I’ve been working on making my own backpack. I’ve done research online and have watched countless “make your own gear” videos on youtube (ie: how to sew). Awaiting a few things to come in the mail and once that arrives look for an article as well as links to making your own backpack. In short, you are better off buying some thing already made…damn this project has been hard. Here’s the tally of what I’ve used or cannibalized:

1- Arcteryx day pack. Removed waterproof zippers, buckles and shock cord. Also was curious on how they built the pack.
1- Really old Special Blend backpack (probably a school bag). Removed all buckles. I took this apart to see how they built it and what seam allowances they used.
5- Yards of 210D ripstop. Got this on ebay really cheap and most of the bag will be made up of this.

Total cost so far: $20 in materials (not counting the old bags that I broke apart)

More to come with pics of the bag and resources I used.