if it's possible or even worth the effort. Would a pack be able to convert into a bivy with pad, then only need a sleeping bag to finish off the big 4? The sleeping pad could be folded double thick as a 'frame', an overflow area could double the length, and have a zipper screen so that insects can't get in?

So, I've never made any of my big 4 on my own, have only just learned how to sew, and my current big 4 only weigh about 6lbs 14oz... Is this even worth putting time into?

[Snowleopard]

I've thought of adding a goretex sleeve to a pack so that it could form a minimal shelter for winter emergencies (haven't done it though). What you're thinking is more complicated and I'd say not worth it. The complexity to make it all work might actually make it heavier than separate pieces unless you have some clever ideas for implementing it.

[SGT Rock]

Sounds like a Moonbow Powerpack

http://www.moonbowgear.com/1trailgear/1Custom%20packs/Powerpacks/1powerpac.html

[JAK]

I've been thinking of modifying my Jam2 pack so that it has a little more room at the top for my thighs and hips without compressing my sleeping bag. Then I would only need my bivy from there up. On the other hand I have been thinking of using my gortex bivy as my pack, just dump everything in it and then roll it up, then lash it to some sort of primitive frame like this one...

http://www.primitiveways.com/pack_frame.html

[GGS2]

If you want to go way back, think of a bedroll. Initially a couple of thick wool blankets (at least here in the north). You lay them out and put all your kit on top, in various bags, etc. Then you roll it all up, lash the ends so nothing falls out, and then carry it either across your body from one shoulder to the other side, or in a harness or frame on your back. I think the rig SGT Rock is talking about is sort of a modern version of this. I know I've seen pictures, probably paintings, of such a rig on characters from the early exploration of the US, all the way up to the civil war era. Often the cross shoulder rig with a canteen, powder horn and various other stuff going the other way to balance. It was certainly one of the ways the coureurs du bois carried a basic traveling rig in the north woods up here.

Course in those days the blankets were your entire shelter system, and you carried an ax or a Bowie knife to hack a bed pad and lean-to or other shelter out of the living woods each night. Big fire for warmth, and there you were. Many variations on that theme.

Now, large fires and living wood shelters are frowned upon. Not enough to go around, it seems. But the shelter materials and bedding has come down in weight, plus you don't need to carry an axe anymore. Or a big knife, gun, lead shot, etc. Trade those in for food. Who carried a bigger load, I wonder?

In a modern version of this rig, you would maybe lay down your tarp/footprint/tent and inflatable pad, lay your bag on that, then clothing and various stuff sacks for food and "possibles". Roll it up, and carry either across the shoulders or on a lightweight frame, or harness. The roll gets carried with the lashed ends down to shed water, and it gets bent in a U or spiral across your back. Only real problem is en-route access to the stuff inside. Probable solution is to carry a few small bags on the outside.

[shrimp]

Thanks Sgt Rock, that's about what I was looking at. I'll stick to my current setup, at least for now. I wouldn't be saving much in the way of weight, and I like that I can change out one or all of my items if it was to be damaged or I acquired something better/better suited for the weather.

[Bronk]

I met a couple in 2002 that had a pack that converted into a tent...I didn't see them set it up so I don't know exactly how it folded up...and I don't know who the manufacturer was, but they had been using it for several hundred miles and seemed to like it.

[wyominglostandfound]

http://www.wyominglostandfound.com/packs.html


www.wyominglostandfound.com (http://www.wyominglostandfound.com)