I've been wanting to tinker with upgrading the shoulder straps on my hybrid. I'll start by saying two things: If you don't carry a bunch of weight, it's not necessary in any way; and if you don't want to hack things up, I am hopeful John will be looking at offering a "packout" upgrade type of system.
But, I'm tall, and the height of the straps is a big issue for me. And ever since the first time I carried a friend's EXO pack, I was jealous. I immediately got online and purchased one of their older style harnesses for a project that never happened. Well all this Hybrid talk lately got me frisky.
Disclaimer - If you modify gear, you accept liability for your own safety. As always, use discretion, and if you're not sure, don't be stupid. I do not recommend you modify your gear.
I started by splitting the Exo harness down the middle so it would fit without having to take rivets loose on the top of the hybrid mesh.
Next, I had to figure out how to attach to the Molle Frame. This was the hardest part...
Once I split this, I could open up the back and access the frame. I then just sewed one horizontal piece of webbing on each shoulder strap, with a loop on one side. I threaded this through the frame, and stuck a G hook on the other side and cinched tight. Then the EXO harness has loops already sewn in for adjusting on their frame packs. I added a short piece of webbing and Ghook to that loop, and weaved vertically on the frame and back through a triglide. You can also see the load lifters too. They're just flat bar aluminum, with a webbing loop riveted on top, and some little nubs on bottom to catch frame. Heat shrink the whole thing. Insert in frame, wing bolt. Simple.
Once I finished up the harness and attachments, I sewed loops and loose webbing on the back of the mesh that I cut. This part sucked, as I had the hybrid jammed up against my machine, and punching through two layers of mesh, two layers of microsuede, and two layers of webbing. But it wasn't too bad. Once I was done, add Ghooks, and cinch back tight to get tension on the mesh again.
But, I'm tall, and the height of the straps is a big issue for me. And ever since the first time I carried a friend's EXO pack, I was jealous. I immediately got online and purchased one of their older style harnesses for a project that never happened. Well all this Hybrid talk lately got me frisky.
Disclaimer - If you modify gear, you accept liability for your own safety. As always, use discretion, and if you're not sure, don't be stupid. I do not recommend you modify your gear.
I started by splitting the Exo harness down the middle so it would fit without having to take rivets loose on the top of the hybrid mesh.
Next, I had to figure out how to attach to the Molle Frame. This was the hardest part...
Once I split this, I could open up the back and access the frame. I then just sewed one horizontal piece of webbing on each shoulder strap, with a loop on one side. I threaded this through the frame, and stuck a G hook on the other side and cinched tight. Then the EXO harness has loops already sewn in for adjusting on their frame packs. I added a short piece of webbing and Ghook to that loop, and weaved vertically on the frame and back through a triglide. You can also see the load lifters too. They're just flat bar aluminum, with a webbing loop riveted on top, and some little nubs on bottom to catch frame. Heat shrink the whole thing. Insert in frame, wing bolt. Simple.
Once I finished up the harness and attachments, I sewed loops and loose webbing on the back of the mesh that I cut. This part sucked, as I had the hybrid jammed up against my machine, and punching through two layers of mesh, two layers of microsuede, and two layers of webbing. But it wasn't too bad. Once I was done, add Ghooks, and cinch back tight to get tension on the mesh again.