View Full Version : Additional Pockets
Following some advice and trying to cut weight, I'm trying to wean myself off of my zip off pants with a million and one pockets. I decided to leave them home on a recent trip up to the Catskills, and felt lost without them. Has anyone used any of the different options to add some pockets to the hip belt on a pack?
Searching through the archives, I found a reference to Dana Designs wet / dry rib (couldn't find a good picture of this one) and a golite team pouch. Anyone use these or something similar? REI also has a couple of other options that I didn't list. Any other suggestions appreciated.
I tend to carry everything in my pockets and hate having to stop all the time to go into my pack. Items include snacks / lunch, maps, knife, lighter, compass, camera, and other random things I might need during the day.
Matt
SGT Rock
10-01-2004, 05:52
I got some SA shorts at Wal-MArt and cut the liner out, they now only weigh something like 3.5 ounces. They have god sized normal pockets for the front so my knife and lighter now fit in there as well as a candy bar. There is a zippered back pocket for my cash and ID so it won't get lost. My wife made me a front pack with a nylon strap, plastic buckle, and a mesh cinch bag that is perfect sized for my camera, maps, lunch, etc. and it only weighs a couple ounces. I can also use this little pack when making trips places instead of hauling my entire pack or carrying a bunch of stuff in my hands or pockets. The strap is long enough to convert it to a single shoulder bag on my back. My compass is built into my watch.
orangebug
10-01-2004, 07:03
I panned the Dana Design wet rib a couple of months ago. What I didn't like about it was the lack of water proofness, as sweat or rain penetrate rapidly.
The design of it is a zippered square pouch with a webbed round water bottle holder next to it. It has connections for the bottom part of your shoulder straps and a connecting "belt buckle" plastic snap, sort of like a sternum strap for your belly. It doesn't remove from the pack easily. It doesn't convert into a fanny pack. The water bottle holder is a good spot for a Marmot Precip or a poncho.
If you plan for it, you will have camera, maps, guidebook pages and such in ziplocks and they will stay dry. It is very handy to carry such and most of the day's snacks. I liked it on my last section.
Bill...
Youngblood
10-01-2004, 08:14
I tried the Dana wet rib a few years ago when I started my thru-hike but gave up on it when it got hot, it was uncomfortable in the heat. I was using a pack with a hip belt and replaced the wet rib with accessories that attached to the hip belt, one on each side. One held a water bottle and one was just a zippered pouch. They kind of worked okay-- they were easily accessible but they required me to be careful how I swung my hands to keep from hitting them... since I used hiking poles, this required me to hold my elbows a little further away from my body. That is not the most comfortable way to hike but I did it for about 2000 miles.
I don't like to carry things in my pockets as it requires extra work because you lift your legs with each step. What I like are easily accessible mesh pockets on my pack and since I carry a pack without a hip belt it isn't too much trouble to take the pack off or put it on. I carry a neck purse (small pouch with a long string) that I can stick in one of my mesh pockets and it holds everything that would normally go in my pants pockets. When I stop at a business, I just take it out and put it around my neck. I also carry a small silnylon stuff sack for some of the other small items I might want to easily get to during the day-- it also goes into a mesh pocket.
One of the neatest things that I have been doing recently is using water bottles that attach to my shoulder straps with shock cord. Not only are they easy to reach, but they counter-balance the weight of my backpack to some extent and make it ride a little more comfortable. While the are not entirely out of the way, I like the arrangement better than anything else I have tried.
Youngblood
SalParadise
10-01-2004, 17:29
I hiked in my swim trunks, which had two good deep pockets. Otherwise I use caribeaners to hook light things outside my pack. You can also pick up one or two small travel pouches made for toiletries. They can clip to the outside of your pack to hold your iodine bottles or whatever else. I've seen slackpackers duct tape Snickers bars to their hiking poles. And one other trick I learned was to put a hole through a ziplock bag and tie it around your neck with some string to snack out of all day or to hold a camera. My Nalgene I hooked with a caribeaner to my shoulder strap and it rested comfortably against my hip and was easy to reach. What worked great for a lot of people was just to use a fanny pack for all those small, often-used items.
I used to carry a fanny pack but gave it up when i went lighter. I began looking longingly at all those packs with the neat hip-belt pockets because mine was nude there. The best i came up with was to get a little pouch made by OR, black, zipper across the top, with two thin protective removable slivers of neoprene on the inside, with hook 'n loop belt attachment that was to short to hook to a pack's hip belt. So I cut it off and made a longer one from a roll of the stuff I picked up from Home Depot. I tied a loop of para cord from it to the hip belt for safety and it also worked as a wrist strap to carry the pouch with when I removed it from the pack. Great for those little things mentioned. So, for just a little $ I have a nice storage pouch weighing 2.5 ounces instead of the 10.7 ounce fanny pack I used to carry. It was just too big, anyway.
Hmmm....And I thought I was they only one cutting liners out of shorts :-?
SGT Rock
10-07-2004, 08:08
The liners are like having a set of unwanted panties in the way.
The liners are like having a set of unwanted panties in the way.
That one is so good I want even try to add to it :)
I'm just happy I can still remember what it means :D