New "Deployment" Bag

[Stonewall]

Recently, while TDY for the Air Force, my 10 year old roller duffle broke down.  Had served me well in more than 50 countries on private, commercial and military aircraft and even a deployment.  It was time to get a new one.

After some research and feedback from a friend who deployed with one, I dropped $289 on the Viking Tactics 40" Outbound C.A.M.S. Bag.

Very awesome and probably too much space.  But for you self proclaimed gear queers like myself, you will want this bag.











This is a MONSTER of a bag. With a 40" main compartment, this bag will certainly carry all of your gear. We partnered with Viking Tactics™ to design a bag that's oriented for the outbound operator. It needed to be big enough to pack armor, clothes, hardware and other gear, and rugged enough to survive transport when fully loaded.

The bag's rigidity comes from removable fiberglass, snap-in struts. With the struts in place, the bag stands on either end without falling over. Name- tape and flag holders, markable name strips plus our clear business card and document pockets make identifying your bag easier. The top compartment zips away from the bottom to reveal a large open compartment with built-in lashing points. Heavy duty, lockable YKK® zippers and compression straps pull it all together and help minimize the bag's exterior dimensions. Imported.

The CAMS 40" bag features:

-Heavy-duty oversized wheels & bottom skids
-Rugged corner guards on all corners
-Double self-retracting handles at each end
-Light-colored interior for better visibility
-MOLLE/ALICE-compatible interior panel
-Adjustable inside loop-sided dividers
-Replaceable fiberglass laminate frame
-Reinforced, rigid ends and bottom

[Nick]

You don't have to be shy, Kirt... you can admit I'm your friend.

[Stonewall]

Yes, Nick McLarty is my friend and he is the man!

[lordmonar]

That's the bag AFSOC issued to me.

[Nick]

Yes, Nick McLarty is my friend and he is the man!

Woot! You heard it here, folks.  Let me get a screen capture of that bad boy.

[AlphaSigOU]

Mmmmm... me likey! Perfect bag for bringing in stuff to Kwajalein from the Land of Round Doorknobs! 

[Nick]

Eh? They have square doorknobs in Kwaj?

[PHall]

Eh? They have square doorknobs in Kwaj?

Ain't no doors on grass huts!

[Mustang]

Looks like a great bag...til you get to the wheels, which appear to be plastic crap.  I'd upgrade 'em to some decent inline skate wheels.

[Stonewall]

They're not plastic, they're solid.  Same ones on my Pathfinder garment suitcase that have not failed me in almost 9 years.  I was concerned about the wheels too, at first, but then I examined them and they look solid.

[Nick]

After dragging the bag with about 125 lbs of gear loaded in it through the rocks and pea gravel they call a sidewalk at Al Udeid (both ways), and then thrown, beat around, and crammed into AMC aerial port bins ... not to mention what the airlines do to your stuff ... the worst that has happened to be my bag was: 1) One of the compression straps got snagged off (which was annoying anyway, so I just cut them all off), 2) One of the wheels was either slightly misaligned or there's something stuck up in the wheel well, because when I drag the bag along on a completely smooth, quiet surface (like a tile floor ... definitely not concrete) I can hear a very subtle scraping sound coming from one of the wheels.

Needless to say, it carries its share of weight well.  In fact, I had to offload some of my crap from the bag to get it down to 100 lbs before I could even check it into Northwest for my return flight -- that's how much you can pack into this thing.

[Stonewall]

... -- that's how much you can pack into this thing.

I'm telling you, I had both my kids and my M4 in the "secret M4 compartment" in the bag and still had room for 2 more kids.

The only drawback to this bag is that it's so big that you will probably pack too much.

[AlphaSigOU]

Eh? They have square doorknobs in Kwaj?

Ain't no doors on grass huts!

ROFLMAO! 

Actually, we do have round doorknobs on Kwaj... back when I did time at 'Spang Quentin Federal Penitentiary' (aka Spangdahlem AB, Germany) 25 years ago the majority of doors on base used handles instead of knobs - when I returned stateside, it took me a little while to get my hand reflexes used to twisting a doorknob instead of pushing down on a door handle.

Contrary to popular belief, only the far outlying islands still use traditional grass huts; Marshallese are quite resourceful utilizing surplus wood and other products discarded from Kwaj and Roi-Namur as building materials for homes in Ebeye and Third Island. The dump at Roi-Namur is sarcastically called 'Home Depot'! 

[Gunner C]

... -- that's how much you can pack into this thing.

I'm telling you, I had both my kids and my M4 in the "secret M4 compartment" in the bag and still had room for 2 more kids.

The only drawback to this bag is that it's so big that you will probably pack too much.

Ah yes . . . 300 pounds of lightweight gear. 

[Strick]

two words..................... gear envy......................

[maverik]

I need to get a justified reason ASAP.