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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 21, 2010 - 11:53am PT
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Alrighty then elders! Who among you has battled the darts, ripstop and feathers to produce a prized garment? LOL
From Summit November 1968.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Aug 21, 2010 - 11:58am PT
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My mom did the work for us (as well as with Holubar kits). That was my standard outerwear back in the '70s.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2010 - 11:59am PT
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I had no doubt that you were homesewn eKat! LOL
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:00pm PT
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60-40 cloth jacket with the Egyptian cotton liner.
The theory was that the long fiber cotton expanded and sealed when it got wet.
Well, it was just a theory.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 21, 2010 - 12:04pm PT
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I always thought that 60-40 were your chances of surviving freezing rain in a parka made from that fabric. Never sure if my chances were better or worse than even...
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:10pm PT
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I would venture to guess that Mark Blanchard is STILL sleeping in his Frostline sleeping bag from about 1973!
No guesses ventured as to the smell...
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:19pm PT
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Debbie and I collaborated in making a parka and a tent, no pattern or kit... but NYC was a great place to find material that fit our budget back in the 70s
my high school girl friend sewed my designed butt-bag, haul bag and single point hammock for my overly ambitious first attempts at "big wall" climbing... they may actually still be in the garage, not the haul bag, that came apart on the first haul (a perfect excuse to blame the equipment and saved us the ignobility of a retreat from higher up).
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:20pm PT
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I've got a Frostline vest my aunt sewed for my grandfather in the early seventies.
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:24pm PT
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Yep, the ex-wife sewed them for me until she tired of my mountain ways and left me sitting alone on a frosty cold stone.
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Barbarian
Trad climber
The great white north, eh?
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:28pm PT
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Still have the booties...and still wear them when I'm out in severe cold and answering the call of nature. My rear may be freezin', but my feets is toasty!
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:41pm PT
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The real question being how many of us wrecked our mother's sewing machines making haulbags, hammocks, clothes, etc etc.
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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Aug 21, 2010 - 12:53pm PT
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in the early days of the uc santa cruz outing club, maybe '70-'72, my climbing buddies had made a frostline sleeping bag.
my vw bus got stolen and soon recovered, but without the north face sleeping bag in which my dreams
had been coming true for a few years already.
but now, there were girls to share dreams with. so, thinking these guys learned everthing they would need to know from frostline, i confidently commissioned them to build me a replacement, but with a zip-in triangle to accommodate cuddling activities. i'm almost sure it was their first commercial effort, i mean the feathers were flying in an off campus student rental.
so the bag they produced lasted years, the material purchased from an early seamy guy in town. the idea took hold.
i grinned at the novelty label they attached involving some apple theme close enough to the beatles' new label
i questioned whether it would endure. apple's woz hadn't even started attending the homebrew club.
before long, those two went into business along with another buddy in grand junction.
i spent a gob of my first alaska construction earnings on my first ski getup,
and headed right to colorado to start bumming off my buddies' hospitality,
which was quite generous.
there was quite a lot of entreprenurial energy on display to admire.
seems i was right about the label. it had changed to marmot.
about a decade later, when i retired that bag, it crossed my mind it may have
sentimental value to ... ? naw these guys have mountains of things to be proud of,
besides, the post office doesn't handle hazardous waste
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 21, 2010 - 01:54pm PT
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Yup. A vest.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Aug 21, 2010 - 02:03pm PT
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Is the guy in the pic holding a pipe?
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Aug 21, 2010 - 03:47pm PT
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I don't remember who made the kit, but I was refered to it by Galen Rowell, who helped me put them together. It was a pair of inner booties made from ensolite type material. Used in over sized single pair of Kastinger-Habeler Super-lights. The fit was great and I used them for years until good double boots became much lighter in weight.
Those kits were fun and unique.
Might have bought it from the old West Ridge store in LA.
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Double D
climber
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Aug 21, 2010 - 05:48pm PT
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Too funny! I made a 60/40 parka...didn't end up using it much. I will say that these stupid kits started me sewing though, much to the demise of my mothers sewing maching.
Then came the bat-hammock, but bags, rain fly's and eventually with an industrial sewing machine to haul bags, packs and even a portaledge.
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Gene
Social climber
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Aug 21, 2010 - 05:53pm PT
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Loved Frostline. Found them foolproof. I still have my 60/40 parka, but, alas, either it has shrunk or I have expanded over the years.
g
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Aug 21, 2010 - 06:43pm PT
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eKat,.. that solves one (of many) mysteries about some of my past gear. I honestly don't remember selling it to Doug but that seems reasonable. That is a nice piece of equipage! Wish I still had it... I don't think anyone makes one anymore.
And Doug... If he were her on ST this place would be a full-on laugh riot. That man could make me spit milk out of my nose within minutes of being with him. We once did the Casaval Ridge on Shasta and he was in charge of food supplies. At the end of the day I looked forward to a nice dinner ion the windy ridge. Doug pulls out a handful of McDonald's ketchup packets. THAT... was dinner and breakfast! After topping out we each grabbed a single ski and skied down Avalanche Gulch. Needless to say Doug just tucked in at the top of Red Banks and did not stop until it flattened out. He was a speck while I was still trying to figure out how to turn a single ski with a Jensen pack full of ketchup packets on my back.
Did you ever hear how he attempted to disappear into the wilderness so his "assigned government follower" would lose track of him?
And then there were the waterfall ice climbing boots he made by fiber-glassing knee-high front panels to a pair of Scott rear-entry boots so that he had 3-foot tall stiff ice boots that relieved all sense of leg strain. The man was a wonderful and full-on crazed man!
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rich sims
Trad climber
co
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Aug 21, 2010 - 07:25pm PT
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I still have booties and a vest I sewed plus the jacket my girl friend now wife sewed for me.
I did not know what I was getting myself into.
Still laugh remembering the day I drove away from Mel's sewing machines.
I had just bought my fourth and first brand new sewing machine.
I was sitting at a stop light 1979 when it hit me I had just spent $2,300 on the sewing machine and I was taking it to the shop in a truck I bought for $1,200 boy them was some fun times......
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flakyfoont
Trad climber
carsoncity nv
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Aug 21, 2010 - 09:26pm PT
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My frostline vest lasted through a decade of abuse. fortunatly my bad hairdo dident
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Aug 21, 2010 - 09:39pm PT
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Jeebus - now we REALLY know who the hippies were in our community.
Next you will be telling us about those righteous macrame plant hangers you used to make too.
:) ;)
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11worth
Trad climber
Leavenworth & Greenwater WA
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Aug 21, 2010 - 09:43pm PT
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Steve,
My wife made most of our gear from Frostline WBITD:
Sleeping bags
Tent
Jackets
Vests
Booties
Down jackets
I still have and wear my down jacket!!
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:10am PT
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I still have my Frostline down coat. Unfortunately, I can only claim the hood as my Make, the coat was my wife's successful attempt at wiggling into my heart. It worked and we're still together. My brother bought me a Feathered Friends ultralight waterproof Event fabric down coat (it was to help them out when they had that container of finished goods stolen - he ordered it ny coat November, they finished it in late June!) which outperforms the Frostline. I got it up to Coethedral in July last year and fortunately there was still snow to ease the late delivery pain.
So I'll probably have that Frostline down coat still in the closet when I pass away.
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bergbryce
Mountain climber
Oakland
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:48am PT
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I was super stoked when grandpa gave me his external pack, Snow Lion bag, some cool canister stove and his Frostline tent! I didn't know anything about it except it seemed a lot better than my pup tent.
It had an ungodly, rotten 70s polyester odor upon first inspection. I thought it wasn't a big deal but it was. Don't remember what happened to it but I never took it on a trip :-(
Does anyone offer kits like this these days?
I'm interested in sewing some of my own stuff, this would be a reasonable intro methinks...
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Gene
Social climber
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Aug 22, 2010 - 12:55am PT
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Snow Lion. I still have a couple of jackets from that crew. One on the first to go with sythetic fill. Good stuff.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:00pm PT
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Still have a vest, booties, and parka.
Great stuff, much missed.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:25pm PT
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I didn't sew, but my mother did a great job
on my rain chaps. . .
(I wuz back in the east, then). . .
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2010 - 02:47pm PT
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Frostline Fashion Show!
Post up some photos folks!
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bmacd
climber
Relic Hominid
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:54pm PT
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gortex rain jacket, my wall hammock, gaitors, rain pants, rain poncho, knickers from wool army pants, stuff sacks, gear slings, chalk bags, etc etc etc
maybe I should have started a gear company back in the late 70's
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Aug 22, 2010 - 02:57pm PT
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Frostline vest sewed by my aunt for my grandpa sometime in the 70s? Vest is likely older than I am.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 22, 2010 - 03:31pm PT
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Evening Length Biviwear...LOL
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OlympicMtnBoy
climber
Seattle
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Aug 22, 2010 - 03:40pm PT
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Does anyone offer kits like this these days?
I'm interested in sewing some of my own stuff, this would be a reasonable intro methinks...
Not as much with climbers anymore, but a few of the ultralight backpacking folks make their own stuff still. ThruHiker has some kits for down jackets, vests, sleeping quilts, etc although I haven't personally made anything.
http://www.thru-hiker.com/kits/
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 27, 2010 - 11:13am PT
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Booty call Bump!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 27, 2010 - 11:25am PT
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Met my ex at an outdoor goods show - she was working for Frostline! LOL!
Of course, since I worked for the Evil Empire I didn't want for much but I
did sew a set of bike panniers.
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Jay Wood
Trad climber
Fairfax, CA
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Aug 27, 2010 - 12:06pm PT
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Yeah, I made some stuff, and my mother made some stuff.
Windbreaker, booties, down jacket, vest. Maybe more.
Great intro to sewing. I made a bunch of other stuff, too- packs, panniers, tarps, clothes, and customizing gear.
I think the down jacket, and maybe the booties still exist.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Aug 27, 2010 - 12:25pm PT
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I sewed a sleeping bag and (with my mother's help) a down vest in 1969. I used them both for more than ten years, and would have used the vest longer except that I made the mistake of carrying a car battery in it, and empirically discovered what battery acid does to ripstop nylon.
John
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OlympicMtnBoy
climber
Seattle
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Aug 27, 2010 - 12:27pm PT
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Is there ever a good reason to carry a car battery in your sleeping bag?
Edit: I meant vest. Same question though.
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Captain...or Skully
Big Wall climber
Transporter Room 2
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Aug 27, 2010 - 08:09pm PT
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Uh, probably not.
Yeesh.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2010 - 02:01pm PT
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Walkingfoot Bump!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 12, 2010 - 01:19pm PT
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For a fistful of down!
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Larry
Trad climber
Bisbee
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Dec 13, 2010 - 12:08pm PT
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Down booties and 60/40 parka while still in high school. I tackled some other project, maybe a down parka, that was too much for me. Sold it in partially completed form.
I was wearing that parka on a second ascent of a route I put up on Lankin Dome. During the hike in, I'd picked up a LARGE shell casing that seemed to be from aerial target practice. I must have been taking a harder variation, because I fell, and the casing wore a hole in the breast pocket. It fell out and tinged all the way down the slabs.
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Klimmer
Mountain climber
San Diego
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Dec 13, 2010 - 01:04pm PT
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I'll admit it. I'm a closet sewer.
Made a Frost-line down vest when I was in Middle School (Jr. high).
I also designed my own Gore-tex bivy sack and sewed it. Bomb-proof. Still use it even today.
Why doesn't REI et al. still sell Gore-Tex and other materials for DIY projects? A-16 used to also.
UFO here in San Diego is a great out-let for nylon materials.
It's a blast to design, sew, and use your own gear. Very cool in a nerdy kinda way.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Dec 13, 2010 - 02:26pm PT
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Is there ever a good reason to carry a car battery in your sleeping bag?
Edit: I meant vest. Same question though.
I was wearing the vest, carrying my old battery to the gas station in the Meadows because it was about 12 degrees and my car wouldn't start.
To follow up on MH's question, I sewed a couples of haulbags, a hammock, several butt bags (aka belay seats) and quite a few packs and bicycle bags on my mother's sewing machine -- which worked well enough afterward for her to sew my sisters' wedding and bridesmaids' dresses. It was a very sturdy (and expensive, I'm sure) Singer.
I still sew packs on my wife's Pfaff -- thus far to no ill effects, other than an occasional broken needle or explosion of imprecations from me.
John
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2011 - 10:25pm PT
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Do It Yerself Bump!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Still have a bag with extra down. Can't zip it up unless it is really f'ing cold :-)
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nature
climber
2006 Toyota Tacoma Wherever US, 00000
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This post makes me feel young.
Thanks!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 8, 2012 - 08:22pm PT
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Grandma's Cottage Industry Bump!
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neverwas
Mountain climber
ak
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I think my self-sewn sleeping bag was a FrostLine kit, built on Doug Buchanon's Singer Featherweight in the Sandvik House. Still using it, even sans zipper, helped to keep us nearly warm last fall in the Upper Mustang.
Doug pretty much sewed everything he wore or used on that machine, as did many of his compadres. I don't remember Doug sewing from kits, but it could've happened. The machine built plenty of packs, harnesses, parkas,
tents, early wingsuits, no end of stuff. RIP Doug!
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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The real question being how many of us wrecked our mother's sewing machines
I wrecked my wife's
That still comes up occasionally 40 years later.
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squishy
Mountain climber
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I tracked down the company in 2008 or 9, they were still around and sent me a catalog...
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throwpie
Trad climber
Berkeley
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What I wanted was a greasy Lionel Terrey down parka with duct tape patches all over it just like my heroes at Degnan's Dorms, but had to settle for a Frostline kit. Never went anywhere cold enough to really need it though.
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Steven Amter
climber
Washington, DC
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Feb 13, 2012 - 04:55pm PT
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I still have my Frostline 60/40 storm parka from 1976. It's in surprisingly decent shape. I especially loved the full back cargo pocket - it was like having another backpack.
And hey! I actually have a Lionel Terray Everest expedition parka that I found in 1976 melting out of an old avalanche in the Colorado Rockies (no climber attached).
I still have a Snow Lion heavy weight parka I used to love.
Does anyone still have their Supergators and original Patagonia Ultima Thule frameless pack?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 13, 2012 - 05:07pm PT
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It'll be a cold day in you-know-where before I chuck my Supergaitors!
I didn't sew any booties but I did sew some Frostline panniers.
I met my ex at an outdoor show where she was doing some demo sewing for Frostline!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2012 - 11:07pm PT
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Nice use of 1/2" tubular!
Wrapped to remove most of that insulation value. LOL
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 13, 2012 - 11:36pm PT
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Steve, 1/2" flat - lighter and ties better knots. That system also distributed
the pressure very evenly. I never had a problem with that 'lash-up' and
my feet were always too hot anyway.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2012 - 11:53pm PT
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Nice!
So the knot ended up in the top wrap after the whole show snugged up?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Feb 14, 2012 - 12:04am PT
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Yes, plus you can see that you get a little bonus ankle support. It was
actually a sweet system. If I recall correctly it was Larry Penberthy's idea.
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Gal
Trad climber
a semi lucid consciousness
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Feb 14, 2012 - 12:05am PT
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I want a Frostline Kit-sounds pretty cool!!!!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Feb 14, 2012 - 12:23am PT
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My whole family had frosine vests and booties my sister in law used to make. She would buy extra down and overstuff them!
Conrad I still have my snow lion expedition double down jacket, and my snow lion limited edition -30 degree sleeping bag. The jacket is still warm, but the bag has baffle issues.
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Paul Martzen
Trad climber
Fresno
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Feb 14, 2012 - 01:07am PT
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I had a nice frostline vest that I loved. I used it as a pillow one night on the Lost Arrow direct. I sat up to put it on, but the wind whipped it away in an instant. I watched it flutter down in the moonlight and I felt not only really cold, but very sad. Felt pretty stupid too. But then just really cold.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 31, 2013 - 11:36am PT
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Do it yourself bump!
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FGD135
Social climber
Boulder Canyon Colorado
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Mar 31, 2013 - 12:37pm PT
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I still own a Frostline 60/40 shell mountain parka that I bought as a kit on sale at Holubar in Boulder in 1979. This was when the Holubar shop was over on 30th, with Neptune's directly across the street, where Christy Sports is now located.
My now ex-wife sewed the kit for me, and the parka still fits just fine. It's amazing now to think that 60/40 cloth was seemingly so high tech.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 21, 2017 - 06:29pm PT
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Bump for more self reliant days...
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johntp
Trad climber
socal
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Oct 21, 2017 - 08:23pm PT
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Ha! My mom sewed me some frostline down booties back in the late seventies. She never forgave me.....
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Oct 21, 2017 - 10:45pm PT
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self reliant?
I remember foraging down the lower west side of Manhattan when there were still places that made clothing and other things out of cloth. The people there were so helpful, and we purchased scraps for pennies on the dollar. Enough to suit us up for outside.
We didn't have much money, we had to make stuff "out of whole cloth," it seemed as if having that stuff was a fiction too far for us to make into reality.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2017 - 09:18am PT
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My first sewing project wasn't a Frostline kit but a big haulbag made out of Cordura bought from the Summit Hut in Tucson. Dave Baker graciously let me use his machine to do the deed and the big red garbage can served me well with a few patches here and there on all of my wall climbs.
Strange as it seems, nobody sold haul bags BITD until Gramicci offered his zip top version. Folks improvised with varying results...
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Crazy Bat
Sport climber
Birmingham, AL & Seweanee, TN
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Oct 22, 2017 - 11:06pm PT
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I made two parkas, a day pack, modified a backpack for a different frame and made a sleeping bag. I still have the backpack and the sleeping bag. I still use the sleeping bag even though sone of the down has become a clump.
I had feathers flying in my room for a month after makeing the sleeping bag. LOL
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Oct 23, 2017 - 05:39am PT
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I used to sew a bunch of my stuff... one of my first projects was a "high tech" single wall tarp tent. Not unlike some of the super-light tents popular these days.... but mine wasn't light. ha
And I bought one of the very first Lowe expedition packs, and proceeded to put in a sleeping bag section in the bottom and a removable floor. I met some Lowe related guy hitching up to Alaska and he was quite impressed with my design. Later they followed suit.
Other stuff included rain pants, gators, ponchos...
But I was so poor I never could afford an official Frostline kit, though I spent considerable time reading their catalogues.
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