Update + Foam ALICE pad tutorial:
A decent amount of developments have happened since I last posted (more so recently). I've got good and bad news.
First the bad.
I axed the Wasteland Smoke kit from the project. I did this for two reasons. Firstly, UPS has been a nightmare to work with through all of it. It arrived here in the states, but then stayed in limbo at the Louisville Kentucky distribution center, then their tracker said they lost it. I thought that alone would be the end of it, and I would get a refund and buy another one, but about a month later, I got an E-Mail stating that it was in my state, and was expected in a few days. However, upon checking the UPS tracker, I learned that I'd need to pay $200+ in import tariffs. I had a feeling that these Trump tariffs would affect the delivery in some fashion, but I wasn't expecting this. So, I decided that I'm going to refuse the package. Paul Gijsen thankfully refunded my money. I'm praying that this kind of headache won't affect my GPStar kit, which still hasn't shipped yet...
The second reason that I no longer desire it is due to the sheer amount of maintenance that the kit would require. I'm not well versed in the use of smoke/fog machines, but I did skim through the manual PDF that Paul sent me when I ordered it. After doing so, I feel as though I'm not gonna be able to use it often in safe surroundings, and that it would be too maintenance-intensive to warrant it's inclusion. Like I said, I'm not well versed with smoke machines, so I don't know if these are things that are of concern with other kits or just the Wasteland ones. If they're not, then I'd gladly buy a different kit and install it. I'm not writing this to personally attack Paul and Wasteland Industries, but just to "vent" a little, and ask for advice on how to progress.
With that being said, here's the good news.
Yesterday I completed the back padding for the Pack! At first I was on the fence on whether or not I wanted to make it, as I initially wasn't the biggest fan of how they looked on the screen-used Packs, but eventually I caved in and did so. Here's a tutorial on how to make one for yourself.
First off, for the Gaffer's Tape, I went with Blick brand 2" x 30 yard tape. While It does have the white backing and thus isn't kosher, I'd say it doesn't matter, despite the concerns of it showing. If it were to start peeling off, which was the concern with the prop team for Frozen Empire, I'd say it'd be better to patch/replace it anyways (even then, you don't see a whole lot of the pad once it's on your back).
![Image]()
For the foam, I just used 3" memory foam that I got at Home Depot. Again, I don't think having the same materials as what was used on the screen-used HASP Packs is necessary, but if it bugs you, the Hero HASPs used 2" thick polyester batting material (screenshot courtesy of Ted West's video on how he made his padding).
![Image]()
https://youtu.be/ECwrMLDw4-0?si=cOU3uF715Lc5giOO
Finally, I used 4" by 2" Velcro strips to mount the pad to the motherboard. To be honest though, these may or may not be necessary, as the pad already sits pretty securely between the ALICE frame bars, but whatever. If you do decide to use them, you should put them on the top and bottom left and right corners of the back side of the pad, depending on the position of your speakers, access ports, battery packs, etc.
![Image]()
Before I say how I made it, there's a few additional things that should be mentioned.
*If you're going for an accurate HASP pack look, you need to use and LC-2 AlICE Frame. This is so that the pad can rest behind it exactly how it does on the screen-used ones. It probably is possible to use an LC-1, but it wouldn't have the same look, and you'd want to make sure to use proper spacers.
*If you do use an LC-2, you're gonna want the rear-horizontal bar to be flush with the motherboard with next-to no gap. For me, that meant cutting my 1" spacers down to 1/2".
*Make sure that there is clearance for your neck roll (side-note: I'm using a normal sized neck roll, courtesy of SirNickJustice on Etsy. The Afterlife/Frozen Empire rolls seem to be "jumbo-sized". I didn't want it to be super noticeable from the front, since mine is an 80% sized pack). And before anyone says it, yes, I know there are 2 different heights of the pad seen with the different Packs. I just chose to model mine after the shorter one.
With all that out of the way, here's the tutorial:
Firstly, I cut the memory foam to size. In my case, that was 17.5"-18" by 11". Once that was done, I made a cut down the middle of the backside in order to accommodate the middle-vertical bar. The bottom of the pad is going to rest on the angled bars behind the kidney-pad.
![Image]()
Now onto the taping process. I started out by taping the sides of the pad vertically, then going over the rest hoziontally, with the two ends meeting at that rear groove. This part was probably the trickiest, as the tape didn't grip the greatest to the foam. However, this was resolved once I added another layer of tape, this time vertically. The ends met at the back, and oftentimes overlapped (same goes for the first layer). That being said, try to make them as equal and straight as possible for the best look.
![Image]()
![Image]()
Finally, add your Velcro strips, and boom, you have yourself a HASP Pack pad!! I think mine turned out very nice, and it feels very solid and comfortable on my back after test-wearing it. I am a little bit unsure of how durable it will be, though, considering that gaffer tape is not meant for permanent applications, but I'm thinking that as long as I store my Pack outside of direct UV light, and am gentle when removing/attaching it to the motherboard, I should be fine. I'll post updates in case anything happens.
![Image]()
![Image]()
A decent amount of developments have happened since I last posted (more so recently). I've got good and bad news.
First the bad.
I axed the Wasteland Smoke kit from the project. I did this for two reasons. Firstly, UPS has been a nightmare to work with through all of it. It arrived here in the states, but then stayed in limbo at the Louisville Kentucky distribution center, then their tracker said they lost it. I thought that alone would be the end of it, and I would get a refund and buy another one, but about a month later, I got an E-Mail stating that it was in my state, and was expected in a few days. However, upon checking the UPS tracker, I learned that I'd need to pay $200+ in import tariffs. I had a feeling that these Trump tariffs would affect the delivery in some fashion, but I wasn't expecting this. So, I decided that I'm going to refuse the package. Paul Gijsen thankfully refunded my money. I'm praying that this kind of headache won't affect my GPStar kit, which still hasn't shipped yet...
The second reason that I no longer desire it is due to the sheer amount of maintenance that the kit would require. I'm not well versed in the use of smoke/fog machines, but I did skim through the manual PDF that Paul sent me when I ordered it. After doing so, I feel as though I'm not gonna be able to use it often in safe surroundings, and that it would be too maintenance-intensive to warrant it's inclusion. Like I said, I'm not well versed with smoke machines, so I don't know if these are things that are of concern with other kits or just the Wasteland ones. If they're not, then I'd gladly buy a different kit and install it. I'm not writing this to personally attack Paul and Wasteland Industries, but just to "vent" a little, and ask for advice on how to progress.
With that being said, here's the good news.
Yesterday I completed the back padding for the Pack! At first I was on the fence on whether or not I wanted to make it, as I initially wasn't the biggest fan of how they looked on the screen-used Packs, but eventually I caved in and did so. Here's a tutorial on how to make one for yourself.
First off, for the Gaffer's Tape, I went with Blick brand 2" x 30 yard tape. While It does have the white backing and thus isn't kosher, I'd say it doesn't matter, despite the concerns of it showing. If it were to start peeling off, which was the concern with the prop team for Frozen Empire, I'd say it'd be better to patch/replace it anyways (even then, you don't see a whole lot of the pad once it's on your back).
For the foam, I just used 3" memory foam that I got at Home Depot. Again, I don't think having the same materials as what was used on the screen-used HASP Packs is necessary, but if it bugs you, the Hero HASPs used 2" thick polyester batting material (screenshot courtesy of Ted West's video on how he made his padding).
https://youtu.be/ECwrMLDw4-0?si=cOU3uF715Lc5giOO
Finally, I used 4" by 2" Velcro strips to mount the pad to the motherboard. To be honest though, these may or may not be necessary, as the pad already sits pretty securely between the ALICE frame bars, but whatever. If you do decide to use them, you should put them on the top and bottom left and right corners of the back side of the pad, depending on the position of your speakers, access ports, battery packs, etc.
Before I say how I made it, there's a few additional things that should be mentioned.
*If you're going for an accurate HASP pack look, you need to use and LC-2 AlICE Frame. This is so that the pad can rest behind it exactly how it does on the screen-used ones. It probably is possible to use an LC-1, but it wouldn't have the same look, and you'd want to make sure to use proper spacers.
*If you do use an LC-2, you're gonna want the rear-horizontal bar to be flush with the motherboard with next-to no gap. For me, that meant cutting my 1" spacers down to 1/2".
*Make sure that there is clearance for your neck roll (side-note: I'm using a normal sized neck roll, courtesy of SirNickJustice on Etsy. The Afterlife/Frozen Empire rolls seem to be "jumbo-sized". I didn't want it to be super noticeable from the front, since mine is an 80% sized pack). And before anyone says it, yes, I know there are 2 different heights of the pad seen with the different Packs. I just chose to model mine after the shorter one.
With all that out of the way, here's the tutorial:
Firstly, I cut the memory foam to size. In my case, that was 17.5"-18" by 11". Once that was done, I made a cut down the middle of the backside in order to accommodate the middle-vertical bar. The bottom of the pad is going to rest on the angled bars behind the kidney-pad.
Now onto the taping process. I started out by taping the sides of the pad vertically, then going over the rest hoziontally, with the two ends meeting at that rear groove. This part was probably the trickiest, as the tape didn't grip the greatest to the foam. However, this was resolved once I added another layer of tape, this time vertically. The ends met at the back, and oftentimes overlapped (same goes for the first layer). That being said, try to make them as equal and straight as possible for the best look.
Finally, add your Velcro strips, and boom, you have yourself a HASP Pack pad!! I think mine turned out very nice, and it feels very solid and comfortable on my back after test-wearing it. I am a little bit unsure of how durable it will be, though, considering that gaffer tape is not meant for permanent applications, but I'm thinking that as long as I store my Pack outside of direct UV light, and am gentle when removing/attaching it to the motherboard, I should be fine. I'll post updates in case anything happens.
Statistics: Posted by TriBumperTroglodyte — October 2nd, 2025, 10:14 pm