It’s been a rough year so far, but at least the frequent colds and injuries have given me more time to print and to catch up on projects while I’m recovering. I’ve make a few improvements to my 5×7 pack since the last version here.
The bag itself is great and fun to modify. Outside it’s essentially the same. Different tripod but it still attaches to the side with a compression strap at top and a leather loop hooked to a carabiner at the bottom. It has a decent suspension and very roomy at almost 60 liters and it’s very durable. And the main compartment is full access due to full-length zipper, the main reason I bought it over three years ago.
I redid the film holder pouches, using different materials. The outer shell of is made of slippery nylon ripstop, which makes makes taking the pouch in and out of the siderigger bag much easier. The inside is still made from the blackout drapery cloth, which keeps light out. Also, there’s now some 3mm foam cushioning between the fabric on each side. I also made a hinged outer padded shell insert for the outrigger to take some of the bumps, as well as make the film holder pouch a snugger fit in the outrigger. Each still holds 6 holders. I keep the other pouch at the bottom of the main bag.
The flat panel in the secondary compartment is working well and was only slightly modified. Now attaches with snaps at top. I also sewed some cheap eyeglass cases to it, stitched along one edge only, like a hinge so they flip out of the way and don’t block access to the flat pockets behind them. Nice for reading classes, pencils, french flag holder, etc. The elastic straps, flat pockets, and glass cases all work well to keep everything from falling out when the main pocket is open and everything gets turned upside down. One thing I don’t like about this Kelty though is the vulcanized coating they used on this internal pocket- it’s starting to shed a little. There’s none of it in the main compartment though.
Remodeled the interior. Layout is the same, 5×7 camera at top, lenses in the middle, and 6 extra holders in the pouch at the bottom. Compendium shade and filter wallet still go in the mesh pockets on the inside flap. The compartments still utilize the hook and loop backer-board panel from Photobackpacker.com, but redid the outer foam shell out of ripstop and better high density foam. I like the ripstop a lot- really low friction means gear slides in and out easily, and fuzz and dirt doesn’t get all woven into the fibers.
I attached the padded shell to the bag around the top perimeter with these two part adjustable rivets-http://www.mcmaster.com/#98295a300/=wgr3ao. They come in black plastic with a wide head so they work well on fabric and are removable. I made the holes in the bag with a 2mm punch. The bag’s shell is a ballistic nylon ripstop-so it’s likely that the bag’s stitching weakens the fabric more than these tiny holes ever will. The rivets are snug so they don’t let water seep in. To attach the padded shell itself to the backer-board, I sewed a bunch of buttonholes on a hidden platen along the panel edge of the padded shell, then trussed it to the backer-board panel with some pigging string. The overall construction of the padded shell was similar to the earlier version, except I added panels of 0.8mm Garolite (also from McMaster) to both sides inside the padding, which gives the lower section some rigidity. These changes made for a great overall improvement– it’s not as prone to sagging as the earlier one and now the pack itself has better shape and form. I now can open and close the outer zipper one-handed without having to straighten this or adjust that. With the rivets of course the main compartments themselves are not adjustable, but I’ve been using this layout for quite some time and it’s just right.
The lens area stayed essentially the same. Rigid partitions with Velcro edges that attach to the backer-board at the bottom and the cover at the top, so the partitions can be re-arranged to accommodate different lenses. I redid the outer shelves out of foam-wrapped 1.5mm Lexan, also covered with ripstop. The outside partitions are attached to the padded shell with the cloth rivets. I did some shatter tests on the Lexan- the stuff is pretty amazing. It has so much flex to it that it’s difficult to even score and snap.
The bag has two compression straps per side. To attach the tripod, a tripod spike sits in a loop that’s attached via carbiner to the strap at the bottom. The length of the strap can be adjusted to raise or lower the position of the tripod. The top compression strap is used to secure it. For the loop, I used one of these since I had a few extra that came with my tool bags. (The midpoint Velcro strap is a part of the tripod itself.)
Preparation H, L to R, T to B: Tripod; 12 5×7 film holders, 5×7 camera, PecPads, microfiber cloths, and tissues; spike caps for tripod, compass, loupe, mosquito net, spare parts, exposure calculator; darkcloth, filter wallet, transparent drafting square (for checking parallelism of camera to subject on ground glass), spot meter, level, misc tools, pencils; compendium shade, 4 lenses, bag bellows, reading glasses and spares, french flag holder and flag.
Coming from a history of crappy photo packs makes the effort spent customizing a real backpack well worth it. This is really basic stuff- none of the stitching here was very difficult, and not one of the modifications is irreversible. The pairing of the full access main compartment back and the full size Velcro panel is a great foundation for home made modifications, and it’s a real joy to have a back setup that’s just right.