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Make an Ultralight Padded Hip-Belt (4g!!!)This article forms part of the GoLite Jam Extreme Make-over. Note: If you decide to add an internal frame to the pack then it's probably not worth changing the hip-belt. The most recent pack I've built with an internal frame as described does not have a hip-belt at all apart from a 25mm webbing strap that stabilises the pack.... The hip-belt on the Mk1 Jam was not very comfortable and rather small. This has since been resolved in the Jam 2. This hip-belt will add about 4g!! in weight to your pack but will enormously help with comfort and load-transfer to the hips. You may wonder how it can add so little. The answer is simple - you are replacing a length of heavy 40mm webbing with something shorter and the replacement fabrics are roughly the same weight as the Dynema+Webbing. It's hard to believe but I did weigh everything.... It's not a project for the faint-hearted. Once you cut through the existing hip-belt wings you are committed.
Materials
DeconstructionBefore you start please familarise yourself with how your current hip belt is constructed. In particular find for yourself where the 25mm webbing enters the fabric and the path it takes through the fabric. Also make a note of where the 40mm webbing is machined into the fabric. These facts will help to guide your cutting and determine how you replace things.
Unpick the seam using a seam-ripper and then cut off the front piece of Dynema. Most of the Dynema back-panel (everything to the right of the 40mm webbing Flag stitch) approx. 10cm is retained. This gives you a super-strong anchor point for the replacement. It is overkill but pack are expensive.... Construction1. Cut two pieces of Cordura and two pieces of the 3D mesh as shown. Make sure that you mirror them so that you have 'left' and right versions.
2. Sew the Cordura onto the panel as shown (below) The outside face of the cordura is facing out and the inside face is facing in towards the hips. I have folded the vertical edge (see photo at top and bottom) to create a neat join. The cordura has been stitched on with a very large flag stitch and a few extra vertical lines. It's been over-engineered.
3. Sew the mesh onto the Cordura. It should be sew on with right-sides together - so that it is inside out as sewn. Make sure that you leave a 4cm flap free. The picture below shows the seam-line to sew. Remember that the mesh is sewn on the other side of the cordura so that it is like an inside-out sock. Use a 0.5cm seam allowance. Use a single line of close stitching and then reinforce it inside of the seam allowance with another line of stitching. 4. Turn everything right-side-out so that you now have a floppy foam pocket. 5. Seal the cut ends of the 40mm webbing. 6. Sew the 40mm webbing onto the outside of the hip belt using a flag stitch (as shown in top pictures). Put a bar-tack down the leading edge for extra strength. You might like to trim the length of webbing. It is likely to be much longer than you need. If you do decide to trim it then trim a lot less than you think that you can get away with - clothes and ease-of-use always soak up more than you think. 7. Cut the foam to roughly the shape of the pocket that you now have and test-fit the foam. Cut it larger than you think and trim. You want it to be a snug fit in the pocket so that the seam line of the mesh and cordura naturally fall in the middle of the foam edge. 8. Trim the foam so that it is a little shorter than the 3D mesh. Shove the foam further into the pocket by rolling it up a little and then run a couple of close zig-zag stitches down the vertical edge and fold over and sew any loose mesh fabric.
9. Massage the foam so that it lies flat inside the pocket.
Your hip belt should now look like (above) on the outside and (below) on the inside
Note: You can see that I've add a little bit of a curve to the shape of my hip-belt. It's there because I mis-cut the cordura slightly and so I changed the shape rather than throw the fabric away....
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