Otzie the man in the ice

[mudd turtle]

Saw something about Otzie ,the man found burried in the ice in the Italian Alps. I also saw some discripition of his back pack and would like to build one for myself. There wasn't much of a discripition as there wasn't much of it found but I am hopeing someone may direct me to where I might get a better discripition and picture of it so I can try to copy it. Thanks for any help. Mudd Turtle.

 

[William O.]

Check out this frame and maybe that will get you going in the right direction; http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/262005/post/new/#NEW

 

[William O.]

Check out this frame and maybe that will get you going in the right direction; http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/262005/post/new/#NEW[/quote]

I also found these; http://www.primitiveways.com/pack_frame.html -mentions the Ice Man's pack and has a diagram
http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/make-a-backpack.aspx http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/33205 http://www.backpackinglight.com/cg...ums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=30835 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5vZA9wGEQc http://www.ehow.com/how_6879883_make-own-backpack-frame.html

 

[hobowonkanobe]

Otzis' pack was made of Larch and beech. 2 woods that are generally a pain to find in the states. Also, most are either none too happy to try to steam Larch into an arch for the pack. I went hunting for the same info bout 10 years ago and found this to be the best contemporary option. I did it for a friend so he cld convert his day pack into a full frame pack. Worked like a charm.
http://www.primitiveways.com/pack_frame.html

 

[Sperit de bois]

Larch(tamarack,Larix laricina) and Beech cover the state of Maine.Larch has lots of pitch in it and beech isn't all that easy to work.Larch is "brittle" in that it doesn't steam or bend very well.
Larch is easy to find in the winter,,it is the one conifer that turns yellow and drops it's "leaves",Beech on the other hand holds it leaves and is food for deer in hard winters here.
The site listing ,the "pack" looks more like a "pack frame"
I have a friend who is an Anthropologist,I will contact him for a picture/description,, if anyone can find it he might.

 

[Sperit de bois]

Might want to check out the JAN/FEB issue of "Back Woods Man" there is an article in there on a pack frame,something like you were asking about.

 

[Greyfeather]

You may be interested to know there has been recent discussion of this "pack frame" actually being the remnant of a snowshoe.

 

[Birdman]

yepper thats a pretty decent article, gives ya all the basics n lets ya play from there---well worth the cost of the magazine, course I think Backwoodsman is one of the best rags out there for folks like us

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You may be interested to know there has been recent discussion of this "pack frame" actually being the remnant of a snowshoe.

Hmmmm..., :hmm: ..., then that prompts the question of which came first, the pack frame or the snowshoe? I wonder if the snowshoe descended from the pack, or the pack was born from the snowshoe?

LD

 

[BillinOregon]

Mudd Turtle, Oetzi has fascinated me as well. According to the official Web site in Italy, his frame was made of hazel, with two larch cross members. Fibers from the goatskin pack he carried were found adhering to the frame:

http://www.iceman.it/en/node/283

Metric dimensions are: hazel frame, 2 meters long; larch slats 30 and 40 centimeters wide. frame apparently bound with grass twine.

 

[BillinOregon]

By the way, the larch crosspieces are shaped into tenons at each end to fit into mortises in the hazel frame.

 

[hobowonkanobe]

:redface: oops, thought and wrote it as Larch and Beech. Thanks for the correction.