I’ve known about Austria’s Carinthia bags for years but this commercial definitely jogged my memory. Those big packs remind me of my time in LRS in the late 80s.
Carinthia’s Observer Plus bivy has seen extensive use by European Snipers and Recce troops.
www.military-sleeping-bags.com
definitely reminded me of lrs land. most ba sleeping bag commercial ever.
Wow! You’re not kidding about LRS – I remember huge packs, cold nights, and great memories from 1st Cav LRSD (89-91)
Good to see the M14 in the movie. John Garand lives on still. Still a much better rifle than its replacement.
As a VietNam vet, I carried both. Let’s just say the replacement rifle never lived up to the M14.
My wife has a lightweight Carinthia sleeping bag which is the mutt’s nuts. Amongst other things it has a built in mosquito net which guarantees that you don’t wake up looking like the elephantman after being savaged by mozzies and midgies. If thee rest of their stuff is as good then they’re a good company.
Looks neat. Anyone knows if there is a dealer in US?
Eagle used to carry them.
I have the Observer Plus alongside the Defence 1 sleeping bag and I must say I wish I had it during my military service when outside the barracks. God knows how I tolerated the Vietnam-era canvas shelter-half!
The only flaw with the Observer Plus is that it’s almost 2 kgs, thus not considered lightweight. Other than this, it’s superb and highly recommended for any activity.
Beats me why they offer “extreme cold insulation garments” and “high insulation garments” for military usage only in colors that will make the user stick out from the environment. Hint: Winter is *white*. The Austrians should know that, at least if they bother looking up at the Alps.
To add insult to injury, Carinthia offers reversible olive/sand -colored garments. Damn, what’s so difficult with snow white?
And, no, over-whites do not solve the matter. On the move in very cold conditions, it is crucial to have insulative pause clothing easily available to put on when the movement stops. You definitively do not want to remove and put on again your white or snow camo shell clothing each time you stop or start. So, with olive/sand pause clothing, you’ll end up sticking out from the snowy background.
Btw, Carinthia’s sleeping bags are surprisingly heavy considering how advanced they claim that the insulation is. (And the temp ratings they give are according to EU standards, so differences in rating do not explain the difference comparing to products with the same standard temp rating.) I guess the shell and lining fabrics, zippers etc should explain the high weight? Having slept a few nights in a Carinthia military bag, I didn’t notice anything remarkable.