I was just wondering if anybody ever uses a pack frame to carry gear. I have one i made but i cant say that ive ever had so much stuff that i actually needed to use it.
Id even kinda like to go to a pack-n event sometime so i could put it to use.

Johnny boy I have the neatest back pack and frame. I bought four foot pieces of rataan
from Cold Steel. I wet these and bent them
into a seat frame, securing them with rawhide.
I then took a basket pack and place it on the
frame and tie it in with strips of hide.
For straps I used that brown seed spreader
straping covered with sheep skin for comfort.
When I arrive at camp, I can take the basket
pack off the frame and go gather wood or pack
meat, etc. What's amazing is how strong rataan
is but weighs nothing. I also shaped the frame
to lay down and slide on snow like a tobaggon.

sounds pretty sweet.
those baskets would be nice.
doubling as a tobaggon is a cool idea. i thought about building one that can be used as a fold out camp chair, but like i said i really never have much use for a frame.
i put pics of my frame in the gallery.

Johnny
How do I get a picture of my pack frame
on the gallery? Never done it?
Oracle
village idiot

johnnyboy76, I checked out the photo's of your pack frame. Looks darn good. I've used modern aluminum ones several times for back country hunts. I'm interested in your tobbogen idea.

I'm wanting to make a pulk for winter game retrieval myself. Last years late doe season over in N MO, during that bad ice storm, taught me that two wheeled deer carts don't do so good on crusty snow.

warmutt i think a tobaggon would be much better for hauling anything thru the snow. ive never bent wood for a frame like that but id say it could be done with thin enuf wood.

Oracle to post pics in the gallery, just go to the gallery and click on the "New" button and select photo album and make your album and then upload your pics.

Johnny Boy
A picture of my rataan packframe is in the gallery. Check it out.

quote:

Originally posted by johnnyboy76:
warmutt i think a tobaggon would be much better for hauling anything thru the snow. ive never bent wood for a frame like that but id say it could be done with thin enuf wood.

Oracle to post pics in the gallery, just go to the gallery and click on the "New" button and select photo album and make your album and then upload your pics.

Wood doesn't need to be thin to be bent. Ask any boatbuilder, Me, for instance. You need a wood with a wiry grain, oak, elm, hickory, ash...woods like that. Then you need heat. A trough long enough to keep the wood soaked while you boil it will do, or build a steam box out of cheap pine. A boiler made from a rectangular gallon can with a short piece of copper tubing soldered into the cap and a chunk of hose or vinyl tubing to direct the steam into the box will do fine. Heat can come from an open fire, a coleman stove or an electric hot plate. Steam your wood for an hour an inch of thickness, or a little more if the wood doesn't want to co-operate. Then bend your wood over a jig made to the proper shape. When you make your jig, cut it so the wood is overbent, how much will take some trial and error. Overbend it more rather than less as it can be straightened when cool, but not bent more.

Remember to make up your parts so when they're bent the inside of the bend is also the inside of the tree as much as possible. Also keep in mind that hard woods generally bend much more easily than soft woods and retain their shape a great deal better.

Three Hawks

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Three Hawks,

it looks great oracle.
how much trouble was it to bend that rattan?

i dont have a frame, always been meaning to use one, i use a pack basket but i also have a deerhide pack i use a lot, theres a pic in the gallery, but anyway, it would be a lot better with a frame so more weight can be carried and that less back pain on your back but ill have to check out you guys pics in the gallery, thanks for a good thread guys...

Coonmedicinetrapper
When I first bought the basket pack it had plastic straps, which I replaced with leather.
These kept stretching. I also had to affect
frequent repairs on the basket after hauling a load. I started to think. We had some rataan
furniture and I was impressed with it's strength
and lightness. I looked around for a source and found Rataan being sold by Cold Steel as police batons. I had already made a rataan bow that shot arrows a 100-yards.
I drew out a packframe around the basket pack
and built it. I left the basket area bare where
it hits my back to act as a cushion. When I tobaggon I tie in a sheet of moose back rawhide.
I have a frame with skis and just tie the rataan frame on the skis putting the basket in a upright position. There is room for a second basket. I use the same straps loose to pull the toboggon. I have hauled 60-pounds on occassion.
What I like is you can lift the rataan frame with your little finger, yet can stand on it.
Try it.
Oracle

It's the fool that profits from his own mistakes, the smart man profits from others
mistakes.

Pack baskets are nice but seem to be mainly an Eastern item and not mentioned much until the 19th century. They were used earlier but were local to the northeast.

What gets mentioned fairly often is the use of a chair. Either a ladder back or windsor type chair will work. The chair is turned upside down, the straps lashed to the rungs and legs. The loose articles go into the basket formed by the legs and rungs and the blanket is tied below. Not only do you have a sturdy pack frame, you have a place to sit at camp. Admittedly this arrangement is more often mentioned when the whole family is moving all their possessions to a new home than for a group of longhunters, so there is still some question for suitability of use on a scout.

I made this back pack from a $18.00 longhunter canvas bag.
Cut the strap in half,added buckles,leather straps and good to go.
i can carry a 5x9 piece of canvas,a 5x6 canvas ground cloth and a wool blanket.
Inside the pouch I can carry a fire starting kit,food,etc.