Tortuga Backpack Modifications
May. 23rd, 2015 02:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jamesqI'm largely talentless at anything crafty, thus making my time among the SCA or movie/theatre folk an exercise in low self-esteem. However, I can still get purely functional things done if I don't mind them not being pretty. And sometimes I get lucky and it doesn't look too bad. Here's an example.
About a month ago, after a lot of research, I bought a Tortuga Travel Backpack. It was kind of expensive (just shy of $300 given the current exchange rate and shipping to Canada), but I'd just emptied my penny jar, so this felt like "found money". It also looked like the closest thing to a perfect backpack that I was going to find.
It's about 95% perfect. That last five percent? These pockets that are attached to the inside. I doubt I'll need them. Certainly, I've never used the equivalent pockets on any piece of luggage I've ever owned.
I could simply live with them, since they're not that much in the way. Still, it would bug me, especially since you can't easily remove them as they're sewn onto these straps:
I could just cut them off, but that would have ruined them, and maybe caused some fraying that would have affected the body of the pack if I cut too close. Instead, I thought - maybe I will use those pockets some day. The folks at Tortuga put a lot of thought into this design, and I haven't really used the pack yet. Maybe they know something I don't.
So I decided to take the pockets out, but make sure I could reattach them at will. Step one was carefully unravelling the seams where the straps met the pockets. Next was to go to the fabric store and pick up some heavy duty snaps, like the ones that come on winter jackets. Also, the tool for actually attaching them.
By the way, if you work for Dritz, you really need to work on your packaging. It was not at all clear that that tool was correct for those snaps. In fact, that's a pet peeve I have with the whole sewing industry - it all assumes you're already an expert. Thank god for knowledgeable friends and YouTube.
Anyway, here's the view of the pockets with the snaps attached. I used opposite snaps for each pocket, that way the two halves can snap to each other.
Here's the reverse view.
I didn't take a close up because I had to sew each corner shut and my stitch job looks like Frankenstein's monster's forehead.
Here they are, zipper side up, clipped together.
Here's the reverse side, with the "business end" of the snaps exposed.
Here's the pack with the snaps attached to the straps. I had to melt the ends on some of the straps to keep them from fraying. Thankfully, I didn't light myself on fire.
And finally, here is the whole thing reassembled.
I now have a Tortuga Travel Backpack with detachable pockets. It doesn't look worse for wear. I'm quite happy with it.
Now to do a test pack for my trip to the UK.
About a month ago, after a lot of research, I bought a Tortuga Travel Backpack. It was kind of expensive (just shy of $300 given the current exchange rate and shipping to Canada), but I'd just emptied my penny jar, so this felt like "found money". It also looked like the closest thing to a perfect backpack that I was going to find.
It's about 95% perfect. That last five percent? These pockets that are attached to the inside. I doubt I'll need them. Certainly, I've never used the equivalent pockets on any piece of luggage I've ever owned.
I could simply live with them, since they're not that much in the way. Still, it would bug me, especially since you can't easily remove them as they're sewn onto these straps:
I could just cut them off, but that would have ruined them, and maybe caused some fraying that would have affected the body of the pack if I cut too close. Instead, I thought - maybe I will use those pockets some day. The folks at Tortuga put a lot of thought into this design, and I haven't really used the pack yet. Maybe they know something I don't.
So I decided to take the pockets out, but make sure I could reattach them at will. Step one was carefully unravelling the seams where the straps met the pockets. Next was to go to the fabric store and pick up some heavy duty snaps, like the ones that come on winter jackets. Also, the tool for actually attaching them.
By the way, if you work for Dritz, you really need to work on your packaging. It was not at all clear that that tool was correct for those snaps. In fact, that's a pet peeve I have with the whole sewing industry - it all assumes you're already an expert. Thank god for knowledgeable friends and YouTube.
Anyway, here's the view of the pockets with the snaps attached. I used opposite snaps for each pocket, that way the two halves can snap to each other.
Here's the reverse view.
I didn't take a close up because I had to sew each corner shut and my stitch job looks like Frankenstein's monster's forehead.
Here they are, zipper side up, clipped together.
Here's the reverse side, with the "business end" of the snaps exposed.
Here's the pack with the snaps attached to the straps. I had to melt the ends on some of the straps to keep them from fraying. Thankfully, I didn't light myself on fire.
And finally, here is the whole thing reassembled.
I now have a Tortuga Travel Backpack with detachable pockets. It doesn't look worse for wear. I'm quite happy with it.
Now to do a test pack for my trip to the UK.
