Custom Mods to Camelbak Hawg



There is an abnormal amount of flex in this pack where the horizontal crease is between the lower padding and the two side or upper pads. These elevated parts have thicker padding though entire back panel is padded.



This is the ATS frame sheet which I cut to fit into the hydration compartment. It also has an aluminum stay for increased rigidity. A full 3L reservoir still fits in the pocket. I used 1" Gorilla tape for binding around the edges. I have found it to be much more comfortable with the frame sheet as there is an uncommon flex close to the center of this pack that causes the top portion to sag and it doesn't ride close or to the contour of the back unless the shoulder straps are pulled very tight. This made it ride too high and was still uncomfortable. It's almost like a joint or elbow the amount of flex in the pack. It may have been designed this way on purpose to fit over body armor but for me it's a lot better with the frame sheet.
 
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I increased the width of the waist belt to 1 and 1/2" (stock material was 1"). Added a Nexus buckle. It is very supportive together with the frame sheet.





 
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This is the bottom of the pack and the strap kit I made for my Thermarest. The advantage of these straps over a single strap being slid through both molle loops is that sway is eliminated and so whatever you have attached will not swing back and forth bumping your backside. And there is also additional modularity as displayed in the following posts.







 
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This is a three foot accessory strap with opposing male/female ends (can be attached to itself). It will attach to the smaller straps I use for my Thermarest if I need more length.



 
Camelbak Hawg. 1,400 ci. Weighs 2.5 lbs with empty 3L bladder (not including frame sheet mod).

 
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Bruceter said:
Nice job on the mods!

Bruceter
Click to expand...

Thx! I'll have more pics with the Hawg attached to my EMR as soon as it arrives in the mail (about one month). The Long Pockets I ordered from Kifaru will also fit on the Hawg. I will have to replace one side of the buckles on the pockets to get it to fit right. The buckles in the pic are the female auto lock (National Molding) with the quick attach male counterpart. This will be used when attaching to the main bag. But the female buckle will mount directly to the male portion of the compression strap buckle on the Hawg. I have used the strap keeper to keep the male buckle secured by rolling the strap as tight as possible. The buckle cannot slide past. I have also tested this and found I could not feel any contact point from the strap while wearing the pack in this configuration.



Long pocket will attach here (see above). There is a slight difference in the attachment points. The Long Pocket straps are sewn where they fit a 5 molle row span if they are pulled exactly straight. The distance between the compression straps on the Hawg (if you count them) is 6 rows. I could change the location of the female buckles on the Hawg (they are removable), but not where the compression strap is sewn into the bag. I think they will fit fine.



These auto lock females will be on one side of each Long Pocket allowing direct attachment to the buckles on the compression straps of the Hawg.



Places where strap is rolled and secured with Velcro fastener seem would make uncomfortable contact point on back. But after testing I could not feel any contact from bunched up strap.
 
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Echo63 said:
Nice mods !
May i suggest G Hooks for the first strap set though
http://milspecmonkey.com/store/hardware-diy/138-itw-g-hook-wave.html
They will be much easier to attach, just as secure, and unlikely to pop off if overtensioned.


I saw a pic of the little bars on your thermarest strap a few weeks ago, and wondered what they were for, now i know - great idea
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These are the same straps with some different buckles attached. By putting the male quick attach buckle where the slotted loops were and putting a quick attach at the other end as well, the strap can now be tensioned from the opposite end (I can pull away from the main bag instead of toward it to increase the tension). After testing the slotted loops they were much more flexible than I had thought. They definitely are not the preferred hardware for this rig. They do not have the same rigidity of the Nexus or Mojave quick attach. I am ordering some of the hooks you suggested as it will provide a small weight savings for this strap kit or may prove useful in another application. Thanks!



 
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