Vintage rucksack hip belt replacement

[GreyCat]

Hey Moondog, as i have no spare foam myself, and uncertain where i could buy it here, would any of this be useful to cover by wrapping around the centre strut of my Jääkäri XL? Sorry to beg, but I’m just across the ditch.

@Siberian Mongoose: try looking for sticky backed foam. For the belt, I used some of this stuff:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YGD9XSM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

It's the sort of handy material that I typically have lying around the house left over from other projects (it's great for stopping rattling in the van, padding under embroidery pieces when mounting them etc etc etc, I also have a load of thicker sticky back foam left over from insulating my van). It's more like 3mm than 4mm, but that is good as it's easier to wrap around stuff.

Wrap it around the frame, apply a couple of zip-ties for added security (or encase in Duck tape), and Bob's your uncle. (There's very little that Duck tap and/or zip ties won't fix ). It's a quick and cheap thing to try, and if it works you can do a more "elegant" version if you decide.

Appreciate you're not in UK, but I'm sure they do something similar where you are, the trick is to work out the search term needed.

GC

 

[Moondog55]

Really nicely done. Well stitched
I'm a bit annoyed myself that Camp Trails have folded before I could get my US mate to buy and post me a new hipbelt for my own old frame so back to the sewing machine for me

 

[GreyCat]

HI @Moondog55 , if you've got a sewing machine, you're halfway there.

Here's my order of build:

1. Take 2 one-inch strips of webbing. Sew loops each end, checking against the frame to make sure they wrap around but leave a gap for tensioning.

2. Cut a piece of canvas. Width should be the amount you want it to wrap around your back (without the belt webbing). If it's not plain weave, the grain should run side to side. Otherwise the grain can be vertical or horizontal. Height about 2.5 times the depth of back padding you want. Mark the centre vertical.

3. Belt webbing: take a strip of 2-inch webbing that wraps comfortably around your waist and leaves at least 6 inches on each tail. Centre the belt webbing on the bottom half of the "reverse" face of the canvas, stitch into place securely.

4. Centre the 1-inch strips of webbing on the "front" face of the canvas on the half with the belt webbing attached, with enough space between them so they wrap around frame above and below the "shelf." Strips run along the width. Stitch into place- but only the centre section of around 20cm to 30cm (depending on frame). Stitch through the webbing belt as well as the canvas. That way the webbing belt transfers load directly to the webbing wrapped around the frame. Shape (cut out) the canvas ends onto the belt neatly, leaving a seam allowance.

5. Get some foam (sticky backed is ideal) and place on the lower half of the reverse side of the canvas where the belt is. Stick enough into place for your comfort, leaving a seam allowance at the bottom and sides. Fold over the top half of the canvas to conceal and contain the foam, trim to size and turn in a seam, stitch into place. It helps if you have a Zipper Foot for this stage so that you can sew really close to the foam (even better if your machine sews through the foam- mine won't).

6. Put onto the belt webbing ends a buckle of your choice.

7. Attach to frame, I used some paracord loops and turnbuckles, but you could just lace on with paracord.

I don't have a pattern, I made it up as I went along albeit after a lot of visualisation in my head of design and order of work. If you have a standard domestic machine, the order of the steps is important as otherwise you might end up with something you cannot sew.

Hope that helps, please do post photos/notes on how you did it

GC

 

[Siberian Mongoose]

@GreyCat Ta for that! Found a source of foam in NZ, including black neoprene foam tubes (has a hole in the middle, and is already round): would need to split any of these to get around strut, and then tape on top and bottom ends with (for example) Gorilla Tape (already have black-coloured).
https://www.nzrubberandfoam.co.nz/shop/foam-sheets/neoprene-foam-tubes/

Does anyone know where one can get a KSF SA hipbelt modded?, as padding is too thick making it too short for me (is about 30” around where sewn together, but ends up as only about 25” wrapped around my hips)—too frightened to do it myself, although i do have a HD sewingmachine and an American-made awl with different needles. Alternatively, i could use a different hipbelt velcroed in place, such as the Hill People Gear ’Prairie Belt’ (has queer ’ranger green’ colour though, not olive green), or a Savotta hipbelt which fits me perfectly; or maybe modify a KSF ’Predator Modular Combat Belt’ (correct olive green) which has less thick padding and comes in two different sizes (i think…website is confusing here), but i can‘t find anything else about this and it mightn‘t work, and anyway is currently out of stock.

EDIT: Noticed that the KSF ’Loki’ appears to have a removable hip belt: possibly can‘t buy the hipbelt separately.

 

[walker]

What about a Alice pack frame hip belt