Wilderness Wanderer Upgrade

[Goliath]

Many years ago I bought a Wilderness Wanderer and have put up with annual repairs. A while ago I replaced it as my go-to pack with a MR6500, but didn' have the heart to let my WW go...so I did what I should have done a very long time ago...I replaced the shoulder straps.

If you have a WW and are interested in new shoulder straps, I've found the ones from Barney's (in Anchorage, Alaska) to be a perfect fit. Cost is around $100 all in with shipping. Great way to breathe new life into an otherwise fine pack frame and the quality is very high.

The straps in the pictures below were installed in 15 minutes last summer and carried out 8 elk quarters last year. Yes, they're awesome.

PS. I should have removed the sandbags/pillowcases for clarity.


http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o613/pickledsausages/Wilderness%20wanderer/P1040602.jpg

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o613/pickledsausages/Wilderness%20wanderer/P1040603.jpg

http://i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o613/pickledsausages/Wilderness%20wanderer/P1040604.jpg

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Annual repairs??!! I know your pain:-(...but I went with a Barney instead of the MR.

I had a feeling the the Barney shoulder straps would work on the WW....however, my main problem with the WW was the hipbelt constantly blowing out....and by the looks of the pics you had the same problem.

I've been tinkering with the idea of modifying a Barney hipbelt to fit the WW as I do love the way the WW carries the weight over your centre of gravity....even better than the Barney.

It will take some industrial sewing to make the mods....and I'm not quite sure how to do it.

SSS

[Goliath]

Annual repairs??!! I know your pain:-(...but I went with a Barney instead of the MR.

I had a feeling the the Barney shoulder straps would work on the WW....however, my main problem with the WW was the hipbelt constantly blowing out....and by the looks of the pics you had the same problem.

I've been tinkering with the idea of modifying a Barney hipbelt to fit the WW as I do love the way the WW carries the weight over your centre of gravity....even better than the Barney.

It will take some industrial sewing to make the mods....and I'm not quite sure how to do it.

SSS


Interesting what you say about the WW carrying the weight over your center of gravity. Personally I don't really have a problem with most any pack @ 60 lbs...but double that to 100-120 lbs and all of a sudden the WW carries the weight the best. IMO, better than anything else out there.

SSS, you're correct, the hipbelt has been repaired several times...mostly with freesole...and stitching awl. Fortunately I've always been lucky to catch it 15 minutes before it "blew out". It's never left me stranded, but it's always left me with work in the off season.

If you get the chance, please send me a pic of the Barney hipbelt (front & back). Might give us something to do come January.

[Buck]

I'm really hoping you get the barney hip belt to fit so i can put the hip belt and shoulder straps on my Shockey Yukon pack.The Shockey pack has the Wilderness wanderer frame which i really like and i also like the Yukon Bag that comes with it.Please post pics of the Barney hip belt Thanks ..Dan

It looks like you adjust the strap on the back of the Barney shoulder straps to change the torso size?Looks like it would work with my Load lifter bars on the Yukon i have.Here is a pic of the back of my frame note the Load lifter bar it has.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii159/Ramcam-Photos/IMG_0275.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii159/Ramcam-Photos/IMG_0277.jpg