It seems that almost everyone in the "Survivalist" movement use ALICE packs and LBE equipment at one time or another. Although I have quality aftermarket backpacks and daypacks, I still like the simple ruggedness of Mil. Surplus equipment. Many people on a budget use ALICE packs. I know I did, and I've always had LBE rigs even though I never served in the military.
"If you take care of your ruck, your ruck will take care of you." Easy words to say, but not many will do it. Most, if not all of you, will treat your rucksack like it's a piece of shit. And then when it does finally fall apart on you, you'll bitch about the hassles of having to go turn it in for a new one. Right? But, if you take a little time to perform preventative maintenance on it, you'll minimize future "wear and tear."
Rucksack frames tend to wear out and shine after a period of time." To remedy this problem, get yourself some OD green or camoflauge 100 mph tape that can be found in almost every hunting/sporting goods store, and then simply wrap the frame not only where it shines, but
also around all the other parts of the frame too.
Need to attach a few more items onto the outside of your ruck? Take a sling (weapon, 2qt canteen, or other type) and guide it through the lower rucksack "snap keepers" and then attach it either to the frame itself or to the lower ruck strap "buckle". Then take up the slack by tightening up the strap. This will not only allow you to carry more items on your ruck, but it will also
tighten up any loose bulky items you have either on the outside or the inside of your ruck, such as your E Tool and canteens.
With the heavy loads we're required to carry in SF, the rivets that keep the rucksack frame together sometimes pop out on us. When this happens, we don't turn them in for a new one,we just redrill the hole and replace it with a nut and bolt, which by the way seems to make the rucksack frame stronger than it was before. It even lasts longer also.
NOTE: IIf the bolt is too long or sticks out, cut or file it down to size so it's 'flush' against the frame itself. When tightening the nut to the bolt, don't tighten it too tight where it starts to bend in part of the frame. The more the frame is bent, the weaker it will become.
When your M17 gas mask carrier is no longer serviceable, before turning it back in for a new one, cut off and remove the leg and waist straps. These straps can then be reused for attaching small items to the rucksack such as your e-tool, canteen, rope, bino's, night devices, etc.
On my ruck, instead of running a strap through the snap keepers, I always ran an extra bungy through it. It not only kept my e-tool and canteen from bouncing around on the outside, but I was
able to slide in and attach other items to the ruck as well. Saves the hassles of always having to tighten up the strap.
Recent discussion by certain individuals about wearing an ALICE Ruck with no waistbelt attached, and how the CFP-90 flops from side to side when he uses it. In both cases, these types of improper use results in much discomfort and user fatigue.
Rucksack Waist Straps
Out of all the troops that are issued rucksacks, there are approximately 99% that wear them INCORRECTLY. They simply refuse to accept one particular part of the rucksack that was designed to make the weight load a lot easier in carrying. That part is called the rucksack "waist strap". The waist strap, if used correctly, will help overcome the neverending backaches of a heavy rucksack on a routine road march or field exercise. Most Troops (if not all), either tie the waist straps to the back of the rucksack or simply remove it entirely. They defeat the real purpose of having it. If your rucksack never came with an instruction book (and most don't) showing you how to properly carry and wear it, any civilian outdoor handbook will explain to you the same method. The waist strap, when worn properly, should absorb most of the weight of the rucksack. This means most of the weight will rest on the hips and NOT the shoulders. When you use only the shoulder straps, you are resting all the wieght on your shoulders. When you use both the waist strap and the shoulder straps, you are distributing the weight fairly evenly on the
shoulders and the hips (but mostly on the hips.)
How to wear and fit the waist strap is nothing more than using common sense. The strap must fit around the waist comfortably tight, but not so tight that you cut off your blood or breathing circulation. And it must be tight enough that the strap rests entirely on the hips and that it won't slip below the hips when marching or moving around. The shoulder straps, when worn correctly and comfortably, will keep the rucksack straight up and erect. They should NEVER be worn loose or with big gaps between the ruck frame and the body itself. Another type of strap that can be made and added is called a 'head strap' (or Tumpline). Now don't get confused about the purpose of this strap: this is primarily used to ease the weight of the ruck from 'time top time'. We are all born with fairly strong neckbones and muscles, so why not use them to your advantage? Connect a fairly long strap (a weapon sling strap will do just fine) from the top
portion of your rucksack frame, across the front of the forehead and back again to the top portion of the frame. There should be an adjustment link on one or both sides. Place the weighted rucksack on your back and make all the proper waist and shoulder adjustments.
Once you have done this, take the headstrap and place it on your forehead. Now stand up in a normal, erect body position (with the ruck on you back, of course!). The strap should be just resting on the forehead with little pressure or weight on it. Now lean forward with one foot: you should be feeling a little bit more weight or pressure on the headstrap. if you feel an excessive amount of weight-- it's too tight. If it slips down over your eyes--it's too loose. The strap when properly adjusted can be easily removed from the forehead and should slip down over the neck loosely (not choking you).
Note: when in this position DO NOT attempt to remove the rucksack until the headstrap is off Completely from around the neck. And do not unstrap the quick release shoulder straps, as any of these actions will have a choking effect.
The headstrap is not made for everyone to use, so after a short test trial, if you feel uncomfortable with it--don't use it! Again, it is only to relieve pressure off your back and shoulders from time to time.
All this instruction is pretty basic and instinctive, so I'm wondering why some people have problems with it. The CFP 90 problem is something else entirely, since it's an internal frame pack. Wearing an internal frame pack is counter intuitive, especially if you've been trained to pack an external frame pack first. With an external framed pack, you want to keep the center of
gravity high, so you pack heavy stuff up higher in the pack so you can take advantage of products such as tumplines. In an internal frame pack, you keep the center of gravity around your waist, and pack the heavier shit lower in the pack and then cinch the compression straps down securely. (try to keep the center of gravity centered on your sternum, or just below it) If it flops from side to side, it indicates that you've packed too much heavy gear up high in the pack. I personally like external frame packs, because that was what I was trained on (as a kid in the scouts many years ago) I've never gotten accustomed to the newer internal frame packs and have always thought they were kinda trendy. Another advantage to external frame packs--you can strap shit to it if you need to...try that with internal frame packs.
