[pct-l] What's your experience with a Gossamer G4?

[bodhisattvavow at hotmail.com (Matt Bradley)]

I have made one pack, it was one of my first sewing projects.  It wasn't a
G4, but one that I patterned after the instructions in Beyond Backpacking.
This is a fairly difficult project to attempt if you have little or no
sewing experience.  A couple of tips:  Put a lot of thought into how the
shoulder straps are designed, and don't skimp on the padding.  Getting the
padding into the straps is one of the more challenging parts of the project.
Also, make all of the seams very strong, they all take quite a bit of stress
in a fully loaded pack.  My homemade pack lasted me one season befor I
started to have seams coming apart.  If you do a good job, yours should last
much longer than that.  Like I said, It was one of my first projects so it
was a little rough.  Finally, I haven't looked at the G4 instructions in a
long time, so I don't know if this will apply but, I had a really hard time
attatching the side panels to the curved bottom of the pack.  Be prepared to
take your time on this step.  Good Luck!
Peace and Love,
Matt