After getting hooked on making my own trail gear in 2023—thanks to my successful day pack builds—I knew I wanted to keep making my own gear. This time, I wanted to make a lumbar pack that could comfortably carry 2 liters of water, some snacks, and still sit nicely on the hips.
Fitting the Hipbelt
To get the fit right, I had to do a deep dive into hipbelt shape and curvature. Everyone’s built a little differently, so I created multiple fitting hipbelts out of cardboard to test different curves to see what felt best for me versus Ryan. If you’re curious about that process, I go into more detail in a previous blog post. That was the hardest part of the whole project.
Pattern(s)
For the base pattern, I went with the LP by Stitchback. It’s a solid, straightforward design with a nice wide hipbelt. After that, I started getting jiggy with it—tweaking the pattern to better fit the vision I had in mind.
I wanted to blend in some elements from the ProperFit Roll Top Fanny Pack—mainly the front zipper and the roll-top closure. The roll-top just made more sense to me than a full-length zipper, especially after testing the pack with my webbing changes.
That said, I wasn’t a fan of how the roll created big floppy “ears” on the sides. So I modified the design again, to behave more like a roll-top stuff sack. For that, I used the free pattern from LearnMYOG to shape the top panel.
I also completely overhauled the webbing. My main inspiration here came from the Ridgeline Roll-top Hip Pack by Pack Northwest. Instead of bungee cords on the water bottle holder, I liked the idea of side compression straps. Not only do they secure the water bottles, but they also act like mini load lifters—bringing the pack closer to your body and helping distribute the weight more efficiently across your hips.
Let’s go over materials before walking through my construction process.
Subscribe to continue reading
Become a paid subscriber to get access to the rest of this post and other exclusive content.
