I am putting together a bushcraft pack and using my old issued Alice pack. The frame is less than stellar so I made a new one out of 1/2 inch PVC. It cost about 5 bucks plus paint. / spiffyguyadventures
Glad it was helpful. You may want to use a dowel on the joints just to strengthen them. That is where i have found the weak spots to be.. Mainly the Ts on the back.
at 5'10"i find the alice frame quite good....the suspension system is the real short coming in this system....molle shoulder straps solved that problem for me...the molle waist belt sucks for me personally, if your a tall individual, then i can see where the frame might be a problem...for me its the bomb.....great instructional...woods
You can make a second frame out of electrical conduit which is not as brittle in the cold. Also, PVC needs to be painted or something to protect it from the UV rays of the sun. Nice video.
"You can make a second frame out of electrical conduit which is not as brittle in the cold. " Please can you elaborate on this portion of your comment and include links to any sources, as I am very intrigued!!
Hi there, I would like ask if you would recommend using a PVC Alice frame to mount a large propane tank, connect a big propane torch to it, thus creating a backpack flamethrower that you can wear for yard work (such as burning weeds) or melting snow. I know there are products like that out there already, but just think about the savings you could make and the lightness of the PVC frame (hopefully a BBQ propane tank isn't too much for pvc piping to bear!)!
Those packs are nothing without a frame. They tend to dump way down on the back. It's what I use and they are tough. Great video. Do u think the 1" pvc would be stronger?
You are quite right that these packs slump really bad without the frame. I have used the PVC frame a few times with a chainsaw in the pack. Worked very well but the PVC broke, but only at the glue joints. I used a piece of stick to repair the joint and it seemed to work fine after that. If I was to remake it, I may set each joint with a wooden dowel for support. Glued in place. Moving to 1 inch, I am not sure if that will increase the durability at the joint. I think that is where the failure point is. Ideally it would be made of single piece aluminum with the two cross pieces tac welded on. But that is above my skill set right now. Thanks for watching.
Shoe polish would work to "paint" it as well. How did this hold up for you? How did you attach the hip belt and straps? Since you made it longer and it is riding lower on the hip area, it might be more comfortable if you put a slight angle at the bottom of the pack so the weight vector would be at a diagonal. I might also incorporate a second 10" piece on the shelf that could be removed and used to replace a broken tube if you are out on the trail and some duct tape or that tape used to protect the head of a tennis racket might be nice on the bottom to protect it a little from the ground. I may have to make on one of these for my Swedish LK35.
I did have a few points where it broke due to cold and stress. I was able to repair in the field with a stick carved down to work as a dowel. It rides well, even broken. Hip bad rides at the hip. Was easily strapped on using the stock webbing. I have thought about using aluminium conduit but worried about weight, all the junctions and price. I keep meaning to hit up local welding shows to see if once can fabricate something for me.
Hay I've tried the PVC however I've down graded it and I have to say its good but my shoulders kill me after a couple of miles. I'm thinking its something to do with where you attach the Alice Straps at the top?? Any ideas.
Heat gun is a Wagner I think. Cheap Home Depot special. Good luck on the build. Recommend using some dowel sections to strengthen the joints a bit. I did have some breakage right at the joints when out in the field. I have fixed it with a short dowel epoxied in place. All good now.
@@ronschreiber3635 I used short, like 4 inches at the Ts in the back support and the 90s at the bottom. They seemed to take the brunt of the stress. I had to trim to fit snuggly, then epoxied it together. If I build some scratch again I would set these in place and then PVC glue together. In the cold the PVC can get a little brittle and these help. Have not tried Schedule 80 PVC, which may be better.
yes it is lighter. Bit brittle in the cold. Might be better to use the grey stuff. I like the length on it compared to stock frame. Might try to find a welding show to make one out of aluminum to handle the weight of my chainsaw.
I agree that schedule 80 is probably a better choice. Since I made this I have upped my knowledge a bit on the materials. I suspect that 80 still suffers from brittleness in cold though. That is a concern. The only issues I had with breakage was right near the joints. I did perform repairs using a dowel to strengthen and that seems to be working well. I think if I was to build another, I would secure the joints during build with a dowel epoxied in. But this of course adds weight. The ease of use with PVC is inviting to make custom frames.
You may want to look into fiberglass snow markers. They would need to be stacked in together but would add tensile strength without as much weight.could use the runnier type of “great stuff” to spray in as a binder
Yeah that could work out as well. Those snow markers are pretty cheap and easy to cut. Might have to look into it. I do want to make the lower shelf about an inch or two wider to give it a better "foot" to stand on once the saw is in there.
It does sit off the back a little and provides some venting on the sides better than a standard pack. I have not had a chance to do a day with it yet. I will post up some thoughts once I can get out in the field.
10 inches. You can size these though to your body if you want. If you need it a little wider just cut all of the pieces longer or shorter. Custom fit :) Thanks for watching.
TheGberg56 There is a little room to go wider for the alice pack pocket. But not too much. If you are bending the PVC already you could make the top section as wide as it can be to fit and then flair out to the width you would need for the rest of the back. PVC is pretty flexible once you heat it so you could bend it into whatever shape you need.
***** Thanks man, just put the frame together and it fits really well. Only thing I have to do is extend the shelf to fit my MMSS bag and I'll be set. Thanks for the idea!
TheGberg56 Glad it works out for you. I am liking mine but I may upgrade the straps to a MOLLE set. They seem to have better coverage and comfort. Good luck.
