Ultimate Hip-pack Project

A couple months back my friend requested a pair of hip-packs. They had to be relatively small, hold a mini u-lock, and have a secure pocket for a cellphone. Here's what I came up with:
8" across the top, ~5.5 deep, 6x2 on the bottom. 1000d Cordura nylon, acrylic-coated poly liner.
I usually don't use velcro, but since this was a special job I made an exception.
Typical u-lock holster design. There's some thin padding in the u-lock straps on these, though.
Now, here's how I got to the above bags...prototypes galore:

This is a nearly complete bag. I pretty much just moved the label and nudged the zipper up a bit. On the final packs, the pocket is lined with a mil-spec oxford nylon.
Below is the first finished design. Zipper pocket, floating liner...super water-resistant but hard to get into. The final design is a little smaller than this but has better accessibility.
Dumb place to put a label. Whoops.
Same lock holder strap. I'm also not wild about how the binding looks on this bag. It's an okay design (I use it a lot)...just a li'l goofy on a bag this small.
For scale.
No floating liner (above). But no holes in the corners. Hell no.
And here are most of the prototypes I made, excluding some paper ones...and I gave one of the vinyl ones away before I took this. A big thanks to the public library for providing me with such fine prototyping material. Books are great.

Special Wallets

Just made these wallets. They have an extra bike-tube card pocket. Pretty swift, huh?

How to use a ladderloc buckle

Here's a little bit about ladderloc buckles...aka tensionlock buckles. Both those are proprietary names...I wonder what the generic would be... How about cinchable tension-locking buckle. Anyway, I've been seeing people misuse these so I thought I'd write a little post.
This guide is really only for the three-bar ladderloc. I see people threading their webbing through the bar on the end, and that's wrong. I think that bar's there to keep the buckle from flipping back and releasing the webbing tension. I mean, it works like this---you're just not using your buckle optimally. The end bar isn't as strong as the middle bar so you could potentially have a buckle failure...especially when it gets older and is in sub-freezing temperatures. It's kinda like not closing the quick-release lever on your bike and instead just screwing the skewer tight. It'll keep your wheel on most of the time but there might be a time when it just comes off.
And I'm not saying I didn't make this same mistake when I first started. But I wasn't selling bags for $200 back then either.
Here's what it looks like all set up and ready to go.
And from the side.

And here's what a two-bar ladderloc looks like. What you might call a low-profile version (with quick-release d-ring added).

Now you know.
Woo!

Dirt Bags

The best use (in my opinion) for vinyl sign material:
Dirt bags.
I'm doing some digging under my house and hauling the dirt out with these. Vinyl courtesy of the public library.
I put some some dump straps in the bottom seams, ignoring my own advice about putting straps in seams...naturally they're ripping out. I still need to go at 'em with the sewing awl...

Serger Stitch Test

Here're some stitch tests with my 654DE. I still haven't bought any overlock thread, so I'm using embroidery thread.

Red: 1000d Cordura. Brown: #10 waxy cotton. Black: #8 cotton duck (dry).

Leif Labs Action Shot

Some friends of mine rode their bikes from Columbia to Salt Lake last September. I made a handlebar bag for the trip. I finally got around to procuring a picture:
The bag was in charge of holding the camera. You can see it open there on the right. Woo.

Sneak Peek: Juki Serger

Amazon just had a smokin' deal on the MO-654DE. I've been wanting a serger for a good long while and this seemed like the best time to buy one. 2 to 4 theads, differential feed, heavy to lightweight fabric. Aw yeah. Time to make some full-face fleece cycling hats...when I have time. It's house-repair season...sigh.

Innards.

Time to research serger thread...