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[pct-l] What's your experience with a Gossamer G4?
Brian, sorry to take so long to reply, but I thought I might have time
last weekend to put up a website on this very subject, so I was waiting
until that had been done. Now however, I know that I am not going to
have the time to do this for a while, so the time has come to write you
a more personal response.
I have had experience with making the G4, but I have not had a whole lot
of experience using it. I made one back in about August from the
patterns and materials provided by Quest outfitters. I made it with
Silnylon, which as always proved to be a challenge.
A couple of notes about the instructions for the project:
1. At one point, the instructions say to put on the various pieces of
drawcord grosgrain webbing before the mesh for the pockets goes on. This
will not work. Some of the webbings will end up inside the pocket, and
will be useless. Instead, just sew on all of the grosgrain webbings as a
last step before assembling the pack. I promise, this will work.
2. If you sew the front to the back (along the horizontal seam) first,
there are certain advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage is that
your side pockets might not line up with your front pocket. The
advantage is, the seam becomes much easier to sew. Think of the
convergence of the three pieces of fabric as a T shape. If you sew the
front to the back first, all you have to do are straight seams (first
the front to back, then the combined front/back piece to each of the
sides). If you sew the front to the sides, and then the back to the
sides (as it says in the instructions), you end up with a strange
predicament. Try thinking about it. I don't know how else to describe it.
3. My shoulder strap assembly came out much worse on both the first G4
that I made, and the second. For some reason, the straps kind of turn to
their outside edges. It's very annoying because it rolls them into very
narrow straps that press into my shoulders. I haven't figured out how
exactly to fix this yet, but theoria is being hatched.
4. Don't forget to put on an Ice Axe loop.
5. The shockcord hem at the top isn't necessary if you want to do the
roll top closure.
A couple of notes about the finished product:
1. I found that the pocket openings were just too damned high. I
couldn't get into the pack with it on, and that was very frustrating.
2. I found the pack to be too big. I threw all of my stuff in it, and
there was a ton of wriggle room. Too much of it in fact.
I could probably go on if I thought about it some more, but I'll stop
here for the time being. If you want to see some pictures of my M4 and
M5, go to www.aidshike.org/photos
-mike
www.aidshike.org
-510.547.4299-
Brian Weber wrote:
> I'm still a little green to the backpacking world,
> even though I've been hiking and car-camping as long
> as I can remember.
> Right now I'm using an outdoor products external
> frame. It's 2950ci, but the frame extends low for a
> place to strap a sleeping bag. I bought it because it
> was fifty bucks and it also fit really well. However,
> the thing weighs over five pounds, and I'm realizing
> that the e-frame is very bulky.
>
> I just won an eBay auction on a Gregory Z-pack (the
> same pack my hiking partner swears by). I've tried on
> his pack, and liked how it fit. I still have to give
> it some miles (which I plan to do with the new pack)
> before I decide if that is the correct pack for me.
>
> Now I'm eyeing the Gossamer Gear G4 pack. I'm thinking
> of making it myself so I can select the best possible
> fabric, and perhaps do some custom work (sealed seams,
> pocket for my dromedary, etc). Has anyone here made
> their own pack, G4 or otherwise, and what advice do
> you have to give on making my first pack?
>
>
>
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