Webgear Vs Backpacks

[Cadet Idoni]

Is webgear better than backpacks for 24hr gear?  1 good thing about webgear is you can usually wear your 72hr gear over it. 
backpacks tend to carry more though...  and usually can carry a Camelbak.  My webgear can carry a Camelbak, but I don't know about others. 
But also for backpacks you'd have to stow it in your 72hr gear because you cant really wear it with it.

So this is just to see which is better.  or come up with other ways to carry 24hr gear

[Eclipse]

Assuming you have the choice (financially or otherwise) generally web gear or something with front pockets is better for the stuff you need to have handy like compass, flashlights, etc.

[lordmonar]

I have a backpack (camelback mule) for my 24 hour gear.....it allows you to cary more....I also have a web vest for my 24 hour gear.  My 72 hour hear goes into a large black roll around duffel bag......I'm not carrying any of that stuff farther then 100 ft from the van.

[Eclipse]

My 72 hour hear goes into a large black roll around duffel bag......I'm not carrying any of that stuff farther then 100 ft from the van.

Ditto base gear stays at base, and these days you get to the base in a truck Prius.

[Cadet Idoni]

I attached one of those woodland camo webgears (the one without the back stuff) and attached it to my A.L.I.C.E pack its beast

[Buzz]

Is webgear better than backpacks for 24hr gear? 

Yes.

PRO:

1)  You don't need to carry so much stuff that you would need a backpack.

2)  If you don't have room to carry a bunch of stuff that you don't need, you won't be tempted to carry it.

3)  Getting stuff out of web gear is a lot more convenient than fishing around in a backpack.

4)  The weight is distributed mostly onto your hips, rather than mostly onto your shoulders.


CON:

1)  Lower carry means more likely to hang up in bushes or end up in the water that you thought was only up to your knees.

2)  It moves more with your hip movement.

3)  Cheapie-junk web gear is uncomfortable and short-lived, and military-quality web gear is starting to get scarce in the pipeline and more expensive.  The best web gear is a combination of different eras -- you want the early H-type suspenders, the later plastic-buckle belt, and then whichever pouches and carriers suit your load.  It may be hard to find.

[Stonewall]

5 years as a cadet ground team member and almost 20 as a senior.  I've tried EVERYTHING under the sun from modified aircrew survival vests to Blackhawk MOLLE vests, and you know what I find myself returning to every time?  Old School LBE (with buttpack).  Same stuff I wore in the 80s as a cadet.  As I later became a GTL, I started sporting a 3-day pack with things like a VS-17 signal panel, poncho liner, ES documents and more food.  I've always used, and still use, the large ALICE pack, except for a few times when I experimented with the CFP-90 ruck, which isn't a bad alternative.

[ol'fido]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ :clap: :clap: :clap:

[kratclif]

I use a modular harness system designed for wildland firefighting:

http://www.larescue.com/Wildland.html

I have tried many different packs over the last 15 years or so and this is my favorite by far. Depending on what activity I'm doing I can wear just the harness and fanny pack and hydration bladder, or I can quickly attach the main pack to it as well.

PROs:

• Modular system
• Bright yellow
• Reflective (but not ANSI Type II so I still have to wear a vest
• High quality material; it won't fall apart

CONs:

• Expensive!
• No frame, so you can't load up the main pack with anything too heavy. Wait, maybe that's not a bad thing 

I used a military load bearing vest with butt pack and canteens as a cadet, and that got me through two weeks at NESA, but I like the modular wildland firefighting pack much better.

Try to find some other members with packs and try them on. See what you like. Buy what you can afford.

Kevin

[Duke Dillio]

There is also the weight factor.  Military grade webgear is quite a bit heavier than a nylon vest or light backpack.  I have always stressed to my teams that it is really a personal choice.  Wear what works for you.  YMMV.

[Spaceman3750]

http://www.truenorthgear.com/product_detail.php?path=0_11&p_id=212

I own it in orange with the hydration pack. Makes for fast dismounts, throw it on and I'm good.

[GroundHawg]

5 years as a cadet ground team member and almost 20 as a senior.  I've tried EVERYTHING under the sun from modified aircrew survival vests to Blackhawk MOLLE vests, and you know what I find myself returning to every time?  Old School LBE (with buttpack).  Same stuff I wore in the 80s as a cadet.  As I later became a GTL, I started sporting a 3-day pack with things like a VS-17 signal panel, poncho liner, ES documents and more food.  I've always used, and still use, the large ALICE pack, except for a few times when I experimented with the CFP-90 ruck, which isn't a bad alternative.

Same here. The only "new" thing Ive added is a tactical tailor buttpack. Other than that it is essentially the same gear Ive always had.

[SAR-EMT1]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said.

I have 24 hour / UDF / Civil Unrest B.O.B gear set up in an H-harness ALICE with buttpack.

72 Hour / Ground Team / Base gear / SHTF-ZOMBIE BAG set up in a Large Alice. ( Although I can alternate that with a CFP-90)

24 hour gear can be worn in conjunction with 72 hour gear. Total load is about 50 lbs.

In the case of zombies ( or over-caffeinated cadets) I would add a Glock 22 with a SERPA  to the 24 hour gear... And an M4 with basic load to the 72 hour pack.

Alternately I can set this up with the CFP- 90 and stash extra ammo for the firearms and a better medkit in the patrol bag.


Both the ALICE and CFP have camelbak ability.   The 24 hour gear resides permanently in my POV. 

[RC007]

My 24 hour gear right now

Walmart "Outdoor Adventures" Camelbak knockoff
Enhanced Load Bearing Vest with buttpack and two M16 mag pouces on the web belt.

72 hour gear- Medium Alice Pack with frame and bivy.
My only gripe is that the LBV digs in my back when I throw the ALICE on top unlike the LBE suspenders.

[Jerry Jacobs]

http://www.truenorthgear.com/product_detail.php?path=0_11&p_id=212

I own it in orange with the hydration pack. Makes for fast dismounts, throw it on and I'm good.

I've owned the urban version of this for about 3 years as my UDF pack and made into a 24 hour pack when I wear this: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=camelbak+100+oz&hl=en&cid=3557955310887485969&os=reviews&ei=efnnToLoGIHkiQSf7LzKBQ&ved=0CAcQ9AI over it. To turn it into a 72 hour pack I simply throw the camelback into an internal frame backpack and turn the vest into thigh packs