Old and New Gear... 8-)

[Don Rearic]

Just a couple of pictures, some old gear and new gear. I tried to stuff a long sleeve polar fleece pullover into my grab-and-go backpack and even rolling it up tightly took up at least a third of the pack (more like half really). So, I went back to a medium ALICE pack. I'm not going to be humping ammunition and C-Rations in it, so it won't be the boulder-on-the-back that ALICE packs tend to be when loaded with heavy stuff.

The Firefly Strobe has modified battery compartment cover. The original mercury batteries are expensive and sometimes hard to find and the battery compartment cover on the old ones is an integral part of the battery. When it's dead, you chunk the whole thing in the trash. This is truly a compartment cover, nicely checkered and it's designed so you can use CR123As, commonly used in Sure-Fire flashlights. The strobe has an 8-hour run time with 2 CR123As. The strobe pouch is original and I've had that since about 1984 or 1985 although I lost the original strobe that went in it. That's why you see it tethered to the pouch.

The USGI Lensatic (1959 Waltham Precision Instrument) has been with me since the mid-1980s as well.

I like my old stuff.

 

[troutfisher13111]

Cool pics man!

 

[texastonydobbs]

Sweet Gear !

 

[Don Rearic]

Thanks.

That other compass is a Recta DP2. I had two of them since around 1986 as well. I lost one in the move to the new apartment almost two years ago and I had traded my spare to me brother and was lucky enough to it back for Christmas! That Recta is "The Original Swiss Army Compass." Recta is still in business and Suunto is making a version of it as well. Very nice compass.

Yeah, the VIC-SAK in the one picture is a Hunter Model which happens to be my favorite Model. I just wish Victorinox would swap that corkscrew out and replace it with the magnifying lens from the Swiss Champ. The Swiss must be a bunch of winos out in the sticks or something.

The lanyard for that, I will have to take another picture of that. A friend of mine in Belgium made it for me. Elasticized in places, it's good for compasses and knives that see a lot of use even though he designed it for tactical type flashlights like Sure-Fires.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Cool little setup, man.

. . .So, I went back to a medium ALICE pack. I'm not going to be humping ammunition and C-Rations in it, so it won't be the boulder-on-the-back that ALICE packs tend to be when loaded with heavy stuff. . .

I find the medium ALICE a great little daypack when loaded to no more than 25-30 pounds. I think a lot of people's hatred of it is from their military days of loading it down with 80 pounds of whatever they told you to take this time, and going on a 30 mile forced march.

 

[Don Rearic]

That is exactly most of the guys that actually had to hump those things in the jungle hated them and hate them to this day. If you have ever used the ALICE frame, you will hate that more. If a max-loaded ALICE is a boulder on your back, the ALICE and frame is a boulder on a sled riding on your back.

Like you said, you get up around 30 pounds, a little more or less depending on the person, and they are excellent rucks. My thing is, I'm not going to be carrying 40mm grenades, C-Rations and loads of ammunition, etc. Stuff I am going to have to carry just takes up space, it's not a real weight issue.

My one brother is sporting a Camelbak BFM and he thought I was out of my mind for going back to ALICE packs. Of course, he had to hump loads of ammunition and C-Rations in them...so it's easy to see why he despises them so.

On that note, for anyone interested, he said the Camelbak BFM is like getting a back massage.

If I have to split, I can have some canned goods in there because I will eat them first and that will drop the weight, etc. Save the freeze-dried and dehydrated stuff for later on because it's lighter and less bulky. The Dinty Moore goes first!