On a hiking trip in Alaska in 1920, Seattle resident Lloyd Nelson used a borrowed Indian pack to carry his gear. The pack was sealskin stretched over willow sticks, and proved to be uncomfortable to say the least. He thought he could design a better one, and thought there would be a market for one among boy scouts and outdoorsmen.
He designed a wooden frame that had a canvas panel stretched across it. The canvas rested the weight of the pack load on the user's back, keeping the wooden frame from gouging the user's back. He got a U.S. patent on the pack, which Eric Nicholson found out is U.S. Patent 1,505,661. Thanks, Eric!
He marketing the product by visiting every sporting goods store between San Diego and Seattle, and within a few years sales began to pick up. He sold his patent rights to Trager, the company making his canvas bags, and shortly after the sale, he got an order for 500 packs for the Forest Service, and another 500 unit order shortly followed.
By modern standards, the pack is cruel and unusual torture, but compared to the alternatives at the time, it was a big improvement.
My father-in-law carried a Trapper Nelson pack on a hike from the Hell's Canyon of the Snake River, to the town of Riggins, over the Seven Devils mountains. This was in the early forties, before WWII, and they carried canned food, an axe, a handgun, and other gear that made their pack weight extreme. I inherited his Trapper Nelson, which belongs in a museum now.
I did a little poking around....the patent is 1,505,661.
I enjoy the blog...daily.
Posted by: Eric Nicholson | January 13, 2005 at 03:57 PM
I have a Trapper Nelson that was made by Jones Tent and Awning of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. They no longer make them. My Trapper Nelson is almost as new, complete with canvas detachable pack. Is there a market for such an item as I have a second one without the detachable pack, and at 73 do not anticipate using them as before?
Posted by: Bill Heywood | February 16, 2005 at 06:34 PM
I have a Trapper Nelson that was made by Jones Tent and Awning of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. They no longer make them. My Trapper Nelson is almost as new, complete with canvas detachable pack. Is there a market for such an item as I have a second one without the detachable pack, and at 73 do not anticipate using them as before?
Posted by: Bill Heywood | February 16, 2005 at 06:41 PM
A good way to determine market valve is to check ebay.
In fact there is Trapper Nelson back-pac for bid now....going price $9.99.
Posted by: Eric | February 17, 2005 at 08:01 AM
An old trapper nelson would be a great decor item for an outdoor store or Boy Scout office, such as for hanging on a wall. I don't think they have reached museum status yet, but are getting close.
Posted by: Bob Shaver | February 17, 2005 at 08:36 AM
Came across this site while researching Jones Tent & Awning. I have four pack boards. The first one I bought was a military one; board only, no bag. It's stored in the crawl space so cannot verify the brand at this moment. I bought my second one in Cranbrook this past summer. Again, it's the board only, Pioneer Brand Trapper Nelson Indian Pack Board by Jones Tent & Awning. The third one I bought on eBay this fall for $24 US (plus $18 US postage!) It is a Trager (Seattle, WA., USA)Trapper Nelson #2 complete with a light brown canvas bag and is in excellent condition. I got the last one, complete with bag, yesterday, as a Christmas gift from my daughter and grandson (but I actually bought it myself from Gorilla Surplus in Vancouver). It's the Pioneer Brand by JT&A, #3, apparently a Canadian military version. The canvas bag is green in colour. All the shoulder straps are canvas except for the military version which are nylon. There are other differences, particularly in how the bottom leather straps are secured. As for hanging them up for show, the bagless ones perhaps, but the other two will definitely see some use come next camping/hiking season. They're just too good-looking not to.
Posted by: Tony Broscomb | December 26, 2005 at 12:43 PM
Nice to see there are still some folks who appreciate the old Trapper Nelson Indian Packboard... Charles Trager was my great-grandfather, and George Trager was my grandfather, both of whom owned Trager Mfg. respectively.
A few points about the bag... it is the 1st example of an external frame pack to be massed produced for the market, and gave birth to the outdoor camping gear industry. Trager, and manufacturer of leather gloves and aprons for Klondike miners, was involved with the bag from the early stages; Trapper had come to Charles to help refine the manufacturing process and for a time it was a joint venture, but sales were slow and Trapper had a family to feed.
As the above story says, a very short time after the rights were transferred, major forest fires broke out in the west and orders came in from the US Forest Service, and later as far away as Abyssinian Water Development Comission. The Boy Scouts of America were also regular customers.
Largely unsung, George Trager bought the business from his father and proceeded to expand the whole industry. Most REI sleeping bags,packs and tents were Trager made until the 70's, as were products from Eddie Bauer, Roffe and the first Jansport pack was designed and stitched by George Trager. Trager was also a primary sponsor and supplier of equipment for Jim Whittaker's successful ascent of Mt. Everest in the early '60's.
I own the last official Trager-made Trapper Nelson that my grandfather and I assembled shortly before his death in 1986. I still use it with pride...
If anyione needs help indentifying the age of their Trager packboards, send me a photo of the label and I can give you a rough idea.
Posted by: Rick Trager | March 05, 2006 at 09:51 PM
I was just given a No.2 board Patent No.244902 by my Dr.s office. I find the board great after 3 major back surgerys, I am unable to use my other packs and am looking for the bag design that goes with this unit. Appears almost new can you tell me the year of this model? I want to get back into the overnighters, and this looks to be the answere to my prayers. Regards CI
Posted by: Craig Irving | May 06, 2006 at 11:54 AM
I looked up that patent number, and it is for a saccarine related product. Are you sure that is a patent number, and is it the right number? The only place I know to look for old packs or pack bags is ebay. Good luck. Bob
Posted by: | May 08, 2006 at 08:46 AM
Pursuant to my comments above and to cut a long story short, my interest in Jones Tent & Awning who made the Trager-type backpack was revived by a UK couple. I converted my research into a 24-page monograph.
Posted by: Tony Broscomb | May 12, 2007 at 06:00 PM
let me take a look at it, and I'll let you know if I'd like to publish all or parts of it. Illustrations would help. Bob
Posted by: | May 14, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Great info, thanks a lot!!! I wish I will have such a writing skills.
Posted by: PODO | May 19, 2007 at 11:43 PM
I have a Trapper Nelson #3 that my grandfather gave me (he was a prospector and spent a lot of time in the interior of BC especially around Barkerville in the 1940s). I still use it exclusively and it routinely goes about 160 kilometers (or 100 miles for you US types) each summer and always in one long trip - the Boundary trails in Jasper being my favourites or a similar trip in the Willmore north of Jasper Park. I certainly don't understand the comments about torture or antique. It is a good working pack and is not hard to carry and I am no mountain man I assure you of that!
Posted by: John Mahon | June 16, 2007 at 11:59 PM
Hi Bob. Just caught your comment of May 14 but have no way of contacting you except this comment board. Re: the booklet - oddly enough, neither the Vancouver Museum (book shop), nor tourism board nor the historical society have shown any interest in my 'magnum opus' on Jones Tent and Awning, yet it was a 100 year old company that started right after the great fire. In the meantime, I came across another Trapper Nelson Indian Pack Board, but of the Pintail Brand made by a different company entirely (not Jones or Trager).
Posted by: Tony Broscomb | August 08, 2007 at 06:43 PM
I found the piece of paper I lost re: the other Trapper Nelson Pack Board. It was made by Edward Lipsett Ltd., a B.C. company that made camping equipment in the 1930s and 1940s. By 1954, that branch of the business was dropped. The Lipsett version is identical to the Jones Tent and Awning and Trager (Seattle) boards. Does anyone have a Pintail and/or know anything more about Lipsett Ltd?
Posted by: Tony Broscomb | August 11, 2007 at 06:17 PM
shaver@dykaslaw.com is my email address.
Posted by: | September 12, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Bill Heywood: I would be interested in purchasing those packs from you if you still have them. I have one that I use regularly but the frame is a little broken and it's just wearing out.
Anyway, drop me a note if you like at
charlesasargent@yahoo.com
thanks:)
Posted by: Charles Sargent | October 10, 2007 at 03:05 PM
Does anyone know of any plans available to build a "Trapper Nelson" or perhaps a similar pack board?
Posted by: Nate Carabello | October 17, 2007 at 02:47 PM
This is an outstanding pack, I came across one in the Seattle, Washington Goodwill Outlet store where things are bought by the pound and if the folks working there like you, you can get some insane deals. This pack with just a few minor tears that I patched and some light wear cost me $1.75. I used it a few months later for a two day hike near Bellingham, Washington. It was the highlight of conversation with the folks I came across on the trail. I ran into one old timer at the trailhead who remembered buying one of these new when he went into the Forestry Service. "It still gets the job done all these years later and after all the hell I put it through."
Posted by: Robert | November 24, 2007 at 11:24 AM
I came across one of these backpacks and wanted to know more about it. It is a Trapper Nelson Indian Pack Board manufactured by Chas. Trager. I was wondering if anyone knew the value or the age of the pack.
Posted by: Jonathan | November 28, 2007 at 09:24 PM
I have a TRAPPER NELSON'S Indian Pack Boards. Trager MFG. Co. Seattle 1, Washington.
Was wondering how old this could be. It is not the same dsign as shown here, but similar.
Posted by: Todd Abraham | November 30, 2007 at 09:06 PM
Jonathan and Todd. I have a "collection" of sorts, including one made by Jones Tent and Awning, Vancouver, BC. Another company, Edward Lipsett and Co, also of BC, made one. They are all identical in design to the Tragers. The Tragers can be dated and evaluated by the patent number and the design of the label. The best source of information for me has been eBay where they come up for auction from time-to time. I bought mine on eBay for $24 but they have gone for as much as $60. If I am correct, mine is a later model with the Patent #1505.661. The label depicts an Indian wearing a back pack. The bottom end of the shoulder straps are attached to a metal ring. One earlier ones, the label depicted a laughing Indian, a different patent number (I think) and the bottom of the shoulder straps were attached to the very bottom of the wooden frame. When set down, I think the bottom of the straps wore out from abrasion and that's why the switch to attaching the ends to a metal ring on the later model.
Posted by: johny_maple | December 01, 2007 at 09:48 AM
FWIW, there is a Trapper Nelson Indian Pack Board by Trager of Seattle now up for auction on eBay (December 10-16). This one has a red canvas bag which I had never seen until two of them were also on eBay about a month ago. The most notable feature I think is that it has a label I haven't seen before. Previous ones have been of an Indian wearing a pack board and walking left; and of a laughing Indian, head only. This one is face-on of an Indian wearing a feathered headdress. The seller thinks it's from the 1950s. There is no patent number.
Posted by: johny_maple | December 10, 2007 at 08:58 AM
I am interested in Trapper Nelson packs, can anyone tell me how many sizes and give the dimensions of the various models of these pack/boards that there are?
I am looking for one which would be large enough for a 2 to 3 day trip into the hills. Not sure what size it would be, a no.2, no3 or what.
If anyone has a larger one, would you care to part with it??
Posted by: Harry Leidy | March 21, 2008 at 02:11 PM
A #3 is what you would be looking for. The one I have in my collection was made for the Canadian military. Sorry, but you can't buy them any more (I got mine at Gorilla Surplus in Vancouver, BC) so mine's not for sale.
Posted by: johny_maple | May 07, 2008 at 04:49 PM