Show us your Vintage Rucksacks!

[Alan Eardley]

Alan- as usual, you have too many admirers-
Your junk box is full.

Yes- I'm interested.

B
T

BT

I should learn to keep my big mouth shut...

It's cleared again.

Alan

 

[JeffOYB]

Anyone know a good source for vintage rucksacks?

OK, to be more precise I'm talking a CHEAP source... and SWISS rucksacks...

But even more precisely, I just found a webpage for a (drats!) out of stock item that looks way sweet. It's a "Light" Swiss rucksack with one top flap buckle and 3 outer pockets. Looks smallest of them all and maybe handiest for casual day-use: http://west.loadup.com/military/surplus/298402.html

I've spent long hours chasing mil-sup this summer. My leads sometimes take me to companies that *don't have websites*. Yes, I'm an insider! : ) ...Where they talk of making deals in Vegas hotel rooms. True! ...But for a containerful at a time.

One importer said he recently had THOUSANDS of frameless Swiss rucks, but now he's out. Egads! Where do they go?

[Link to Advertising Removed. -Hemingway Jones]

--JP

 

[Allied Penguin]

http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/

All kinds of surplus items.

Wow, that's fantastic! I had to bump this marvelous thread.

I'm about to pull the trigger on this German-Ranger-Mountain-Rucksack!

German Ranger Mountain Rucksack $9.95 with UPS Ground ($7.94)

-I have a question for the enthusiasts in here; What's the best way to make Canvas water-resistant? Is their a particular treatment anyone recommends?

Thanks for the help and thanks for the great links!

 

[JeffOYB]

As regards making canvas water-resistant, I've heard of two approaches but there might be better ones.

One is that there's a wax treatment out there, but I've never done it. "Waxed duck" cotton and waxed rainwear is a classic approach. I googled it and it looks like there are waxes out there but I found nothing exact right away.

Another approach is to put everything needing to stay dry into waterproof bags.

I've heard of someone saying that waterproof bags keep wet stuff wet---if something does get wet it stays wet---but that canvas bags let things dry out and air out when they're inside. Seems optimistic but I sense a point hiding in there somewhere.

I like the German pack---classic quality in a new item.

But I'm liking my new Austrian pack even better! I just LOVE the two outside pockets. Segregate your missions easily this way. (I went hunting last week with mine---small personal items went into one pocket; small hunty stuff went in the other, big stuff in main area.

 

[Baggers]

My understanding has always been that pure cotton canvas woven tightly enough is already as water resistant as is necessary to get the job done. The fibers swell as they get wet and close off. That's why one never touched the inside of an old style canvas tent when it was raining unless one wanted to start a leak at point of contact. For complete waterproofness, the fabric was coated, either with waxes and oils as found on oilskins and waxed cotton garments, or rubber as found on WW2 era rain ponchos and groundsheets. British cotton web equipment used to be blancoed (shudder), but that was probably more for looks and to keep idle hands busy than it was for waterproofing as far as I can tell (others may have their opinions! )

If you waterproof it though, the fabric won't breathe. And as for whatever's inside, as JeffOYB wrote, "wet stuff stays wet." I'd leave it alone.

Cheers!

 

[Allied Penguin]

...waterproof bags keep wet stuff wet---if something does get wet it stays wet---but that canvas bags let things dry out and air out when they're inside. Seems optimistic but I sense a point hiding in there somewhere...

I definitely see the logic in that. I like the idea of water proof bags for a camera or other sensitive items, however I don't think it would be the best for clothing that's already damp.

-Thanks for the tips. I googled it as well: This was a good article, I found this spray on at a few stores. -I was thinking about the DIY method, but at that point I should just cough up the few bucks for the spray.

My understanding has always been that pure cotton canvas woven tightly enough is already as water resistant as is necessary to get the job done. The fibers swell as they get wet and close off. That's why one never touched the inside of an old style canvas tent when it was raining unless one wanted to start a leak at point of contact. For complete waterproofness, the fabric was coated, either with waxes and oils as found on oilskins and waxed cotton garments, or rubber as found on WW2 era rain ponchos and groundsheets. British cotton web equipment used to be blancoed (shudder), but that was probably more for looks and to keep idle hands busy than it was for waterproofing as far as I can tell (others may have their opinions! )

If you waterproof it though, the fabric won't breathe. And as for whatever's inside, as JeffOYB wrote, "wet stuff stays wet." I'd leave it alone.

Cheers!

Funny you should mention that! A little over 5 years ago, when my Drill Sergeant had my "Buddy" and I assemble our two shelter-halves together, to make our tent, I wondered if the canvas would really repel the storm approaching.

-All was well initially, then suddenly, as if someone turned on a faucet, water started pouring in right above me. In a half asleep attempt to catch the water, I quickly grabbed my Kevlar helmet and dove for the leak. Then it dawned on me that I would soon have to wear that same Kevlar in a few hours, in the freezing cold.

Needless to say, that was a very valuable learning experience. So here I am, remembering that moment as if it were yesterday.

I'm pretty sure those were the same "Shelter Halves" my grandfather used in WWII.

-This bottle advertises "Optimizes breathability".

-Thanks for the quick responses, this is a great forum!

 

[JeffOYB]

Long time!

Say, has anyone seen the fairly recent Treat Williams version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth" movie? Lots of vintage-style rucksacks and shoulderbags and such in this one. ...I wonder what they were using. Any product ID's out there for this movie?

 

[Doug C]

Canvas backpack remakes ?

Does anyone know if there is a company that makes fairly accurate vintage looking canvas backpacks and rucksacks? By fairly accurate I mean not too large - Duluth Pack's "Wanderer" is along the lines of what I'm after but too big. Actually my inspiration comes from the tan one used in the desert sceens of "The English Patient" thats worn by Almasy (Ralph Feinnes) and also the WWII German rucksack.

Doug C

 

[Eyemo]

I often see original British ww2 Commando Back packs for about £50ish..

 

[David Conwill]

It used to be that the salt-and-pepper Swiss rucksacks were easy to find inexpensively. If those are too big, but you've got a bit of scratch (or if brand new is just a priority for you), I'll bet somebody like Indy Magnoli could make a scaled-down one for you (he does repop Mk. VII gas mask bags for the gearheads, right?).

-Dave

 

[Paisley]

Does anyone know if there is a company that makes fairly accurate vintage looking canvas backpacks and rucksacks? By fairly accurate I mean not too large - Duluth Pack's "Wanderer" is along the lines of what I'm after but too big. Actually my inspiration comes from the tan one used in the desert sceens of "The English Patient" thats worn by Almasy (Ralph Feinnes) and also the WWII German rucksack.

Doug C

I have a Duluth Pack canvas backpack that's the size of an ordinary backpack. I'm not sure if they make them anymore, though. I'd call them and see if they do. A few years ago I searched high and low for a nice looking backpack and it's all I came up with.

 

[cooncatbob]

Check out the Kakadu packs at this site,
http://store.nexternal.com/shared/S...reType=BtoC&Count1=451931178&Count2=369071602

 

[Doug C]

thanks for the replies so far, that kakadu pack does have some potential, wish I could see a bigger better pic of it. Say's it's got a snap down cover, so I don't know..

Doug C

 

[David Conwill]

I like it, but what's with the stencilling? Stencilling is getting to be the new "red star sewn onto things."

-Dave

 

[BellyTank]

Actually my inspiration comes from the tan one used in the desert sceens of "The English Patient" thats worn by Almasy (Ralph Feinnes) and also the WWII German rucksack.

Doug C

Why don't you try and grab a WW2 German rucksack then?


B
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[shortbow]

A few years ago I was working for a company that did canvas tents, awnings, all that stuff. Wanting a ruck that I couldn't find I drew up a design, gave it to the seamstresses and they sewed it up in a day. I added leather straps and buckles and was away to the races. Perhaps you might find a still from that flick and take it to a canvas place and have it built?

 

[Doug C]

Why don't you try and grab a WW2 German rucksack then?

Yep that's the plan if I found out that there was not a modern maker of these. They are usually kind of pricey at auction and somewhat used up so I'd probably refer a repro if possible.

Doug C

 

[MB5]

What about a Frost River pack?

http://www.frostriver.com/day_packs/day_packs_menu.html

or if you want something a bit larger

http://www.frostriver.com/canoe_packs/canoe_packs_menu.html

 

[BellyTank]

There are postwar, Austrian, West German Army and Police rucksacks which are similar, plentiful, cheap and often NOS. Swedish rucksacks are cheap too-

And the Czech rucksacks you can find on eBay and in many Surplus stores,
are very close, virtually identical to Afrika Korps rucksacks(apart from the straps).


B
T

 

[Creeping Past]

If you can't find exactly what you need, all of the above are good options.

Also, Swiss army 'salt and pepper' rucksacks are very affordable and go on forever. Then there are the Italian army ones, even Indian army canvas ones.

If you've no luck on Ebay, US and European online surplus stores have examples of most of the types of sack mentioned in this thread, and more.

Military reenactment supplies specialists - Schipperfabrik and What Price Glory, for example - sell WW1 and WW2 repro canvas rucksacks and bags.