Rivendell Mountain Works, Jensen Pack, Bombshelter Tent

Hi, my name is Don Wittenberger, and I'm a 60-year-old retired climber living in Seattle, Washington. I acquired the assets of Rivendell Mountain Works from the federal bankruptcy court in 1981. Due to the demands of career, raising a family, limited funds, etc., I didn't put the Rivendell products back into production. However, I want you all to know the patterns survived and are in my possession. For several years, I've worked with Eric Hardee of Monroe, Washington, and Eric has begun making a few Jensen Packs on a custom basis. To contact Eric about a pack, search for his web site by googling "Rivendell Mountain Works." At this point, we can't make tents yet, as we would need a supplier for the poles and have to invest a considerable sum in the special-order fabrics required. I can't promise the tent will ever be available again, but I hope so, although at best that's still a few years away. But please rest assured that Eric and I are hoping we can bring the classic RMW products back.

Hope you can do it--that was one classic tent!

Hi Don, Good to hear that the business is up and running. I happen to have one of Eric's Giant Jensen packs and the workmanship on the product is as or good or better than the original line (I also have two of the original packs via ebay). Absolutely top notch quality and the pack carries like a dream. I strongly recommend anyone buying one of the packs, you will be quite pleased with the product.

Best of luck getting the bombshelter back on line. I bought one via this forum last year and that is another excellent piece of gear.

I hope the business continues to grow and be successful.

The link to the website is here. http://rivendellmountainworks.com/

Dear Don: Just read a write-up on you that Bruce Johnson did--I didn't know that you had started up Yak Works years ago! I still have one of your early (leather label) Yak Paks I bought new at a ski shop at Government Camp--I still think it was a better design than the Jensen because of the larger capacity & better harness system. Ever consider making those again? If I could ever find one of your zip-on extenders that was an option on the Yak Paks, it would be complete! The old gear was the best gear!

Yes, I started Yak Works and designed the Yakpak. When I sold my interest in the company, I did not get the Yakpak patterns or design rights. I walked away with Rivendell instead. Theoretically, there's nothing to stop me from, say, integrating some of the Yakpak's feature in an upsized Jensen Pack, but Eric and I will take things one step at a time -- slowly and carefully. Our ambitions do not extend beyond a very small custom operation selling by word-of-mouth. I've been the big-company route and don't want to do it again. No investors or financial partners this time, either. The important thing is I kept the patterns, kept the sewing equipment, and kept the dream.

One more comment re Yakpak: I own the patent on the shoulder strap harness, and Yak Works only had a license to use it, so there's no legal impediment to using it on Jensen Packs if customers are interested.

Don, your comments make for an interesting idea. If one were to use the Yak Pack suspension/shoulder straps you could make a one-size-fits-all pack due to the adjustablility of the Yak Pack's suspension. This may make pack production simpler as now the packs are specific as to size.

I was completely amazed when I read on Bruce's website that you developed the Yak Pack without knowledge of the Rivendell Jensen. I had assumed that the Jensen had come first and you took the basic Jensen soft pack idea and modified the suspension. I think what lead to my assumption is that I knew of Rivendell many years before I had ever heard of the Yak Works, in spite of both companies having started about the same time.

Did you design the clothing line as well?

Alan: I had always figured that the Yak Pak was first, but I'm in the Northwest where Don made the gear, with the greater availability and exposure of the product--Backpacker's glowing reviews on the Jensen seemed to give the idea that it was first. Your idea of using the Yak Pak's suspension on the Jensen I think could be a winner--with the use of the carabiners it makes the shoulder harness a little heavy, but it has great movement for comfort!

Don: Is there any way of customizing a Giant Jensen with your Yak Pak suspension? Or is that something that would create some production issues? I would be interested in a new Jensen if it incorporated your harness!

Don - I had a Yak Pak back in the early 80's. I was in Michigan and then moved around a few times and my ex-wife sold it a yard sale. :( It was simply the best pak I ever had!!! Glad to see you back in business

I'm fortunate enough to have a Yak Pak in-frame in addition to two of the soft packs. So many packs, so little time...

I did not design most of the Yak Works clothing line. The one-piece rainsuit and a very light rain jacket made of 3/4 oz. coated ripstop were products of my fertile mind. A small Seattle company called Rhiannon was the source of some early YW apparel designs, but YW had a staff designer and pattern grader, and its ultimate apparel line was designed in-house.

Next time I see Eric, I'll ask him about adapting the Yakpak suspension to Jensens. Good chance he'll go for it, as he makes the packs on a custom basis. It shouldn't require any modification to the patterns, but we'd have to figure out exactly where to attach the suspension to the pack and where to locate pivot points, as this is critical. I'm very curious and I certainly support the idea of trying it on a prototype and putting it in the hands of a customer who will give it a good testing.

Eric Hardee, by the way, is a very interesting fellow. About 25 years ago, he and his wife bought property in the Cascade foothills above Marysville, east of Everett. Their land is on a steep forested hillside and they're way the heck out there; after you leave the paved road you've still got 6 miles of dirt road. Using trees from the site, they built a 2,500 square foot log home. I hadn't been up there for several years, so I paid them a visit this spring to check on their progress, and their home, while still a work in progress, is simply breathtaking. They couldn't get any heavy equipment up there, so everything had to be done by hand; the logs -- and they are big logs -- were moved by stringing cables between trees. They had the wisdom to take photos as the project proceeded, and have a photo album of the history of the construction of their house that can only be described as indescribable and irreplaceable. Eric set aside one room for a glass-topped cutting table and he has a couple of my sewing machines up there, including the tacker that sews on the barbell pack patches that I brought here from Victor, Idaho. Needless to say there's no electricity up there, and he has to run a generator to power the machines to make the packs. Eric's packs are NOT made in some dingy urban sweat shop; they are truly "cottage crafted" by an elf working in a lovely cottage in a real forest!

My personal dream was building a wood sailboat and naming it "Rivendell of Seattle," but making a living got in the way, and I won't live long enough to realize my dream. But unlike most of us, Eric and his adventurous wife dared to reach for their dream, and pulled it off.

If anyone needs a mint-condition set of plans for a wood sailboat, I'll entertain offers. I paid $1,000 for the plans, which include the designer's permission to built one boat. This boat was designed by the late Al Mason and is a 37-foot ketch with a great cabin aft, 11-foot beam and 5 1/2-foot draft, displacing about 23,000 lbs. All you need is some property with a couple dozen big ol' fir trees on it, several years to let the fir air dry, appropriate tools, a pickup full of discarded tire weights, a strong back, some helpers, woodworking skills of the highest order, and more money than any of us have -- and you'll be a sea captain.

There's a schematic drawing of it in a book called "Living Aboard" by Jan Moeller, which you can find on Amazon.com.

I erred as to beam; which is 12 1/2 feet, not 11 feet. This is what you'd call a full-displacement offshore cruising ketch, which means it is studily built and can carry a heavy load of stores for extended cruising. In the early 1980s, I tracked down Al Mason and bought the plans directly from him.

I love sailboats but ended up never owning one or learning to sail because of Wittenberger's Sailboat Conundrum, which works like this: If you work hard enough to afford one, you don't have time to use it; and if you have time to sail, you can't afford to.

The Wenker collolary to the "Wittenberger's Sailboat Conundrum" is that if you are motivated to work hard enough to afford the boat, you may in fact purchase the boat, but will still be too busy working to enjoy the boat. The too highly motivated can afford the toys, but still lack the time to enjoy them.

Dear Don: Any news of a prototype of a Jensen with the Yak Pak shoulder harness incorporated into it? Did Eric think it was a possibility? Thanks!

Don,
Were you the same Yak Works company that sold sleeping bags with zip on Themorest bottoms custom made to the bag? Are they stii available? I bought one in 1982 and loved it. Alas the time has come that it needs a new bottom. Can they still be bought? If not, can you repair the old one as it has sprung an unknown leak. Thanks, Jonathan

I bought a Bomb Shelter from the Foggy Mountain Shop in Juneau, AK in 1977 or 78. I love the little tent and used it for many trips into the Alaska Range while attending the University of Alaska from 79-83. Have also used it backpacking in Idaho and Alaska many times since then. I have made 12 moves around the world starting in 1985 thru today--where I am presently in Helena, MT. I am preping for a backpack trip in the the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area in Idaho next month. I dug the tent out the other day and, alas, the fly is missing! I will keep checking back hoping for the day when I might be able to get a replacement fly. Thanks for a wonderful product--one in just over 300. I never knew!

VR

DR