Heavy Rucksack Alternatives!

I am not sure how many of you really enjoy carrying a rucksack?  In certain cases it can't be avoided due to severe hill or mountain gradients and cragginess.  Over the years I have found it tiresome at best, and if you do experience any back problems its not the best thing to do anyway.  So I got into thinking about other load carriage systems.  Something easy to setup, that will carry the weight I want to put on it and not let me  down.

There are a couple of excellent systems available but tend to be expensive at over £500+.  So what about making your own?  This system isn't perfect, but as you can see it will carry weight, not going to say how much but its better on there than your back!

                                                              

Most of the time my walking consists of short trips between filming or sound recording, so taking a rucksack on and off every few hundred yards isn't fun, so what to do?

After much thought about cycle wheels, which I deemed as being good but more difficult to attach the spindle to any framework and possibly making a weak point.  I had a brainwave about a wheelchair.  The framework and wheels are designed to carry a fair amount of weight without to much messing about with strengthening the frame etc.  I managed to find one after asking at hospitals and any other places I could think of.  Its not as lightweight as some modern designs but for a tester I guessed it would do just fine.

First of all I gave myself time to look over the frame and see where the first cuts would be made and what I would remove.  As you can see from this image, the frame has been adapted and turned through 45 degrees to work.  The front jockey wheel is no longer needed and so removed, but the brakes have been left in place.

The seating was removed to lessen the weight. The main support for the seat which was originally crossed to form the folding action of the chair has now been shortened and bolted together.  I guess it could be made to come apart easily enough so that it would fold flat'ish.  Also any other bar extensions etc have been taken off to lower the weight.

The two bars that now form the base support are 1" aluminium cut and moulded to fit nicely, then fixed with a bolt through the entire frame of the wheelchair.  Then I chose to use webbing to help stop any items falling through as I hadn't come across any suitable netting material, my first choice.

After a few successful trips out and over rough ground I found it needed a bit of a tweek.  Don't get me wrong about this idea it is still hard work, and maybe a little slower than carrying a rucksack, but far, far less tiring and wearing on your back and muscles.

One problem that was noted was the handle kept twisting.  This made keeping it upright difficult so I thought some more on it and came up with this.   

It adds a little more weight to the overall thing

but, titanium or carbon fibre would be nice but out of the question at this stage.

The handle now comes in two parts, with an inner bar that slides into both the fixed and removal handle.  The inner bar and handle are drilled together to take the holding bolts.  This then locks into place with two bolts. The bolt through the front bar and handle adds extra support and stops the whole thing twisting.  On the middle fixed section a U bolt that ties that all together has also been added. 

The next step is to add a cross section to the front of the handle.  Surprisingly when travelling up hills it is easier to push than to pull.  Having a nice flat area to push against will really make a difference here as sometimes it will catch me in the hipbone or stomach area, and also helps when descending steeper hills.

So now the basic setup is complete and usable, I may even get around to painting it DPM!