Home made gear.

[evo]

I'm tired and feels like my eyes are crossed from all the sewing, so please excuse the description.

Haul pack for gear. I just finished it! The whole thing made on the Treadle behind the bag. Also home made throw bags and webbing slings hangin off of it. It's not perfect but I made it super burly and have less than $30 in to it. Oh yeah it's water proof rubber lined nylon.

 

[Crosstrees]

Nice!
You may have just inspired me to buy that sawing machine I was looking at, these look awesome!

 

[evo]

I love my machine, it's simple and made well. I bought it at a garage sale years ago, and it barely would turn. It was made in 1925, and will sew 3 layers of tubular webbing without much complaint. I do wish for more machine though. Some day soon I'm gonna get those slings break tested.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

The Pfaff machine that I have was made in '53. It will sew like your treadle machine.

Nice project!

 

[familytreeman]

Really nice work! Very impressed

 

[Adkpk]

That is impressive. First try?

 

[Treezybreez]

Nice Job! Looks pro. If I had more time, I would love to make some rope bags.

 

[TreeLogic]

I want a walking foot sewing machine so bad!

 

[Marden]

Jesse,

That looks like a VERY nice job. You must have put a LOT of work into this.

One suggestion on the photos for next time, don't have the lamp in the background as it causes the foreground to be much darker. Not quite, but it starts to become a silhouette effect.

I am jealous of your sewing skills

-Michael

 

[arborcareman]

Very nice...

 

[oceans]

Evo, that thing is sweet! There's nothing like a custom project when it comes out as nice as that.

 

[evo]

That was my first try for anything this scale. I recently dug out the machine from storage, made 6 or so throw bags, 12 slings, and a chest harness to warm up before I tackled this. It took a lot of thought on where to start and the order of what to put on when. The hardest part was sewing the bottom, I should have done a rectangle but instead went with a circle that got a little bunchy.

Thanks for the feed back, I know the pictures suck, but after the final push to get the bag done I didn't care.

I'm trying something a little different with the throw bags and making them out of licra so they have plenty of give. I'm hoping that will reduce blown out seams. Time will tell since I don't have the heart to big shot em into a brick wall. What do y'all look for in a good throw bag?

 

[monkeylove]

One that finds the mark everytime and never gets stuck, lol. Really nice job on that gear bag.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Evo,

Have you read the sewing section in 'ON ROPE'?

Lots of great information.

 

[TreeLogic]

Make one out of spandex. So If it gets stuck in a crotch it will stretch out and work itself through. I'd imagine you'd still need some kind of backing for the seams though to toughen them up.

 

[evo]

Tom, yes I'm currently borrowing the book from my boss and copied that section. I was surprised to learn the strongest stitch pattern is just running up and down the webbing at a slight angle. I'm working with #69 nylon thread (~10 pound), wish my machine would handle heavier thread. My resources are limited since living on an island, going to the main land is rare, and experimenting can get expensive by buying online. I wonder what some of the high mod fishing line would work well.

What's the heaviest thread your machine can use? All of this sewing work is just leading up to making my own saddle, and I thing I'm getting close.. In my mind I'm envisioning something between a TreeMotion and a New Tribe Onyx. I found a source on rated buckles....

 

[InTheTree]

Evo that's great work!!
I've been tinkering with sewing as well and I think making custom stuff is great. When I get a bit more experience I'll be making some packs as well. Like you say it's figuring the right order to sew first, natural probable once your experienced. Thanks for posting your project.

 

[CreTree]

$50 plus shipping?

Seriously, nice work.

 

[InTheTree]

How did you make the straps? What sort of material did you sandwich between the layers to give it some padding for the shoulders?

 

[evo]

the Bags I've made are out of very heavy licra, very stretchy, with a small low profile d rings for attachment. The only down side is that it gets hung up in the small ring while setting a friction saver. I'm using copper coated steel shot for the weight (BB's) and I'm surprised that the bags didn't bulk up much bigger than the lead bags.

I'll send you a throw bag for $50 and I'll make you a deal and ship it for free .

The padding for the straps took some effort. Like I said, we are some what limited on whats available on the island. So I went to the hardware store, and got some sticky foam pipe insulation stuff. I doubled it up sewed it to the webbing, then just folded and sewed the cloth around it. I'd do it differently next time, and the straps come off so I can replace them or delete them.