Making or modifying your gear can personalize it to your needs. This can save weight or reduce the fiddle factor to make backpacking more enjoyable. This site is intended to be educational by giving examples and techniques for making or modifying your own gear. I hope that this material will encourage people to:

1. have the satisfaction of making their own gear

2. personalize their gear for their needs

3. lighten their packs to have more fun.

All of this gear was sewn on a 1960s Sears Kenmore home sewing machine. I use simple straight stitches except for the occasional bar tack stitch used on webbing, nothing fancy.