Advice on Packing a 24-Hour Pack... Mil-Tec III Assault Pack

[winterg]

Looks like the PALS attachments are different on that one.  It is a pretty common design now for a small molle pack and made by any number of manufacturers. There are versions that have much better PALS attachments on the sides than the one I have.  Pay close attention to that.

Try searching Amazon for MOLLE backpack or tactical backpack and you will see several versions of this pack.  It is popular so it is copied. Lots.  there are deals to be had on this pack if you shop around.

[Luis R. Ramos]

NC-The one you are asking about is the one I ordered.

It is not exactly the same but it is close enough.

There is no Y strap on the one sold by Cheaper Than Dirt.

This pack is "growing on me." I still have to make sure all items in the 24-hour pack will fit in there, but others in here are almost swearing that if I keep my items to those on the list I will be able to fit everything.

[Spam]

Yep, that's the pack we (GA045) standardized on after our comparative tests 10 years or so ago.

Your pictures are remarkably similar to most of our packs - 1st aid outer, tactical middle, subsistence and snivel gear inner. I carry my orange vest folded up tight in my thigh pocket.

One delta for me (personally) is that I ditched the bladder, as have many of my troops. We've seen multiple instances of black mold growth in the camelbak systems, leading to a few instances of actual sickness in personnel at encampments, etc. This is linked to people storing their gear with water in the bladders, or stowing it without adequately ventilating and drying the bladders.  The alternative that I now have gone to is to buy a couple of cases of cheap bottled water (e.g. Krogers or Publix store brand cases, for five bucks), and drawing the crushable plastic bottles from the back of the vehicle before each dismounted sortie. The bottles are refillable, but crushable after use to save space. The other alternative that we use is to keep a couple of mil spec jerry cans of water in the COV (a six pack 4x4 Dodge) to refill either the bottles or flex 1 Qt canteens, which are great.

See:  http://www.combatreform.org/flexibleonequartcanteens.htm

Also, if you ever want to make some gear trade offs like we did, here's some empirical data on unit mass:
http://www.combatreform.org/weighttable.htm

On food... I used to do field stripped MREs: strip out all the unused crap that you would not really eat, focusing just on the essential food. In recent years, experience from the Sandbox and Rockpile has brought that lesson home to the Natick Soldier Systems team, and they seem to have produced "combat" MREs that are already reduced to the essentials (if you like that, you can buy them online). I personally now go with using the space/mass fraction on energy bars, nuts, and crap like small Chef Boyardee cups in zip locks, plus more water (for the carbs and proteins and filling satisfaction, not the nutrients, grin).




You guys rock.

V/R
Spam

[Spam]

PS, your mileage may vary. I am the type of guy who advises new GTM3* strikers to keep their gear mass low, then when they cant keep up because they packed the kitchen sink, I have them dump their excess gear on the side of the trail to keep from slowing the team down.  If they're lucky, we'll come back by that way on the return leg to pick it up. If not, cache it and come back on their own time.

For example: a few years ago, one of my units teams had a fat, out of shape cadet trainee dump a bunch of his excess gear (brought against advice) a couple of thousand feet up in Cohutta Wilderness, and I don't think he recovered it. They carried him up by his arms at a couple of points, and assuaged his hurt feelings by letting him later shoot flares at my aircraft, overhead over the target, which both he and I thought was hilarious, afterwards.

Sorry if that offends, folks, but the customer comes first. As AFRCC says, Search Is An Emergency (this is not a gear collecting reenactor nerd thing).  Don't carry too much on your patrol packs.


V/R
Fat, out of shape Spam

[Luis R. Ramos]

I knew of the bladder collecting mold in the drinking tube. It was brought home to me I think in the prelude to an encampment.

Was not aware them collecting mold elsewhere. Thanks for the heads-up. I will keep that in mind.

I will keep my canteens. One advantage the canteens have over the bladder is that I have a canteen cup and the stand for the cup that would allow me to boil water in the cup. No such capability with the bladder. Was thinking of putting a Nesbit in the 24-hour, but what do I use for a metal cup?

[winterg]

People neglect their gear and wonder why the flashlight batteries are dead, they're missing items they forgot to replace after the last SAREX, and why they get sick from the water left in their bladder for 6 months.

Bladders need to be cleaned like canteens do.  Regularly and thoroughly.  But I absolutely see the advantage in your method Spam. 99% of the time we are drinking the provided bottled water anyway instead of the water in our kit.

Transmitted via my R5 astromech.

[Spam]

Mr. Ramos,

suggest you do a search on M1 NBC canteen cap drinking hose, as well, if you want camelbak capability with standard canteens.

The crushable soft sided canteens (1 and 2 qt.) are best for it.

Best,
Spam

[Eclipse]

PS, your mileage may vary. I am the type of guy who advises new GTM3* strikers to keep their gear mass low, then when they cant keep up because they packed the kitchen sink, I have them dump their excess gear on the side of the trail to keep from slowing the team down.  If they're lucky, we'll come back by that way on the return leg to pick it up. If not, cache it and come back on their own time.

For example: a few years ago, one of my units teams had a fat, out of shape cadet trainee dump a bunch of his excess gear (brought against advice) a couple of thousand feet up in Cohutta Wilderness, and I don't think he recovered it. They carried him up by his arms at a couple of points, and assuaged his hurt feelings by letting him later shoot flares at my aircraft, overhead over the target, which both he and I thought was hilarious, afterwards.

Sorry if that offends, folks, but the customer comes first. As AFRCC says, Search Is An Emergency (this is not a gear collecting reenactor nerd thing).  Don't carry too much on your patrol packs.

This presumably was not a CAP cadet, correct?

The GTL is responsible for both insuring the members are capable of accomplishing the mission, and that they have the proper gear.  The GBD is
is responsible for insuring the GTLs do their job in this regard.

Further to this, 72-hour gear is >NOT< carried while searching, nor is there any expectation or requirement within the CAP
GT curriculum that you can "ruck in / out", or any minimum distance, either.   The standard 24 should weight less the a typical schoolbag,
the extra should have been filtered out either during the gear tasking discussions, or at the ICP / rally point.

The argument as to whether there "should be" is relevent, since there isn't.

An adult leader who allows or expects an overpacked cadet who probably shouldn't have been on the mission to start
with to drop his gear and leave it is violating a number of important regulations and polices, not to mention common sense.

You're also littering.

[Luis R. Ramos]

It looks like I will be able to fit everything on the 24-hour list inside the new pack.

Biggest compartment, towards the back:
1 poncho, raingear. Eventually will be moved to the outside, strapped to the bottom.
1 extra poncho, shelter material.
1 MRE complete.
1 MRE main course, Mountain House veggies, spork, reheater.
(Some space left over)

Next compartment, middle of the pack:
1 ziplock bag with items listed on the SAR subset.
1 ziplock bag with items listed on the survival subset.
Insect repellent.
1 pair, work gloves.
1 orange safety vest, folded.
50 feet of paracord.

Two compartments left towards the front.

Bottom one:
Several copies of the following forms, need to place them in a ziplock bag:
2 copies, IC-211
5 copies, CAPF 109
5 copies, IC-214
5 copies, witness interrogation
1 copy of the different items lists prepared by New York Wing
1 GTL(T) SQTR
Batteries for the crook-neck flashlight, spares.
Batteries for my scanner, 4 AA and spare batteries.
Spare batteries for my small, second flashlight, 3 AAA.
Crook-neck flashlight-need to add, it is somewhere in the trunk!
Radio Shack scanner.
(Some space left over)

Smaller compartment, on top of the front part:
Personal medication, inhaler pump.
Pocket mask.
3 pairs, Nitrile exam gloves, non-sterile.

Attached to the outside loops:
1 First Aid kit, paratrooper type
1 compass in a pouch. The compass will be attached to a buttonhole of the coat like the whistle upon mission start.

Now I need to figure out whether or how I can carry all items required of a GTL!

[winterg]

National Parks Depot is now offering this pack with the water bladder included for $39.99 if anyone is interested. 

http://nationalparksdepot.us/products/outdoor-military-style-tactical-backpack-water-bladder

Transmitted via my R5 astromech.

[grunt82abn]

Just another source for bags, not advocating one certain bag over another, but a ton of products. I have ordered several from the military luggage and never had an issue.

http://www.militaryluggage.com

[winterg]

Just another source for bags, not advocating one certain bag over another, but a ton of products. I have ordered several from the military luggage and never had an issue.

http://www.militaryluggage.com

And they even have this pack [that we all agree is awesome] in ABU pattern for the same price of $29.99 that most of us are paying elsewhere.

http://www.militaryluggage.com/ABU-Small-Assault-Pack-p/80126abu.htm

Transmitted via my R5 astromech.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Used my new pack on a TRAEX on Sunday 17 Jul.

Worked better than the medium ALICE pack I used to use.

Carrying the ALICE, the straps moved from shoulders down to where the arms start. Granted I could have used a strap between both shoulder straps chest high with the ALICE.

The Mil-Tec straps did not slide down at all.

Was able to compartmentalize everything I needed using the Mil-Tec. What I carried in the ALICE I felt I was looking in a black hole when I needed something.

I thought I was not able to carry a scanner in the front compartment since the angle flashlight was also there. Then I put the angle flashlight with the head down, and was able to squeeze a little more free space...

I think overall a good buy.

[Spam]

Glad to hear it.  Bucky Barnes thought so - in the movie this summer, it was the one thing he saved when Captain America and GSG-9 came busting in (and it survived being thrown 10 stories and still buckled safely and comfortably for him to run with)!

V/R
Spam