Great idea for a modular pack

If you spend any time reading here, you’ll soon figure out that I’m into making stuff, how to carry stuff and modularity.

I am forever working on ways to make the carrying of the stuff I take into the woods lighter and more organized, and somehow still be modular and durable.

I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned this here before, but after owning a few Kifaru packs for a few years, I’ve come to the idea to dispense with pretty much all of them and keep just the EMR frame. It is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever purchased. In lieu of a pack I think I might make three bags - very simple, no frills, roll top bags of varying sizes. Lash them to the frame and off I go. May even make them reversible with OD on one side and blaze orange on the inside. Hunting season or doing Search and Rescue, or heaven forbid, needing to be found, I can turn it inside out and be very visible. I love the Kifaru bags, but they are built like a tank. Great in some regards, but I think I could get away with something simpler and lighter, that I could lash to the frame. Just a few attachment points on the outside would suffice. Do away with the whole PALS matrix, all the zippers, the double layers of Cordura, etc.

The fine fellas over at Hill People Gear are thinking along the lines I am. On the one hand I’m tempted to just get what they have done. But...me being me, I’m tempted to make my own take on things.

But I’ve also been thinking of another approach. There are certain base items, ones that tend not to change much. It’s the amount of insulation and consumables that change. The hammock and tarp? Same whether it’s an over nighter or a two week canoe trip. Same with a stove and pot, same with a ground sheet, etc. But the temp rating on the sleeping bag might change depending on the season. If I’m off for three days, the amount of food and fuel I would take would vary. Also the type of trip would dictate a variation in gear. A hunting trip would differ from a photography trip would differ from a search for a lost child would differ from a wander to go hang out for the night in my hammock. Not having to do a complete strip down and repack of all the things I would need for each of those would be great. Having it so that certain things I would take all the time, and expanding or contracting the contents with the addition of modules would be great. And if it’s just a day time wander I could even dispense with that base module. Partly I’ve already gone in that direction with the Ouch’mups, Escape Pod and Slurp’mups. For just a day hike, that and a few other things carried in a waist belt or shoulder pack is all I really need.

But I think I will go further and have a base module, one bag with hammock, tarp, groundsheet, pegs, stove and pot and some fuel, days food, dry clothes, and likely a few other things that escape me right now, and the three afore mentioned modules, and then have other bags that contain more insulation, more clothing depending on the season, and more fuel and food, and then modules that are contingent on a given task. If I was heading off with a pal to hunt, a tree stand and dedicated camo would come into play. A photography trip would require the ability to strap Pelican cases onto the frame. If I was helping look for a lost hiker, more med gear or insulation or a means to evac the patient would be important. I keep dreaming about getting an Alpacka pack raft. On a trip where I might need to cross bodies of water it would matter, but on ones where I know my feet will never get wet, it won’t matter.

Another factor in my thinking is the ability to have two bags that could be used as panniers. I’ve been thinking of making two panniers that can be detached and attached to the Kifaru frame if I need to head away from the bike. Trips where the bike would get me to a certain point and from there I would have to head out away from the bike - climb the rest of the way, etc. Two evenly sized bags that could be stacked atop one another on the Kifaru Packframe would fulfill that requirement.

Anyway here is a terrific idea that has given me some fuel for thought.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=48577 

Of course some dipshit has to comment “Looks awfully heavy. But then, the heaviest backpack that I have used in a while goes slightly under one pound empty.” - completely unable to grasp the stated aim of what the maker requires this setup to do. Fundamentalism and dogma really chafes my taint.