- Time of past OR future Camino
- Enjoying the camino since 2009
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I bought some fabric and bonded it to some iron on backing for stability. Then I sewed the lines for the shell, and zig zag stitch around the edges. I glued it on with some strong glue.Ooh I like your pack, it has pretty much all the features I like apart from the big mesh pocket on the back, which also stops me from stitching stuff like shells on anything but the hood. How did you make the shell patch? I have a pewter copy of an old pilgrim brooch found in a stream in the UK, and my husband laughs every time I attach a sole purpose metal object on my pack after having spent weeks shaving grammes off my kit ...
How creative you are! What a great "marrying" of parts you came up with to customize your needs. Your picture really made me smile. I had never considered giving my pack a name, but I'm going to put some thought into it and try to come up with a clever name for mine.Some of you will know how I have struggled to find the right pack over the years, and many of you might be struggling with it now, feeling more and more stressed as your departure date comes ever nearer. You have my sympathies, I know all about it - I once bought my camino pack blind when it came out one week before the flight! (Pure dumb luck, absolutely not a recommended approach.) However, today I aim to make (some of) you smile at or with me.
I have an Osprey Tempest 30L which I love, not just because it is comfortable, lightweight and fits all my gear, but also because it is unapologetically pink! which brightens my day from morning to noisy night in the albergues. And it is small enough to go as hand luggage on a flight, unlike the above mentioned previously perfect pack. Buuuut it is a one size which doesn't necessarily fit all and is certainly made for smaller folk than I. It does have a hipbelt, but for the food loving peregrina the padded bits hardly touch the sides - literally. If it gets a little bit too heavy it starts putting weight on my shoulders, which are sore at the best of times because I type for a living. So I started looking for other packs. (You know all about that so I will skip the details.)
I also had to look for a different pack for my husband, whose larger size Talon 33L (yep, we had his and hers backpacks) is a little too short for him so he tends to keep his hands under it behind his back trying to lift it off the shoulders, making his damaged shoulder hurt even more. (If you do it too, your pack is not adjusted right or right for you!) I bought him the larger 44L with a rigid frame and so far, so good. I then went to list his black 33L for sale. I just thought I'd try it first, since it is basically a slightly larger version of my pink 30L, so I crammed it full of stuff ... and ooh, much better hip belt, I felt the difference straight away, and oh, look, swappable straps, what if I put the pink webbing straps on the black pack, as they were oddly longer (?) ... but the shoulder straps were too long and the pole stowing bungee ended up under my arm ... hmmm ...
Cue a flurry of straps in and out of buckles, a series of scratchy velcro noise, and hey presto - a black Talon 33 bag with a Tempest lady friendly harness and pink straps on the front! Winner!
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Now the only thing missing was a name. Yes, your pack should be your best friend and therefore needs to have a name. They were previously known as Rosa (as in pink) and Fletcher (as in fletcha = arrow in Spanish), but I couldn't call it Retcher, nor Flosa, nor Talest, and definitely not Tempon!
In the end, since it is a Bit Of Both, I have called it Bob
Feel free to tell us about your customisations and/or silly pack names ...
Wow, what a coordinated color combination you have going...awesome!My backpack doesn't have a name, but I did customize it a little bit by making a shell patch and attaching it.
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I love the pink accents and the homemade shellMy pack is black with teal trim. You can see it in my profile pic. The pole straps on the side are also teal. So when I added the bungee cord to the back I chose teal. I'm still working the amount of tension that I want so I don't have a cord lock on the end. Now I just need to add my APOC patch and find an American flag small enough (and not iron on) to fit on the side.
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I'm surprised that anyone recognized the flag. I'm NOT surprised that half didn't know we're a state in the US.When I walked in 2013 I was living in Alaska and wore an Alaskan Flag patch on my hat. Almost everyone knew what it was which surprised me. It also surprised me that while everyone seemed to recognize the Alaskan flag, only about half knew that Akaska is a state.
I smile!However, today I aim to make (some of) you smile at or with me.
The Shell looks perfect, well done!My backpack doesn't have a name, but I did customize it a little bit by making a shell patch and attaching it.
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My backpack doesn't have a name, but I did customize it a little bit by making a shell patch and attaching it.
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It is never about how much a pack costs, but how it fits you and what you plan to use it for
I totally agree with you, and that was my thinking when I saw this no brand pack in the foodstore.I just think that to many people the pack is such an investment that they don't like messing with it in case they break or ruin it.
Yes, mine is the Graviton 36. It was perfect for me. The way the zippers work you can open it all the way, or just the top, bottom or side. I don't know what a brain pocket is, but it does have a large pocket on top with an inner zippered compartment. REI is carrying this backpack in their stores now. This video shows its features.That looks like a great pack. I have been eyeing a Marmot that is new as of spring 2017,
a Graviton. Probably the 38L, or maybe the 48L (on our CP last spring, my daughter and I used new model Gregory Jade 53 and Zulu 55s that we both liked a lot, but were sort of heavy). The weight of only 2lb and 4 to 9 oz for the Marmot is VERY appealing, saving like 2 lbs.
Is the one you used a Graviton 36L? If so, how'd you like it? Fit? Zipper entry only? Not having a separate brain top pocket? Outside pocket features? Overall packability? Looks like a perfect Camino pack to me.
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