Ramble bushcraft bag part four

Well, I didn't show you everything about my bushcraft bag. I mentioned that you can remove the GP pouch and the Nalgene bottle holder, Plus the shoulder strap is totally reversible, giving you the opportunity to wear either side, no matter you are left or right handed. Now here are the pictures.

That's all you've left. Now it's clearly visible how I secured the side pockets. Even the box stitch is nicely apparent on the ITW tri-ring.

From the front it's very identical to the original bag. Except for the top flap. This is what I like: with a very little modification you can preserve the good of the former work, but with the upgrade a whole world is opening front of you. Yet, you still have a clean design.

In this solo form you can wear it as a fanny pack. Or shall I call it a patrol bag?

The only thing the bag requires to wear it so is a 2" duty belt. I prefer leather, because I can hone my knife on it.

You couldn't say there is a full equipment behind my back. Your arms are free. Your torso can move without restriction. Yet you have everything on your person. You still have room for canteen, a hatchet or other small gear at the front and side of your belt. With this move you can counterbalance the weight of the bag on your hip. I absolutely love this old school style. I think this is the essence of traditional bushcraft.

Ramble bushcraft bag part three

Now take a closer look on the GP pouch and the shoulder strap.

It can be closed by a YKK zipper, has a 2" YKK Velcro on the top for patches and further webbing on the lower part. It is 9" tall, 4" wide and 3.5" deep. Made of military canvas.

It can accommodate my Tibetan 375 Titanium mug easily, which holds my foldable Esbit titanium spoon, foldable Esbit titanium stove, Esbit cubes and has a Keith titanium lid.

This is the right side of the pouch. There is a Mil-spec elastic webbing and a 4" deep slide in pocket which, of course, binded.

Here is the left side, which is slightly different. The smaller slide in pocket is a card size pocket. It is great for credit cards, driving license, ID, etc. You can see the back of the Prym snap fasteners. There are four of them. They, and a military Velcro hold the pouch in place securely. The liner is a 70D kite fabric which is very durable and abrasive resistant, yet super light. The Hi-viz yellow helps you to find your stuff in poor visibility. Way much better than a dark colored liner around sunset in a murky forest.

Even the original pockets are very generous. My regular Esbit stove and Zippo lighter just sink to the bottom leaving lots of extra room above.

 Here is the concealed pocket. It is closing also with YKK zipper. You see the left side where the fabric is bumpy. That's the problem in only a shirt. It is too close to the collarbone. I should have lower it with an inch or two.

This is a top view of the shoulder strap. There is a 2" wide Velcro as well. If you put your flashlight onto the last webbing from the top you can easily illuminate the track front of you.

All in all it is a great little bag. Well it's not that little (12x12x5" plus the bottle holder and the GP pouch). There are tiny things I'd done differently next time or on the customer's version which would make the bag even more comfortable and practical. But these are really just bits and bobs. However it offers you already a bunch of good attachment points, storage space and secure transport potential. Very comfy. You don't need more padding than this. Otherwise you would feel the bag wobbly. The Prym (german) snap fasteners and the Mil-spec Velcro hold the pockets so well, there is nothing to worry about. I've filled my Nalgene, put into the holder and shaking the bag vigorously. Everything has remained its original state. Both type of fasteners are certified for thousands of opening and closure. So, I'm not worrying even if I have to remove those pockets for a couple of times.

Ramble bushcraft bag part two

Here are the pictures of the small details.

This is the top platform, I've mentioned earlier. You can open the bungee by twisting the wooden toggle button and pull it. There is a handle, which I've made it out of the lower part of the original shoulder strap to make the transport easier when you loading the pack in and out of your car.

Here is a better look. You can also see two belt loops. They can accommodate a belt up to 2 inch. They weren't on the original bag. I thought it will offer a little support with a heavier pack or if you remove everything from outside you can make a fanny pack and wandering around your campsite without the restriction feeling of a big bag, but with all the necessities you may need. You can hide some personal infos on the Velcro area, if you don't want everybody to know your name or blood type, etc.

Finally, the bag being opened. There is a map pocket which serves as a storage area for my Tyvek groundsheet now. I also added a 1" webbing to the back. So, now you can clip your small items and don't have to search for hours for a tiny gadget.

Here is a close up. There are pockets on both sides, I've added to the interior. You can see a piece of leather fabric with a box stitch. This is the inside part of the tri-ring which holds the bag. This is a little feature what was common once, but not on nowadays bags.

Here is the bottom section. I've kept the two leather straps and the olive drab loops, but I replaced the big rusty buckles and hooks with ITW Military Tri-rings. Their role will get attention later on. You can also see the grommets on both outer pockets. There is a unique feature on the YKK zipper. The zipper pull made of bungee cord and toggle button. The bungee cord is kinder on the zipper when you force it onto a wrong direction. The toggle button has a good grab even in thick gloves. The width of the bottom part with the pockets on is 50 cm. So, if you attach a closed cell foam sleeping mat it won't be overhanging.

Ok, now the bottle holder and the GP pouch.

The 32 oz. Nalgene is just slides in and out easily. There is still a little space for a bandana or other thin item, wrapped around the bottle. The pocket holds a thin foil package of a water purifier tablets snugly. You won't lose it.

 There are two slide in compartments behind the bottle holder. You can store flat items here, such as folding saw, cordage, etc. The case is nicely binding taped all around, has a grommets on the bottom and even you can put the pull tab away if you want it to. The wall contains a 5 mm closed cell foam, the bottom section as well.

to be continued...

Ramble bushcraft bag part one

My first traditional bag, versipack, haversack, whatever you might call it is done. Well, the main body is actually a hungarian small army rucksack. If I'm right they issued as 37M tornister pack. The first few rucksacks made of cowhide. Very soon it became expensive to make, so they swapped to canvas. This bag was issued even during the communism. Unfortunately without the proper set up and the military accessories the bag was very uncomfortable, because it slides down on your back. You needed the filled canteen, gas mask and the ammo pouches, full with rounds hanging on your belt, which to the bag was attached, to keep it in balance. Thus I figured I'm going to make a versipack out of it. I have different needs anyway how they packed this little fella in WWII. I didn't want to buy a Maxpedition Versipack, cause of the modern fabric, made out of it. The other problem with Max is the fixed shoulder strap. You either buy a right handed or a left handed version. And if your shoulder gets tired on the long trip and you would like to swap shoulders? Frost River packs are awesome, but why shall I spend 300 bucks when I already have a bag. Just needs a little transformation, like Cinderella. Yes, they are other bushcraft bags which are also cool, but lot of them has an attachment point for an axe on their side, which I don't really like. It takes the bag out of balance. Simple haversacks don't have enough organizing parts for small items. So, I might be a bitch, but I have lots of issue with the bags you can purchase in a shop. I took the bag to pieces. Hm. First concern. This is a fifty years old bag. It doesn't matter it is in mint condition. The fabric itself has became old. It was questionable whether I can sew it back together. I was thinking of what I usually carry for my bushcraft trips, how I like to store, reach and carry them, how many space they will take up in the bag. After considering all these things I started to finding the place for them on the pack or make one for them. I wanted to keep the design clean, because of the bushcraft purpose, yet wanted to see my stuff well organized and keep the chance for modularity. Yet I didn't want to give my new bag a too tactical look. So many request on a given subject. After one and a half year of innovating and developing I came up with sumtin which is nearly perfect. I did the first ramble today to a local forest to a lakeside, to find out how the new bag works on the field. First problem already occured. The concealed zippered pocket is too close to my collarbone and if I'm wearing only a shirt the seam allowance is rubbing my bone. Not a pleasant feeling. Especially with a fully loaded pack or on a long walk. Small things here and there. Otherwise not too bad for first shot. And because the bag is not in issue anymore I've had to make every new part from scratch (the Nalgene Bottle Holder, the GP pouch and the shoulder strap). Considering this fact, pushing the value of the final product further.  I mean without the proper fabric building sumtin like this is quiet good IMHO. That was the starting point:

And this is what I came up with:

I've removed the shoulder straps, made a new one, plus I sewn two side pockets, which are removable, but I kept the leather straps on the bottom for blanket, sleeping mat or tarps.

The back side of the shoulder strap is not padded, only holds a leather strap and a loop, made from bungee cord to accommodate my luvly axe.

The front part of the shoulder strap has webbing which offers you to attach small outer pockets, first aid kit, pen, flashlight, etc. The snap hooks are original USMC ones. The Austroalpin buckle gives you an emergency quick release option if it is necessary. The Nalgene bottle holder can accommodate narrower canteens or thermoses without wobbling, thanks for the bungee cord. The holder is insulated with military closed cell foam and has a slide in pocket for water purifier tablets.

You can see my Eagletac flashlight on the top of the shoulder strap. When the bag is on my person the flashlight illuminates the path approx. 3 meters in front of me. I have also sewn webbing onto the flap of the main compartment and added a bungee cord. This allows you to attach other bulky items, what you don't want to store in your bag or offers a quick access point for your poncho for example.

 Or just bungee your jumper onto the top platform when you are getting feel hot. The original webbing between the pockets allows you to attach further stuffs, like your knife to keep them at hand

to be continued...

I'm considering a bushcraft series too

The winter is here, though. The roofs are covered by frost all around the celtic capital in every morning now. Time to review my own gears, do a season rotation in my backpack to prepare for winter bushcraft. As I've been selecting clothes and equipments to swap them for a cold weather ones, I've realized that there are things I lack. More precisely, my life would be easier with them in the woods. For example a 100% wool blanket (swedish officer's blanket or an NVA blanket), a pair of toasty, robust wool pants and so on. I've been using US BDU, dutch army sleeping mat and british sleeping bag for such an adventures in wilderness. I know, things mentioned above might sound a little bit old-fashioned, but don't forget: wool is one of the best, if not the best, insulator. Even when it's wet. So, I was surfin on the net for a while and seen loadsa heart-warming, vintage, army stuff and some beautiful handcrafted things as well. I have to admit that I always evaluated the good, old things more than hyper-modern gizmos. Those old crafted products have soul, smell good, call up many memories from our childhood and you can feel the 'sweat n blood' of the wise craftman who made 'em. It does not mean that I'm not glad that we have 1000D Cordura, PALS webbing and military plastic hardwares now. These things are lighter, stronger and more versatile than old waxed canvas, leather and metal buckles. BUT! Remember, all the modern things come from some older, well-developed pattern. Just have a look at the PALS webbing. It's the same method how mankind have been waving baskets or wicker walls. Thus the term 'old' does not necessarily mean 'bad' or 'wrong'. In my opinion old things mean thousands of years of progressing, developing, usage and therefore it's equivalent trustiness, durability and well-tested in my dictionary. I bet you, there are thousands of people out there, who think on the same way about these objects. That's why I'm considering to widen my range with a bushcraft series, when I got a real beast industrial sewing machine. I do bushcraft too and I know that outdoor series are not always fit completely to a bushcrafter's needs. Sometimes they are just to 'shiny' or 'cute-looking' or too thin or kitschy. That's why lots of bushcrafters go for a vintage army stuff. They are kind of old-fashioned guys...on a good way. They don't need this nowadays business glare. They like the good old John Wayne's style 'sleepin in the desert on my wool blanket with my head laid on a saddle' kind a lifestyle. All they need is durability and reliablility. Nutin fancy...and I can truly understand you guys. I'm one of you. Therefore I've decided to do some research on those old school equipments in the upcoming winter. I do belive there are loadsa great techniques to learn about such gear making and it's gonna be fun and an enjoyable challenge to interiorize our grandpa's disappearing knowledge, what I respect so much. This decision means to find sources of quality materials, more tools, studying all the new materials and what kind of techniques they demand to get the most out of them. After this journey to back in time, I hopefully can come up with something like this:

This is a Frost River pack from the States, what I don't want to copy it. I just willing to become one of the guys who has the skill to make a product which is at least this quality for those who love the traditional way of life and honor our forefathers' huge knowledge.