Beorning’s backpack (now with frame!)
Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:24 pm
As my personas and kits have evolved the last almost-five(!) years, I have ever so slowly removed and replaced items that I feel are no longer appropriate. The one item that I have probably kept the longest is my backpack, which is a brown copy of a soviet-era ‘meshok’ bag. The first iteration I constructed in Feb 2014 from cotton canvas, which worked fine but was fairly stiff. This I replaced in Oct 2015 with one made from proper linen canvas, adding needle-felted shoulder padding in Feb of 2016.
This setup was plenty serviceable, but even with the wooly shoulder pads, as simple as the pattern is, it still had too much soviet DNA. How could I keep the basic functional utility of a top-loading drawstring bag with two shoulder straps, yet keep it from ‘reading’ as WWII Russian? And could I make it slightly more ergonomic at the same time?
I looked back through my files, and remembered that our old friend Ötzi has often been interpreted as carrying a bent wood frame ‘backpack’! I combed some resources, and found a few options that I could base mine around; Since I still carry more than I should, I wanted to keep the weight as light as possible, so it would definitely not be over-engineered as I have seen some ‘primitive’ pack frames.
Instead of an inverted ‘U’ as Ötzi reconstructions often use, I opted for a rounded ‘A’, not only due to material limitations, but also to perhaps recall the frame of my ‘30s-pattern Bergan (subconsciously connecting the Norwegian pack with the proto-Scandinavian heritage of the Beornings). This design rides comfortably right between my shoulder blades.
I first selected a piece of hazel with a nice curve for the horizontal bar at the small of my back, and then found a straight 6’ piece for the main frame. I scraped off the bark, whittled some half-lapped joints, and lashed it together with deer rawhide once the wood had shrunk and dried overnight. The shoulder strap was taken off the pack’s body, and permanently restitched onto the lower frame, with the lark’s head knot (normally used to close the mouth of the pack) moved to the frame’s upper bar. The pack was then lashed to the frame at top and bottom corners with heavy braintan, and a braintan braid permanently attached below the mouth to tie it shut. (This is the same method I use to close my sewing bag, which gives a degree of ‘kit cohesion’.) This also makes it ten times easier to get something out of the pack if I have to stop on the trail, since I don’t have to go through the hassle of dealing with the knotted shoulder strap! Plus, having a rigid, loadbearing frame means I now have a variety of ‘attachment points’ for how I carry external gear like my kettle, sleeping mat, and blanket.
Overall, I am very pleased with the end-result, and feel it gives a much more Old European/Middle-earth traveler vibe than the previous configuration.
This setup was plenty serviceable, but even with the wooly shoulder pads, as simple as the pattern is, it still had too much soviet DNA. How could I keep the basic functional utility of a top-loading drawstring bag with two shoulder straps, yet keep it from ‘reading’ as WWII Russian? And could I make it slightly more ergonomic at the same time?
I looked back through my files, and remembered that our old friend Ötzi has often been interpreted as carrying a bent wood frame ‘backpack’! I combed some resources, and found a few options that I could base mine around; Since I still carry more than I should, I wanted to keep the weight as light as possible, so it would definitely not be over-engineered as I have seen some ‘primitive’ pack frames.
Instead of an inverted ‘U’ as Ötzi reconstructions often use, I opted for a rounded ‘A’, not only due to material limitations, but also to perhaps recall the frame of my ‘30s-pattern Bergan (subconsciously connecting the Norwegian pack with the proto-Scandinavian heritage of the Beornings). This design rides comfortably right between my shoulder blades.
I first selected a piece of hazel with a nice curve for the horizontal bar at the small of my back, and then found a straight 6’ piece for the main frame. I scraped off the bark, whittled some half-lapped joints, and lashed it together with deer rawhide once the wood had shrunk and dried overnight. The shoulder strap was taken off the pack’s body, and permanently restitched onto the lower frame, with the lark’s head knot (normally used to close the mouth of the pack) moved to the frame’s upper bar. The pack was then lashed to the frame at top and bottom corners with heavy braintan, and a braintan braid permanently attached below the mouth to tie it shut. (This is the same method I use to close my sewing bag, which gives a degree of ‘kit cohesion’.) This also makes it ten times easier to get something out of the pack if I have to stop on the trail, since I don’t have to go through the hassle of dealing with the knotted shoulder strap! Plus, having a rigid, loadbearing frame means I now have a variety of ‘attachment points’ for how I carry external gear like my kettle, sleeping mat, and blanket.
Overall, I am very pleased with the end-result, and feel it gives a much more Old European/Middle-earth traveler vibe than the previous configuration.