Vintage Haversacks

[Kodiak]

Once again, I'll bet this has come up before but I can't find it. In my quest for adventure gear, I've decided I'd like to see some vintage rucksacks/haversacks, something like what Quatermain would have used on a hunting trip.

Any ideas O ye vintage gurus?

 

[Nick Charles]

I like this myself but would change the straps to leather with belt type adjusters.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=223043

 

[Sam Cox]

search ebay for ww2 US mountain troops rucksack
Sam

 

[scotrace]

Big enough?

The Duluth Pack.

 

[Willi_Goat]

Strange, this thread gets started after I was looking for some on eBay.

My dad gave me an old one in my younger days. From what I can remember it looked much like the one Nick linked from the Sportman's guide without the pockets. It had US markings, black fittings, which looked like brass as the finish rubbed off, and made of heavy cotton duck. I do not know what era it was from though.

Oh, to have some of those things from that time in my life.

 

[Doug C]

Funny, I was thinking about rucksacks lately too. Actually I want to find the Swiss (I believe) military rucksack, the one I have in mind is salt & pepper canvas with leather straps and bottom. The leather is a light color (British tan?) and secures with buckles. The sportsmansguide used to carry it but don't seem to anymore. I swear I saw one while reading a thread here the other day regarding Quartermaine's (sean connery) gun belt or something like that, anyway the thread contained a link to the belt...and I briefly noticed the rucksack. I failed to make note of the link.

Doug C

 

[Doug C]

Nevermind, I just found the link (swear I couldn't find it yesterday!) but the pack is actually a Swedish rucksack, not quite the same as I'm looking for.. it is cheap though.. I'll keep searching but here's the link.

http://www.visionforum.com/boysadventure/productdetail.aspx?productid=55780&categoryid=169

Doug C

 

[Mojave Jack]

Ah, the quest for the perfect rucksack! I'm a veteran of this search, but I'm quite picky...or refined, rather (see here).

My criteria is actually for a pack that looks old but has the conveniences of a modern pack. That is, a pack that's not just one giant pocket in which everything small falls to the bottom and can never be found! Duluth Pack has some options, as Scot mentioned, as does Frost River. LL BEan offers a great waxed canvas pack, which I had but returned (I was being very picky on how the pockets worked). It is honestly the best one I've seen yet, but little things bothered me.

Richt now I carry a bug out bag I bought at the uniform shop on base. It has about a gazillion pockets, and is a sort of desert brown (I looked on the AAFES site for a picture, but couldn't find it. It must be an old model now). It works well, but it is a cordura nylon, which I'm not crazy about. Nylon never really breaks in and conforms to the wearer the way a good canvas pack would.

When you find a classic looking pack with all the amenities of a modern pack, please let me know!

 

[Doug C]

I like some of those but what I really like about the vintage Swiss packs is the lighter colored tan (kind of orange) leather. But I do agree about the one large pocket situation.

Doug C

 

[Mojave Jack]

Found it. Here's a pic of a Bugout Bag similar to mine. Mine doesn't have the shoulder straps that stow, and it has daisy chains on the lower front panel, but this is very similar.

As I say, it is good for the orgaznization it offers, but shares little in common with vintage bags. At least the color makes it fit in with the rest of my gear!

 

[Willi_Goat]

Found it. Here's a pic of a Bugout Bag similar to mine. Mine doesn't have the shoulder straps that stow, and it has daisy chains on the lower front panel, but this is very similar.

As I say, it is good for the orgaznization it offers, but shares little in common with vintage bags. At least the color makes it fit in with the rest of my gear!

I picked up one of those in Oman and have used it for all my military travels since. You can put lots o stuff in it.

 

[BellyTank]

I have a lot of vintage rucksacks-

I'll have to take some pics-

B
T

 

[John in Covina]

Major Surplus

Some of the Military Surplus stores will carry a variety of packs and rucks from European countries that have sold off their ancient stores of materials and equipment. Major Surplus in Gardena I think usually has some neat old ones.

 

[Mike K.]

For tried and true, you could always go for a vintage Boy Scout rucksack. They're like the ones shown in the opening scenes of the third Raiders film (Last Crusade). A search on the bay usually yields quite a few decent ones...try searching boy scout pack, haversack, yucca pack, etc.

 

[Jay]

Incidentally I was looking at this one at L.L. Bean today. Anyone else think it's pretty neat?

 

[cookie]

LL Bean bag

I don't know if you would use that on three week trek in the High Andes - I am no expert - but that sure is a good looking bag. I love the American style weathered plaid material and the buckle and leatherwork looks first class.

 

[Jay]

I thought the same thing. Too bad it's on the pricey side.

 

[Kodiak]

Yucca Packs!

That's what I was looking for! I remember seeing one of those in an old Boy Scout manual, and it appears to be what I was imagining. I'll have to do some searches...

And while those LL Bean bags do look nice (I've come close to buying the canvas one before, and the leather one too) one of the folks on here has really advised against them. I can't remember who though...

 

[Mike K.]

Hey Kodiak,
Mojave Jack and I both have tried the waxed cotton rucksack from L. L. Bean. A few others might have too. As I recall, Mojave didn't care much for the fleece on the straps. My gripe was the modern synthetic back panel. Overall, however, the pack is great. It is a well-made pack, holds everything I need, looks great, and has Bean's great customer service to back it up. I use a vintage scout mess kit and canteens, so I didn't want to go the way of a yucca pack (even though they look awesome, there were would be too many scout emblems on all my gear). I highly recommend any of the L. L. Bean packs. I also picked up one of their canvas/leather shoulder bags for those day trips out of camp. It holds field guides, camera, binoculars, and other gear perfectly. I'd say if your going for the Quatermain look, try one of these too (the white hunters would typically go afield fairly light).

Of interest if you're considering a vintage yucca pack (from http://www.aldha.org/kelty.htm):
"I well remember the first pack I ever owned. It was an official Boy Scouts of America Yucca pack of about 1947 vintage. After the boys made a few trips toting one of those things, it’s a wonder they stayed in the Scouts. The fiend who designed it must’ve had a serious grudge against outdoor-minded youngsters. The Yucca pack was just a simple canvas bag with an integral flap top and a pair of skimpy shoulder straps sewn onto it. Sweat on those straps for a couple of hours on a hot summer day and they roll up into pencil-thin cylinders that would eat into your shoulders like a sidewinder shimmying into a sand dune. D-rings all around the outer perimeter of the Yucca pack allowed you to lash a blanket in horseshoe fashion to the exterior. The blanket was about as poor a choice for sleeping as the pack was for carrying stuff, but they made a picturesque package when done up together. When you loaded the pack, you put soft items like clothing at the back to form a protective cushion and hard items like tins cans or tools at the front so they wouldn’t dig into your back. That was the theory anyway. But about an hour on the trail was all it took to rearrange everything so that the soft items had descended to the bottom of the pack and all the hard stuff was busily eating holes into your back."

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Kodiak]

Oh yeah, I'm sure the Yucca pack isn't the best for actual use. I have a really nice modern rucksack that I use for backpacking, travel and the like. I just want something that has the vintage look to it for day hikes and the like. Sometimes I like to go out hiking in all my adventure gear, just to feel explorer-y

And yes, I'm sure that the Quatermain-type wouldn't have carried much gear, but would rather have hired porters to pack in and out the majority of his equipment. But if I were exploring back then, I would have wanted at least a few neccesities on hand, and I wouldn't have wanted to pack them in a shoulder bag all the time. Too much weight in one of those really digs into your shoulder.

Thanks all the same Mike.