"New" SUL External Frame / 1-1-2009

SUL External Frame / 1-1-2009

I am making another SUL External Pack Frame. My goal is a frame similar to the modified Harrier Frame I have been working on but that weighs closer to one pound or less. The old frame was made to carry 40 to 60 pounds but the new frame should never have to carry more than 20 to 25 pounds.

I was talking to a friend who has been bending aluminum tubing for something he is making. I have never been successful at bending aluminum tubing. We talked about how he was doing it and I decide to give it a try.

I bought some 3/8" 6061-T6 aluminum tubing and have bent my first two tubes. I am happy so far with how they turned out. The bending process is a bit slow as you need to try and only bend a little at a time. The jig I made only helped get me started. The rest of the bending was more or less bent "free hand". I may have spent about 45 minutes on the two tubes. The second one went faster as my technique improved. The tubing I am using weighs about 1.4 grams per inch. The total weigh of the tubes that I bent weigh 32.7 grams or 1.15 ounces each. The bent tubes are 24.5 inches long. The actual length might change a bit.
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I have made one more piece and this should be all the aluminum tubing I have to bend. This piece is more or less a half circle and will be used near the hip belt area. It weighs about 18 grams or 0.63 of an ounce and was all bent "free hand". It was much harder then the other two pieces to bend.



This first part has gone much faster than It thought it would. Now I need to take a bit of time and plan out the rest of the frame.

These are the two frame sections of the of the modified Harrier Frame. I am using the basic design of the modified Harrier Frame for the new frame but trying to reduce the weigh.

The top part weighs 469.2 grams or 16.5 ounces.

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The bottom part weighs 440 grams or 15.52 ounces.

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