Making a packframe

We are currently on vacation in Sweden, and while in one of our vacation homes I stumbled across a pile of willow branches. Freshly cut, due to maintenance of the park. This looked like a perfect opportunity to start a new craft! So, we selected some branches and took them home.

The frame in it's full glory.

First thing was to plan out the shape, I wanted a rounded top for example and a sort of shelve on the bottom to put tings on top. For shaping we just bent it and put the first horizontal stick. I used some reusable ty-raps to hold the first shapes.

Step one.

Then when the shape was right I stripped all the bark from the branches. This got reused to hide the smaller ty-raps I would use later on. After placing the stick that holds the rough shape I put on the second one higher up, this one would hold the shoulder straps. I also bent the part for the ''shelf''. With these things in place I let it dry overnight.

Step two.

The next day we went outside to a nice day camping spot to work on the frame, read and make a fire to make lunch on. While there I also put some extra sticks in place, to stabilize the shape: a triangle shape in the backpart and under the ''shelf''. With this addition it became extra sturdy! I also used the woodcarving knife to smooth out parts where branches sat and give the end pieces a rounder finish. I kept one of the side shoots as it gave the frame some character!

Step three.

For the shoulder straps we found some scrap leather at the local hunting supply store. This scrap material was just right to make two shoulder straps. I used the access leather to secure them by cutting them in small strips to create some knots. Then I twined some wool I took with me. With this rope I would secure the stuff to the frame. The dark brown color fits really nice too!

As the very last step I rewet the bark from the days before, cut it into strips and then carefully hid away the ends of the ty-raps. Giving it all a natural finish! I Used the ty-raps because I really can't get the wrapping strong enough with just bark. For that I would have needed rawhide, and more carved out connections. This was a faster and simpeler solution. The whole progress took place over three days. When we get home I'll treat the wood with some oil. To keep it from splitting more. It already started to, probably because it dried a bit too fast. But hey, every craft has a learning curve!

Final step.

So, there you have it! A pretty neat willow packframe! Do you feel inspired yet? I really love that I finally got the spark to make one. I really liked how they looked and a couple of days before I found the branches a good friend and I were talking about how to make one. It was just the perfect timing!

Thank you for reading this post! I you liked this one, maybe you like some of the others I made as well, so go check them out!