DIY Stuff Sack

What is the one item that backpackers can't get enough of? Stuff sacks! That's right, stuff sacks are those wonderful bags that keep our bags organized. Although putting things inside a bag, to put inside another bag, to possibly but inside another bag, may seem to be the actions of a lunatic (some city-dwellers would consider people that willingly forgo the comfort of their home as crazy), it is actually a very useful tactic to keeping your pack organized.

Although there are a myriad of different types of stuff sacks ranging from the high-end ultra-light ones (e.g. this one, or this one) that weigh less than an ounce, to the regular, run of the mill ones (e.g. this one) that weigh a couple of ounces. The problem with these is that, the high-end ones are expensive and the cheap ones are "heavy." So, what's the solution that trades time for money and sprinkles in a dash of fun? DIY, of course. The instructions below are for making silicon-nylon (silnylon) stuff sacks that are quite light and cheap. The 12L bag from the instructions below (8" wide by 16" deep) only weighs 5/8th of an ounce and cost me about $3 in materials (I bought about $12 worth of material, and with that I should be able to make at least 4 sacks.)