DIY Haversack

My buddy Jeremy Moran was having a hard time finding a haversack or other lightweight pack that he liked for a two or three day trip into the woods so he gave up looking at built his own out of top grain leather. The video below is a walk through of his personal kit and a look at the bag and its construction. He has made several of these since this one and his skills with leather have greatly improved with each version. His latest one he made for a friend and fellow outdoorsman includes a hatchet look nearest the body, interior map pouch, Interior Bacho Laplander storage, interior flap storage, interior flashlight storage and a dump pouch for fire tinder so you can easily gather on the go. If you are interested in a custom haversack shoot me an email (joshsemailfilter-7psblog@yahoo.com) and I will gladly put you in touch with him so you can talk about customization options.

Here Are a few alternatives. Duluth packs they will outlive me my hypothetical children! 

Just click the picture for more details or to purchase

 

I will for the most part let the video do the work for this DIY Haversack overview but wanted to highlight a few things I like about this setup.

His haversack is longer and thicker than a traditional haversack. The one featured in the video is 18"x14"x3" where his subsequent editions have been closer to the 14"x14"x3" size.

Add-on's, while I'm a bigger fan of his latest design than his first one (due to the extra dedicated storage for a Bacho Laplander and flashlight in the interior) his cheap and simple bacho sheath works well for him and I love having easy access to an empty tinder pouch so I can pick up items for building my fire as I go.

His simple belt fire kits is quite functional and simple. You could easily carry most of your survival essentials in just this belt pouch and supplement it with a blanket roll, bottle bag and knife.

Interior storage! Not a lot of haversacks have anything but a main compartment. his newer models have a map pouch, tinder pouch, Bacho sheath, and flashlight pouch build in. I'm Also trying to talk him into the idea of moving the map pocket down and putting two Altoids holders and a ferro rod loop above the map pocket providing you with a ton of storage options.

Everything is hand stitched and is quite durable. While it may not be the prettiest girl at the dance it will be the most dependable girl at the dance.

Conclusions: 

What is the best thing about making your own gear? It meets your needs and can be customized to your hearts content. The flip side of that is that you must have the skill set, tools, materials, time and desire to make your own gear. Jeremy has made a ton of gear this winter including a wool boreal Coat (See instructions HERE- LINK), Altoids tin pouches, Bacho Laplander sheath and a belt fire kit in addition to making several of these items for other people. While many may shy away from making their own gear as I did for quite awhile its really just as simple as practicing your sewing skills and then imagine what you want/need (I recently made a ditty from old cargo pants LINK-HERE). While it was hard to admit that I needed to learn how to sew it has come in very helpful when it comes to creating gear, making field repairs and even stitches in the woods if necessary. So here is my call to action..... get started in the manly (and womanly) art of sewing. 

Have something outdoor/bushcraft/trapping/preparedness/hiking/camping/fishing/hunting related you want me to make a post about? Leave me a comment and I will see what I can do! As always feel free to leave your questions and comment below! Also if you enjoy the blog please vote for us on the following websites to help us reach a wider audience:

 

http://www.topprepperwebsites.com/vin.php?s=7ps

You are only able to vote once DAILY using this site! Currently we are just outside the top 20 on this site.   

AND

 

http://bestprepperwebsites.com/ 

You are able to vote DAILY on this site! We are currently ranked # 2 on this site!