Best Backpack Design and Quality

Andy,For wheels, what about a ball in socket type wheel on the corners? Say something similar to a Constant Velocity Joint but without the stems.They wouldn't protrude much if you recessed the socket, so no need to be removable, and they'd give you the ability to have lateral movement to get around obstacles. I think it could be extremely durable if done right. Basically a socket with many small ball bearings and one big one to roll on.When using on your back they'd just be hard round corners, more or less. Not sure it would solve the width for good balance issue though.I can't remember if I've seen them on luggage or not, but it's just an idea while reading this post.Eric

Being an engineer, I always have opinions on technical subjects, whether I know anything about the subject or not. AND I have always looked at different kinds of bags or storage (motorcycle saddle bags etc) for my purposes. SO......From my experience, seam tape is glued on, sometimes with heat. The best seem tape I have seen is on high quality motorcycle gear and it lasts as long as the garment. With cheaper equipment the seam tape tends to come off and just be a nuisance. Good stuff has the ends of the fabric heat sealed, usually as it is cut.More important than just how durable the zipper (or any part) of the bag is, is how repairable it is. A zipper needs to be easily replaced many times, and with just hand sewing you should be able to open the ends so that if the zipper does mis-feed you can slide the runners off and re-attach. If your zipper breaks and you do not have a good replacement, you want to be able to just put any cheapie on temporarily. From jackets I have had, if you have plenty of material where the zipper attaches it will work. The best I had seen on a leather jacket had a strip of leather attached to the jacket. The zipper attached to this piece. You could replace the zipper a number of times before the leather was too worn to use. At that point, you could replace the leather strip and start again. The garment would be completely worn out long before you could no longer easily replace the zipper. I always did it by hand, and like metal zippers that did not last long. Usually it was the cloth at the end that would wear to the point that it was hard to start the zipper. Not a problem with bags.Frayed ends are sometimes sealed by sewing a piece of plastic or cloth over the seams so ends are less likely to fray and will be hidden even if they do. Other techniques I have seen are folded seams. There are dozens of ways to do this, one is shown here (first one I found in a search):http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Nongame/Nongame_PDFs/bat_holding_bags.pdfOK, I am not a traveler like you, more like a tourist (but not completely I hope). But For me, I hate the fact that most bags/backpacks hold their shape. Sometimes it is good but when trying to stuff a bag into an overhead compartment or into a small space (MC Saddlebag) it sucks. Backpack metal supports are even worse. One of my pet peeves is the carryon bag that has rigid or almost rigid sides so that it can't quite fit in the compartment in the way intended and has to go in sideways and take up twice the room. So... what I was thinking is make the back pad and any other rigidizing? elements self inflating, like a self inflating mattress. When hiking or whatever, these elements would be inflated, giving a rigidness to the bag. When stuffing in a plane or whatever, the valves would be left open and the bags would be very crushable. Keeping a plastic bucket in the bottom like you do would lend some protection to critical items even when crushed. If these pads and things can not be made deflatable, then they should at least be able to be detached so they can be stowed some other way if necessary. (both of these ideas reduce reliability however).There should be no metal that might look suspicious to x-ray security. Back Stays in many back packs fit this category. Frankly, outside of d-rings, I have seen few metal hardware items on backpacks that would not have been better made out of a good plastic.Your water bottle pockets are a great idea, super big to fit a liter bottle at least. When empty they would not take any room and therefore not a problem in carry-on. An addition to the pack would be a water bottle holder that goes on your hip-belt. I have a couple of these. A liter bottle fits in them, you cinch down the elastic strap and the bottle stays in them pretty well. These put the weight of the water up front or anywhere you want, but not in the pack and gives you a little extra room in your pack.. The ones I have take too much room for what they are, but simple mesh bags could probably be made that would do the job. I could not find an example of the one that I have, but something like this is along the same concept:http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___80740One of my complaints on all kinds of things (cars, bikes, packs etc.) is that, the cheap stuff tends to be simple and practical, but junk. Once you get to a higher level of quality, you get feature creep. All of a sudden, instead of a nice practical item, you get whistles and bells that lower the usefulness of it. Making it heavier, more expensive, etc etc. For me, for a bag, I would not want *expandable*. No extra zippers. I would rather have a bag that was bigger than carryon, and just not fill it. Every strap or buckle is something else to get caught in the machines or have someone grab and throw the bag, potentially ripping the bag.A bag does need a secure way of strapping down on a vehicle. Something that a brainless person can run a strap through to tie it down. This would be good for tying things to the bag also. I have a Kelty Redwing that has these goofy tiedown points under the bag, I guess for your sleeping bag. These are so wimpy, that they would tear if anything was attached to them. The pockets are sewn to the bag on two sides, not four. Supposedly for running skis or something through. A good place to grab and rip the bag. There are no strong tiedown points at the top of the bag to lash anything securely. There are all kinds of extra *organizer* pockets etc that just add weight and complexity. Wheels are an issue. For them to be useful, they need to be big and/or extended away from bag. The handles need to be long. All of this eats up space and weight. Since this bag is for travelers, you could make it a little more complicated or manual to use than the typical tourist bag. Maybe make it so the wheels could be removed and put on a different edge. Have them attached to the wide side most of the time, but put in the narrow side for tight areas like planes. Big wheels that you can quickly remove before stowing in a plane might work, although anything removable is also losable. Hey, how about this for a crazy idea, not doable with current material, as far as I know, but would be good. Make a semi-rigid bag out of a rubber-like material. Fully watertight, waterproof to 50 feet or something. Compressible enough to crush into a tight spot, but rigid enough to maintain shape when carrying or dragging. Make the material cut-proof, non-flammable, etc. Wheels that could be extended for when in rough areas. Heck, make the whole thing expandable to double size. And make it lighter than typical cloth materials. Pipe dream, I know. I have my windmills also.Bob L

A completely waterproof bag is a mistake. Damp items develop mildew and mold inside. The whole thing ends up a smelly mess. It needs to breathe, best to make your new pack from cordura or spectra fabric. Andy, you've been obsessing about this pack for several years now. Forget about perfection, just make the thing. The first bag won't be perfect, but from that one you will develop ideas for v1.5. hoz

I do not want seam tape for waterproof, more as a way to insure the seam is stronger than the fabric.I have a 500 Denier Spectra Fabric to use, and this or the 200 will be used in the final production.Seams, Zipper, Ripstop, and broken buckles and clips. I was happy to find the brand name of the best acetal plastic hardware I believe available on the market. In a way this always goes back to military gear as the vendors that supplie the USA Military are some of the best on the planet.I have a complete drawing that incorporates all the needs and wants of the majority of people, however optimized as to what I realize are true needs of a traveler.

I wonder if the "seam tape" you are referring to is "bias tape". Bias tape is a strip of fabric cut "on the bias" or slant to the weave so that is can be bent and curved around turns and corners. It is used to reinforce the seams and also provides cosmetic covering. It is commonly available in any sewing/fabric store. "Seam tape" in outdoor fabric parlance is an iron on tape used in waterproofing the seams of Goretex jackets and pants. It is usage specific to Goretex and supplies minimum strength or reinforcement.hoz

I think you are correct, I may be using the wrong term. Today I went to Chinatown part of Bangkok and purchased some Bias Tape. I was not sure until you said at a slant, I found this same tape in another shop but was not sure what it was.Now, I am wondering which quality to purchase, brand name, and how to apply properly. I am using spectra material.I am going to meet with two full size backpack factories I found on Alibaba.com in the Philippine soon. I hope they have the knowledge of how to do this and can assist to further the perfections.

Well, would one of the "Backpack Factories" be Habagat Outdoor Equipment in Cebu? I was lucky to meet and spend some time with co owner Randy Su on our last visit. Randy and his partners have built Habagat from scratch as a major outdoor supplier in the last 20 years. During one chat he mentioned "We don't just sell equipment, we sell the lifestyle." How true, seeing as how 20 years ago the only people hiking and outdooring were the poor people...because they HAD to!hoz

Thanks for another company name to add to my list, I had not found this one.Habagat.comMy criteria for chosing companies from the Alibaba list was that they have a internet page. I need good communication skills from the Backpack companies.I now know two companies from Cebu, and two companies from Manila or Quezon City.Shipping is a large cost of a backpack, therefore this will influence my decisions. I know Manila better than Cebu and have friends in Manila.I am a one-man team on this project so far, however I do feel I have the capability of buying the best possible materials to make the bags now.