A Primitive Wooden Frame Backpack

A friend of mine asked me if I'd be interested in doing some minimalist backpacking this fall and winter, I really can't afford a bunch of ultralight gear, so I'm making do and fashioning my own, to a point. Over the weekend I knocked out this wooden A-frame backpack frame based on photos and descriptions of a Roycroft pack frame found on many survivalist forums, blogs and websites. Rather than slap three sticks together in the woods, I used some off-cuts laying around the garage to laminate in some curve and make the frame look a little more permanent and comfortable.

I'm not a survival-minded person. I've had a couple of basic survival and primitive skills classes, I like the outdoors, camping, hiking, knives, axes, shooting guns and heirloom technologies, but I have no fear of the government nor do I think civilization is going to collapse anytime soon. I just like learning new stuff and knowing how to put it to use, if need be.

With the Roycroft pack, your shelter tarp, ground cloth, blanket or poncho, becomes the pack. It's lashed to the frame in a way that's secure, but easy to access. Essentially cutting some weight off of what you're carrying, since the pack does double duty. Normally your pack is something of a one-trick-pony.

As a nod to any survivalists that might read this, I did use my Mora camp knife to cut up the old sacrificial daypack I used for the shoulder straps and the paracord I used for lashing. I do have great respect for your skills in the field, even if I don't necessarily share the enthusiasm.