Customize Your Travel Backpack

This article is for anyone who has ever gone backpacking or would like to. The backpack that you buy may be full of fantastic features, but it can always use some improvements. There are some really wonderful ways to customize your pack and make it even more useful. Let's take a look.

One area that most packs fail in is the side pockets. They may hold a very short water bottle, but if you have a regular sized one, it will be able to tip out since the pocket is too shallow. A good way to prevent this from happening is to simply sew a loop of elastic at the height of the water bottle's neck. When you put a bottle into the pocket, just slip the loop over the top and it will be held in place.

Sports mesh, the kind used for sports jerseys, is also very useful for customizing. You can buy it in any fabric store and because it is stretchy, you can use it to make additional pockets. Just cut out a pocket to the size you want, stitch it to your bag with the edges turned under and sew elastic along the upper edge to make it tighten around anything you put into it.

You can add your own special "hidden" pocket for storing your passport and other important documents inside your pack as well. The easy way to do this is to buy a zippered pencil case that is large enough to fit your passport and sew that into the inside of your backpack. You can add more than one, but they do add weight.

The hard way, but far more secure, unless your entire bag is stolen, takes a bit of stitching know how. First, you will want to buy some fabric that is the same or very similar to the lining in your pack. You will also need Velcro, the kind that comes in long strips.

Turn your pack inside out and make a pattern for the bottom of the bag, cutting off a third of the pattern piece to leave a long flat side. You are going to need to cut two of these out of your new lining fabric. Hem along the flat side of each piece of lining and lay them so they overlap, on the bottom of the backpack. You will need to carefully handstitch the edges all around, making sure that the two pieces stay overlapped.

When you have finished, you will have a hidden pocket at the bottom of your bag where you can slip documents in. To make it a little more secure, add a Velcro strip to the opening so that it will seal.

There are quite a few other ways that you can customize your pack. For example, if you usually carry your shoes on the outside of your bag, you might want to make a mesh bag that would hook onto the back of the pack to keep your shoes from banging away back there. Or you may need a couple of Velcro loops to fasten an extra blanket onto the back. The options are endless. Note your needs and then find a way to incorporate what you need into your backpack.