Internal to External Frame Conversion

[eagle_eye]

Hi all,
I am currently making an attempt to convert my old Gregory Snow Creek into an external frame pack.
I bought the pack back in the mid 80s for about $250 and I believe it had a 5200 ci capacity.
My plan is to cut off the bag and go from there.

Here it is before surgery:



After cutting away the bag:



The design of the pack seems to be very similar to todays pack designs.
Notice the stays are slid under the nylon webbing...
My hope is to come out with a functional modular frame pack.
Will be posting updates as I go.

 

[eagle_eye]

After cutting off the bag, I sewed ribbon around the borders where I had exposed cuts.



I then installed an aluminum cross member to beef up the back. That really helped to strengthen
things up.



I then sewed on some loops up the sides.



Next I will install spots to attach the shoulder straps
to the lower part of the frame. Will sew on a few more loops strategically at the top.

 

[Mt Al]

Good on you! Back pack resto-mod! Keep the pictures coming.

 

[JD619er]

Pretty awesome!

 

[CJohnson]

Following.

 

[eagle_eye]

Ok, I'm pretty well finished with this project.
I think I will call it my "Hack Pack".
Of course the frame is from a Gregory Snow Creek internal frame pack.
The camo bag is an Eberlestock Super Duffel.
I made a cargo panel/water bladder holder to hold the bag on with.
I used 550 paracord to cinch it down. This is temporary maybe, until I get some straps and
quick release buckles. It would be nice to use all para cord for lashing using a quick release idea.



I then covered the duffel with the Gregory top lid. And secured it to the bottom with the quick release buckle.
I added a 3 bar slider/female adapter to do this to a webbing loop I put in the center of the bottom of the frame.



Lastly, I added a diy grab it. I added pals webbing thinking I could fold the bottom of the grab it up to the pals for a rifle cradle. My cradle is too small for this, I may make a new grab it just a few inches wider to accommodate the butt of the rifle.

Hope to test it out soon.

Maybe I inspired someone out there to transform their old internal frame pack to a rockin' external frame.

Happy Packing.

 

[Bertlen02]

That's pretty nice! I am in the progress of transforming an ilbe pack to a pack compatible with a mystery ranch guide lite frame I got for a great deal on eBay. Its going to have the same overload shelf like a Metcalf. Just literally cut off the frame of the ilbe and sewed compatable buckles on it.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

 

[CGW05]

That's pretty nice! I am in the progress of transforming an ilbe pack to a pack compatible with a mystery ranch guide lite frame I got for a great deal on eBay. Its going to have the same overload shelf like a Metcalf. Just literally cut off the frame of the ilbe and sewed compatable buckles on it.

Sent from my E6910 using Tapatalk

I’m trying to figure out the process to do the same thing. First Wyoming elk hunt and was worried about the ilbe, do you have any pics of the process or recommendations that you’d be willing to share on how it turned out?

 

[REB]

I would also be interested in the ILBE conversion