Interesting concept. Build a custom product that people want? Ouch. Every individual pack would need to be designed and customized = lots of time + lots of effort = little volume, low sales, less profit. You indicated you are not into pumping out gear to make money, but you would have to look at this differently.
Instead of "just" building custom packs, perhaps come at it from a different angle: build custom packs to fill an unmet niche in the current market.
Want an example?
Design and construct a durable, quiet series of packs - targeted specifically for the Mystery Ranch Pop-Up series frames.
Why? To fit an unmet need.
There are hundreds / thousands of people that have these packs and really like them. The frame is a hit. The main complaints are the noisy bags, lack of bag options, and layout of the available packs.
Two areas to look at: the design of the current bag offerings and the available materials:
In my experience, the design of the larger MR38 Pop-Up bag is less than ideal. (More details can be found
here.) It is also highly unlikely that MR will come out with additional bags - made of a quiet material - to fit these pop-up series frames. (Perhaps they will, but - if they do - those bags will also be constructed of 550 cordura)
Look at the number of different bags Kifaru has available for (essentially) one frame design: 10 or so. ? (Granted, Kifaru is targeting a different market). How many bags does MR have? Three. (The PU28, PU38, and Mule. And the mule is the only one of the three that you can buy as a "bag-only" option. The other two have to be purchased as a complete bag and frame setup. Most guys don't buy additional bags because they have to buy a new frame with it. Want to check me on this? Quick, do a search on this forum, or others: how many Kifaru "bag-only's" are sold: hundreds. They turn over faster than pancakes at a fundraiser breakfast at the fire department. How many Mystery Ranch "bag-only" are sold in the classifieds: zero. Because, outside of the MR Mule bag-only option - which just came out this year - there aren't any available.)
Designing and constructing a bag to fit this frame would be relatively simple as there are two buckled attachment points on the back, two buckles on each side, and two on the bottom. Pretty simple to design a bag from there to meet those eight attachment points. No designing of shoulder straps or waist belts needed on your part. No torso heights mess around with. No internal/external frame design concerns. No composite/aluminum stays to source or procure. That leaves fabric, webbing, thread, zippers, and buckles.
What about the material? 550 Cordura is used by Mystery Ranch on most of their packs due to it's durability, but that comes with the "penalty" of being perceived as noisy. Consider using a different material, such as the microfleece fabric found in a Eberlestock X2. Or just plain fleece. Or sewing a fleece fabric facing onto a 550 Cordura material, or in key spots.
How to design these packs?
Go through the thirty pages of backpacks mentioned in this
thread, take notes on which backpacks are listed most frequently, copy those designs, lopping off the shoulder straps and waist belts, and come out with a line of 4-6 microfleece or fleece packs to fit the MR Pop-up series of frames. (Look at those backpacks on that thread, there are a handful of packs that are very similar. Remove the camouflage patterns, name brands, and just look at the design features. Come out with a small (1000-2000 CU), medium (2000-3000 CU) and large (3000-4000 CU) series of packs, with two or three different designs for each size and your "custom" design and template is set. Price them at - or below - the "bag-only" market. Granted, you are "limiting" your market to those people that already have Pop-Up backpacks, but face it - most people that have already purchased the MR Pop-Up series backpacks are gear/backpack aficionados with irresistible urges to purchase the latest pack to hit the market.
Then start sending me the royalty checks.
