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Monday, July 26, 2010

Canoe Pack Basket - Part 3

I've been checking out various pack basket harness designs on the net. Most involve cotton webbing, but I wanted to use leather and make it adjustable. With a great sale at my local leather supply shop (latigo straps & buckles at 50% off) I tried my hand at making an adjustable harness held together with copper rivets left over from the canvas pack project.

It involved making a short horizontal belt strap with buckle that encircles the basket right below the rim. Two more short belt-like pieces were loop riveted together and slipped on and the longer backpack strap pieces similarly measured and hung from the main horizontal belt...


Assembled Leather Harness

Here are some shots with the harness all rigged up...






Success! I've already used the basket to lug around awkward tools and junk back to the locker room. It'll have to wait until we're up north again to use in the canoe, but I can see a use for this for day trips; harvesting roots and bark in the bush, or even for winter snowshoeing.
at

6 comments:

  1. MikeJuly 27, 2010 at 5:01 PM

    Great work, Murat....want to "loan" this great pack basket for a photo shoot???? I know a great canoe to photo it in

    ReplyDelete
  2. MuratJuly 28, 2010 at 11:45 AM

    Sure I can loan it out...are we talking about a photo shoot with your sweet looking Bruce Smith canoe? I'll be heading up north on Friday for two weeks and plan to bring it up with me then but will remember to bring it back down to the city.

    By the way, like any photographer, I only took shots of the basket's "good side"...parts of the weave are pretty hideous and quite amateurish, but hey, it's a first time project.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MikeJuly 30, 2010 at 9:28 AM

    The great canoe I was thinking of was yours....but I'll have Bruce Smith canoe with me....let's set something up....where will you be up north....email me with details
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 30, 2010 at 6:58 AM

    After this 'how to' I'm completely inspired to attempt to make my own. I know their chief advantage (besides aesthetics of course) is durability, but if you don't mind my asking, how much does it weight?

    ReplyDelete
  5. MuratAugust 30, 2010 at 7:11 PM

    Just measured the empty basket with a digital scale. It came out to 4.2 pounds. Without doubt the 10oz latigo leather harness straps with buckles contribute a lot to this weight. I also made the outer runners of walnut thicker than was probably necessary so there certainly are areas where the weight can be shaved off. In particular, most harnesses I've seen are lightweight cotton webbing straps, but I chose to go the leather route since I had some on hand and like the aesthetics better. Regards

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 31, 2010 at 5:48 AM

    Thank you for being so prompt, much appreciated. That seems a very fair weight. I was thinking of trying to use it mainly with a tumpline anyway (famous last words), so all in all it sounds like a marvellous and versatile pack. All the best.

    ReplyDelete