DIY Gear

I've become very interested in making my own gear over the last couple of years.  I enjoy doing it because it appeals to my creative side, my frugal nature, and the fact that a lot of the stuff I've made is much lighter then any of my store-bought gear.  Here's some videos of the things I've tried my hand at making:

I believe I mentioned in the video that I can't take credit for the stove or mess kit design although I added a few personal touches.  Here's a great link where I got the plans to make this stove along with a ton of other different stove designs.
One problem I have discovered while using this pot/stove combination is that the pot balances rather precariously on the stove and I quickly learned to drive tent stakes around it to keep it stable or my nice hot water would end up watering the plants.

This design was based on sleeping quilts I saw for sale online but I didn't have a pattern to go off of, just pictures such as the ones on this site, so the design was all my own.

I used this for a full season of backpacking in the high country and found it to be plenty warm- especially when I added some straps with velcro to help keep it tucked in under my body.  It weighs much less then my old bag and compresses down to about the size of a loaf of bread.

I made 3 prototypes with cheap material before this version and there are still some things I would do differently if I were to make another.  However I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out although I've yet to try it under real-world conditions.

Here's a link to the original G4 plans I used and here's a link to the site where you can buy it commercially.  A big thank you to the person who designed the G4 and made the plans  available for free online!  Also here's a site where I found the best prices on most of the materials I used.