S O Tech is displaying their as-yet-unnamed small pack which is based on a pack used during the Vietnam war by indigenous forces.
The original ARVN Pack or Indigenous Ricksack had an X-frame made from steel, with a rivet in the middle. S O Tech made theirs from Tegris.
For reference this is a vintage ARVN Pack. you can see its lightweight cotton construction, twin outside pockets and side slots for 1910/M-956 Slide Fasteners.
I dig it.
I wish that they madd it out of cotton webbing, but even still, I will probably get on of these.
We were issued the similar nylon jungle ruck for basic/AIT training in 1978
That’s really cool
With the ridiculous skyrocket in price for originals I think this is a good move to at least let guys get that “retro feel” for the pack. Taking one of the originals that was shredded apart I always thought it’s a real clever design that I’m glad they recreated here.
Is there a breakdown of the difference between this and the Alice pack?
Gents, we are working one final material supply issue and then we plan to announce a limited run.
I’m happy to see the positive response because I’ve reach back to the tactile feel of the ALICE pack cloth and metal buckles cinching that ribbed pack webbing – something we all did 1000 times in the dark…
Its basically an ALICE look and feel on a pack you can use every day to the office or in your vehicle.
The difference between this and an ALICE? Too many to list all – this is the same material and buckles as on the ALICE Medium and Large, but the ARVN pack was a small “one-day pack” or what people would consider an EDC size bag. It was designed for small framed ARVN soldiers so we lengthened straps, changed the cant of anchor points, and added the Tegris frame (which can be removed).
What’s the best platform (email, text, IG, etc.) to be on standby for the release?
This is a really cool quasi-reproduction. Thanks for putting it together.
Is there any chance you’ll do a modern assault pack with that frame, or different fabrics and hardware? Or selling the frame separately?
I would love to be able to use a frame like that with my ATS RAID pack in hot/humid environments when I’m not wearing armor. Even if I have to get the pack modified at a seamstress to get the frame to work. Or try a different pack too if you came out with a modern one.
Either way, I think I’m going to try to snag one of these. Thanks again.
We will announce it on Soldier Systems and on our newsletter (Constant Contact), you can email info@specopstech.com to be put on the email list.
PB – thanks, we actually designed this frame to work with both the ARVN pack and our Micro Pack which is part of our Cobra Pack line. I plan to go through our pack line and see what other bags we can mount to it. I like the cinch-strap curvature feature and I’m surprised seems to have disappeared. We will probably sell it independently to.
Thank you for your interest1
Very cool. I am interested. But I am super interested in the SAS Recce vest you prototyped a while ago!