The Approachisades II Pack

Yes yes, I know, lame combination of names.

A while ago I mentioned that I was going to turn my Approach II pack into a Palisades style pack. I finally got around to doing it. This took forever since I couldn't find any plastic buckles or straps of the correct size locally and I generally don't like to order anything online unless I have to.
I ordered the buckles and straps from Strapworks who has pretty good prices on buckles, really good prices on webbing (straps) and had a nice low shipping rate as well.  I highly reccomend you buy from them if you can't find what you want for whatever your project might be. They have several other things in their inventory as well.

Anyways... For this project you will need:
1 Ruff Wear (or other brand) dog pack with harness
4 Plastic buckles of correct size (for the XS pack I used 1/2" single-adjust buckles)
3 feet or more of strapping (I used 1/2" heavyweight polypropylene)
A couple feet of fabric (I wanted to use heavy-duty mesh but instead went with lightweight canvas)
Several yards of heavy-duty thread
A couple feet of hemming strip (bias tape, 1/2" extra wide doublefold)
A sewing machine and/or hand sewing needles
Lots of pins
Some velcro (optional)



Start off by (if you haven't already) carefully cutting the packs off the harness.  Take a note of where the bags were attached to the harness. You will use this as a reference point as to where the bags will sit and be buckled on.
Note: DO NOT CUT THROUGH ANY FABRIC! Only cut the stitching, this is very important.

Measure the length of the attachment point of the bag. This is how long the fabric will be. Next measure the space between where the two bags were attached on the harness. This is how wide the fabric will be. You can modify the lengths a bit if you want, but I just went with what I got. Mine was 7x5.
Cut out a swatch of fabric leaving roughly 1/4 inch on the sides. This is for mistakes and possible de-threading, unless you are a master seamstress-ster then you won't need it.
Now measure where the handle and leash attachment are on the harness relative to your piece of fabric. Cut a hole (start small, just in case) so the handle and attachment point will stick out when you lay the fabric over the harness. If it's not right, then just cut a new piece and hole. That's why you get more fabric than you need.

Take your hemming material and sew it onto all four edges. (I didn't use it on the 7" edges but probably should have, so I'm telling you to do it.) This will reinforce the fabric and prevent unraveling in the future. Now carefully pin some hemming strap around the hole, then sew it in place. It's okay if it's a bit warped at first, but try to get the fabric to lay as flat as possible.

You will end up with something like this:

See the rough edges on the long sides? That's why I should have hemmed it.

Get rid of any trailing threads. (Which I didn't do before I took the picture.)

Find out where you want your buckles to attach to the harness and pack. Once you've got the locations down, cut some webbing so that it lays across the shoulders of the pack (leave plenty of extra hanging off) and make an X for the front buckles, and a piece that lays across the back for the rear buckles.  Pin the webbing (one piece first) to the fabric and test it on the harness. If it lays good, sew it down.  Once you've done all three, you'll get something like this:

Top and bottom. Ignore the nasty threads everywhere...

Now you are ready to get those pesky bags and attach them to the fabric.

The bags should have an extra flap of webbing hanging off them where they attached to the harness. You will sew this to the fabric. Make sure you align the bags correctly so you don't put them on the wrong side of the harness.  Pin them in place (one at a time) and test it out, and once you like how it lays, sew the bags in place. Go over the strapping you sewed on, just be careful when you do.

Note: You want the fabric and bag webbing to lay flat on top of each other like sheets of paper. It will be odd to sew them in place like this but the next picture will demonstrate what I mean. Be careful when sewing the bags on since it will get thick where the straps are. Sew over them carefully or you'll break the needle (if using a machine). Also, the webbing goes on the underside of the fabric, not the top.

See the crease the seam makes and how the bags are attached?

 The fabric and bag webbing will fold over when it sits on the harness. This is how you want it to look, and that is why you pin it in place and fiddle around with it before you sew it down. You don't want to sew a bag on only to have it orientated wrong.

Underside of bags showing webbing and bag seams.

This is generally what the underside will look like. Trim up those pieces of webbing in the middle unless you want to keep them there for some odd reason. Don't trim the front or rear pieces yet.

Top view with front male buckles.

Now that you've got your bags on, test it out on the harness again. It all fits well, put the male ends of your buckles onto the webbing and adjust them to where you want them to be. You will sew them in place by hand unless you have an amazing machine. (This is where I broke a needle, that's why I say to do it by hand.) You can either directly sew the female end of the buckles to the harness or use little tags of webbing. I sewed them directly on since the harness was quite small and there wasn't any room for webbing.

Male buckles, ends of webbing and bag seams are all on the underside.

Once you've got your buckles in place do a final fitting to see how it all lays. If you did it right, it will fit nicely. Mine was a bit off in a couple places but turned out okay in the end. That is why you constantly fit it onto the harness and check the fit during construction.

Rear and front buckles, webbing end and pack seam.

The pack and fabric seam is visible when you lift up the bag. Again, that is how you want it to look.

If your dog is impatient, you can use your knee for test fitting.

The result should look something like this once it's all attached. The handle and leash attachment will fit through the hole in the fabric which will lay relatively flat on the harness.
If you don't want the pack to flop around and bang your dog's sides, then get the velcro and sew one end of each piece down to the bags about an inch or more apart so that you can  attach it around the center harness straps. (I did not do this, yet, so no picture.)

And that's it! You now have a fully functional Palisades style pack for the cost of whatever you paid for your regular one and the materials for what you just did.  I spent only $30 on this ($25 for the harness, $4.50 for the buckles,  straps and hemming. I already had the fabric.) which is a really good deal considering how much a Palisades normally goes for.

If you don't have a pack but do have a harness like the Web Master, you can still make a Palisades style pack. You'll just have to sew your own bags and guess where everything should fit. I'd probably use rip-stop nylon (backpacking material) or mid-weight canvas for the bags.


You can see a different modification process for an Approach Pack here.