Custom Daypacks

[tinaballina]

I have a Gregory pack now, i love it but i think it is on its last leg and its kind of dirty. I just stopped at rei and sport chalet looking for a new pack, no such luck. Does anyone know where i could possibly find a place to do a custom pack, i don't care the cost at this point?
thanks in advance.

[Hikin_Jim]

I have a Gregory pack now, i love it but i think it is on its last leg and its kind of dirty. I just stopped at rei and sport chalet looking for a new pack, no such luck. Does anyone know where i could possibly find a place to do a custom pack, i don't care the cost at this point?
thanks in advance.

Wilderness Workshop here in Los Angeles (Higland Park) is where REI sent my backpack for warranty repairs when it neeed it. You could see if they can fix up your Gregory. The also do custom work as I understand it, but you'd have to confirm that with them. Their website sucks, but their sewing does not.

There are tons of more gear store choices besides REI and Sport Chalet. Locally (well, Southern California anyway not PS), there's Adventure16 which has generally better equipment than mass market stores like REI and Sport Chalet.

Then of course there's the web. Millions of places to look for pre-made packs. See list below.

If you really want to go the custom route, I've heard that R2 Packs is a good company, but I've had no dealings with them myself. I'm sure a Google Search would turn up half a dozen others. Also, take a look at the ads in the back of Backpacker Magazine or other outdoors related mags. I always see ads for specialized services.

Some places I've shopped for gear:
http://www.altrec.com/
http://www.backcountrygear.com/index.cfm
http://www.backcountry.com/
http://www.campmor.com/
http://www.gossamergear.com/
http://www.mountaingear.com/
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/
http://www.backpackinglight.com/
http://www.moosejaw.com/
http://www.travelcountry.com/

Remarks:
-Campmor has a huge selection. Campmor is known as a discount store, but they have a lot of higher end items.
-Gossamer Gear is for ultralight equipment.
-Sierra Trading Post is mainly closeouts and the like, so they may not have anything you want. It changes day by day. If they have what you want, they have great prices.
-Backpacking Light is a magazine but has a decent gear shop.
-I actually haven't used MooseJaw but friends of mine have had good experiences with them.
-Travel Country has some sales and their regular prices usually aren't bad.

Gregory itself has a list of on-line dealers:
http://www.gregorypacks.com/us/?option= ... &act=links

And there's always eBay. You never know. I bought a beautiful Western Mountaineering (a high end manufacturer, i.e. not cheap junk) sleeping bag in near new, perfect condition for about $50.00 less than I could have bought it anywhere else even at sites that are usually lower priced.

[phydeux]

Try these guys (actually a guy with four employees):

http://www.ula-equipment.com/

Pricey, but they are good ultralight packs. Scroll over the 'Products' and a menu will pop up that has 'Packs' on it. Sometimes the owner is out doing 'field testing' and his staff will get the time off, but he'll note that on the website.

Cheers

[tinaballina]

thank you so much HJ, this is very helpful. getting a new pack is like buying a gucci, you want the right fit....lol
of course, this is how i c it.

[asabat]

Try these guys (actually a guy with four employees):

http://www.ula-equipment.com/

Pricey, but they are good ultralight packs. Scroll over the 'Products' and a menu will pop up that has 'Packs' on it. Sometimes the owner is out doing 'field testing' and his staff will get the time off, but he'll note that on the website.

Cheers

Four? Man, he's gotten busy this year. Last I saw him he had "just" two.

I don't know how much custom work Brian does, but if that's what you want contact him asap as he gets real busy as thruhiking season kicks off in the spring. But, he usually takes the fall off to go hiking himself, so he might not be around right now. I have two of his packs, and highly recommend them, and he takes pride in a quality product made, as he says, "in his garage."

[phydeux]

Try these guys (actually a guy with four employees):

http://www.ula-equipment.com/

Pricey, but they are good ultralight packs. Scroll over the 'Products' and a menu will pop up that has 'Packs' on it. Sometimes the owner is out doing 'field testing' and his staff will get the time off, but he'll note that on the website.

Cheers

Four? Man, he's gotten busy this year. Last I saw him he had "just" two.

I don't know how much custom work Brian does, but if that's what you want contact him asap as he gets real busy as thruhiking season kicks off in the spring. But, he usually takes the fall off to go hiking himself, so he might not be around right now. I have two of his packs, and highly recommend them, and he takes pride in a quality product made, as he says, "in his garage."

Yeah, I was there five (?) years ago in the spring; consulting job in SLC, but had Friday afternoon free, so drove up to Ogden. He had four folks sewing like mad in his 'garage' unit. He let me try on what wasn't packed, and those were really comfy backpacks. Everything he had was presold, so I couldn't buy one right there. Ending up getting a slightly used Granite Gear Vapor Trail for 50% of its retail price, but kinda wish I'd ordered a ULA pack. Really nice stuff.

[Hikin_Jim]

thank you so much HJ, this is very helpful. getting a new pack is like buying a gucci, you want the right fit.

Well, I was thinking more Prada than Gucci...

[tinaballina]

thank you so much for all the information....much appreciated.

[nobohobo]

you did say price was not an issue.
handmade in northconway nh
http://www.wildthingsgear.com/prod_packs.php

[tinaballina]

Wow, those packs are up there with the gucci pricing. Thank you