On Friday, 8 January, 2010 Natick awarded BAE Systems a Firm fixed Price Purchase Order for 344 Medium Rucksacks. The Medium Rucksacks will be tested in February and march at Fort Bragg, North Carolina to determine if the design is sound and which of three prototype frames will be fielded along with the new bags. About 100 of each design are intended for testing.
The Enhanced Modular Integrated Loadcarrying Equipment (EMILE) pack from Excalibur Products Group is an internal frame military pack which relies on dual aluminum internal stays and features thermomoulded lumbar pad, back pad, waist belt and shoulder straps.
EMILE features a top mounted, removable assault pack and two removable sustainment pouches. One of these converts to a waist pack and the assault pack contours to the shape of the body when worn alone. The main bag is divided and features a separate sleep system compartment which can be zipped open to make one large bag. The ruck also features a removable rain cover with center zipper to ease access.
In total EMILE accommodates 8032 cubic inches broken down as follows: The main bag is 4032 cubic inches with an extra 1200 cubic inches in the sleeping bag compartment. The assault pack is 1800 cubic inches and each of the sustainment pouches are 500 cubic inches each. It is available in MultiCam, UCP, Coyote Brown, AF Digital Tigerstripe, Digital Woodland, Digital Desert, Foliage Green, and Black.
For more information be sure to visit www.excaliburproductsgroup.com.
Somehow this baby slipped below our RADAR but it is definitely worth taking a look at if you are fortunate enough to be issued the Harris AN/PRC-117G but are saddled with the issue bag. It is designed to be worn with the removable shoulder straps or attached directly to the back of armor or load bearing vest with the integrated PALS compatible attachment system. Additionally, the body features PALS webbing so that radio accessories can be attached to the bag.
The PRC-117G Assault Bag is available in Black, Coyote, Ranger Green, UCP, and MultiCam from Mayflower.
Developed based on a Kifaru message board poster who “envisioned a pouch carried on the chest that you could easily and quickly access a handgun from” the Koala was born.
The design is very versatile. Here is a list of the carry options:
-Chest carry with an X-Harness and belly strap.
-Shoulder carry with a shoulder sling or contoured shoulder strap.
-Backpack with shoulder straps and waist strap with a dual adjust buckle.
-Lumbar pack with new Omni/Lumbar waistbelt
-Chest carry with a backpack using the new Lift-Kit
-Malice clipped onto a pack
-Malice clipped onto armor or a plate carrier
This article is really just an introduction. For a full synopsis make sure to visit Kifaru’s forum. The Koala will be available soon from Kifaru Tactical.
Military.com’s Defense Tech Blog just published a teaser for an article on a new “Medium” pack for use in Afghanistan. The intent is to provide a pack that fits somewhere in between the current 2000 cubic inch Assault Pack and the 5000 cubic inch Modular Lightweight Load carrying Equipment (MOLLE) Rucksack. Interestingly, the initial variant of the current MOLLE pack was of Medium size and only after a couple of years did the Army change out to the current Large pack.
In fact, the Large MOLLE ruck was only developed to support light forces like the 10th Mountain Division and there was a great deal of hand wringing over whether it would be appropriate to replace the Medium on general issue. It can be denoted from the earlier version by the addition of a halfmoon zippered compartment on the bottom which is used to carry the sleep system rather than a separate bag.
As you can see from this photo (actually an early medical version issued to Navy Corpsman supporting the Marines), the original pack was much smaller but fell in line with the modularity of the overall system. It could be used in conjunction with a variety of additional options including the side mounted sustainment pouches as well as the sleeping bag carrier. Later, with the advent of the Ranger variant of MOLLE a waist pack was added to the mix. When MOLLE was initially envisioned the concept was to provide a variety of modules that the user could add or subtract in order to mission tailor the load. There was concern about devloping a pack that could overload the wearer.
The US military used the All-purpose Individual Lightweight Carrying Equipment (ALICE) system up until the late 1990s which included medium as well as large packs. Both fit on a tubular metal frame so the concept of offering several pack options is nothing new. It seems that more and more often, the Army is learning that the Soldier needs several options in his “toolbox”. For example, SOCOM selected an entire suite of pack sizes for their troops.
One possible solution is the Mystery Ranch SATL which is issued to SOCOM and integrates MR’s proprietary Bolster Ventilation and Stability (BVS) system which was designed to increase the stability of the pack over body armor. Consider the SATL a daypack on steroids with external pockets to help compartmentalize gear. Its internal frame design helps stabilize teh load yet keep the pack’s weight to a minimum.
As you can see, over time the US has provided multiple pack sizes to its troops. It will be interesting to see how this “new” requirement pans out; whether it is an internal frame, external frame, or a frameless pack and whether it will be adopted into the MOLLE program of record.
Propper International has partnered with Arc’teryx in a licensing agreement to manufacture and sell the Arc’teryx designed USMC Corpsman Assault Pack (CAP) to Military and Government customers.
The CAP features compartmentalization for medical instruments and equipment as well as removable inserts for enhanced, customized mission configurations, and compatible with hydration system. Additionally, Arc’teryx integrated an ergonomic suspension system and made the load easy to manage via compression straps.
The Corpsman Assault Pack (CAP) is planned to be available in Multicam, Tan, Green, Black, AOR1, AOR2, Digital Tiger Stripe and Army Universal.
Propper has been manufacturing the CAP for the USMC since 2003 and looks forward to bringing this battle proven product to additional customers.
Distributors, government agencies and military acquisitions personnel be sure to check out the pack today at Modern Day Marine, Booth # 1553.
Gov/Mil Sales Contact: Greg Graves
GSA purchase information will be available soon.
Note: Propper is not taking individual commercial orders at this time but as product becomes available through distributors we foresee availability coming to retail customers.
