I was off on another canoe’m’ups and wanted to address a deficiency in my gear set up – the carrying of maps, and more importantly, being able to quickly get at them and put them back again.
I opted to use a slightly less heavy duty Cordura - 420 Denier – rather than the usual 1000 Denier I usually use. I knew it was going to be a rough prototypish thing, so it wasn’t that big of a concern.
It’s a simple envelope essentially, with PALS on the front to mount a few pouches on.
The great feature of it is the two straps on the upper corners. While I currently have snaps on there to mount to D rings on pack straps, I can easily replace them with D rings or side release buckles or siamese clips. The tri glides see to it that it’s relatively easy to swap them around according to the users needs, but they also make sure that whatever mounting option chosen, that they stay put.
Worked fairly well. The 8.5" x 8.5" laminated maps gave it a good form when they were inside. But if I took all of them out, the weight of the pouches would pull the front forward, making the re-insertion of the maps a bit awkward.
I opted to use a slightly less heavy duty Cordura - 420 Denier – rather than the usual 1000 Denier I usually use. I knew it was going to be a rough prototypish thing, so it wasn’t that big of a concern.
It’s a simple envelope essentially, with PALS on the front to mount a few pouches on.
The great feature of it is the two straps on the upper corners. While I currently have snaps on there to mount to D rings on pack straps, I can easily replace them with D rings or side release buckles or siamese clips. The tri glides see to it that it’s relatively easy to swap them around according to the users needs, but they also make sure that whatever mounting option chosen, that they stay put.
Worked fairly well. The 8.5" x 8.5" laminated maps gave it a good form when they were inside. But if I took all of them out, the weight of the pouches would pull the front forward, making the re-insertion of the maps a bit awkward.
I had another (far more elaborate) design in mind (that I’ve built in the interim) that overcame whatever shortcomings I felt this had, but this was still fun to make and addressed a short term need.
Front, devoid of any pouches.
Another view of the front. Leatherman WAVE is on there for a sense of scale.
View of the back.
Binoculars on the left, compass on the right.
Laminating maps like this is great beyond words. Two sided, handy size, can be turned in the direction you’re travelling, infinitely easier than sitting in a canoe on a wind swept, rainy lake trying to unfold and refold a map. Even if it is a Tyvek map, that just sucks.
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