Hi guys, been modding an LK this weekend, I bought it as a 35 but think it may be a 50 from what I've read.
I've never really liked the look of the LKs, they seemed like they would be uncomfortable and not really very user friendly with the external frame and thin shoulder straps. That was before I tried one on though. I was round Mikes from MCQbushcraft one evening and got talking about the packs so he got his out so I could give it a try. After trying it on I was pleasantly surprised with how well it fitted me and how comfortable it was with the modifications Mike had made. As they're so cheap I though I'd invest in one. I got mine from Military Mart, I was a bit worried about ordering it from them as I had heard horror stories about items not turning up ect. I did however email them first to make sure they had one in stock. They replied within the hour to confirm they had what I wanted and the order was placed, I received the pack two days later.
With the pack in my possession I checked it over and was really pleased with the condition considering the stamp was 1981, four years older than me!! While I was waiting for the pack to arrive I had started planning what I was going to mod on it. Being the canvas version I decided it would need waterproofing. It would need some better shoulder straps and also a hip belt.
For the waterproofing I decided to go old school and use a mixture of linseed oil and bees wax. This method has been used in various industries to proof canvas for years. After warming the oil and adding the wax I let it cool. Once cool it was more like a paste which was really easy to apply with a plastic spreader. I applied the paste over small sections then heated it with a hair drier to allow it to melt and soak in. I'm really happy with the end result, it's darkened the fabric down quite a lot and has the feel of a wax jacket. If you try this method of waxing canvas it takes a few days for the wax to polymerize.
With the pack sorted for now it was time to fit the kidney belt to the frame. I bought a new set of straps for an alice pack from ebay for £15 which I didn't think was too bad but couldn't decide how to fit the kidney belt. Mike had managed to fit his belt through the small triangular holes at the bottom of the frame but my buckles were far too big. I didn't fancy taking the stitching apart because I'd have have to hand stitch it back together and I'm not very good at that so opted to take the welder to the frame...
I welded a bit on to hold the strap which was really awkward as the strap had to be in place while I welded it and as I didn't have any spare bits of frame the welder had to be set up and adjusted as I done it. It came out well and only got one tiny bit of weld splatter on the belt even though I soaked it first and wrapped it in a wet rag. Painting it was just as difficult... I didn't have and olive drab paint so the choices were John Deere green or matt black (typical farm workshop) so opted for matt black. Over all it came out well and I'm quite happy with it. I'm off to Spain and Scotland for two weeks now for work so the rest of the work will have to wait till I get back. The next mods will be fitting the shoulder straps and stitching on some side pockets when I find some Swedish webbing pouches.
Cheers for now
Ben
I've never really liked the look of the LKs, they seemed like they would be uncomfortable and not really very user friendly with the external frame and thin shoulder straps. That was before I tried one on though. I was round Mikes from MCQbushcraft one evening and got talking about the packs so he got his out so I could give it a try. After trying it on I was pleasantly surprised with how well it fitted me and how comfortable it was with the modifications Mike had made. As they're so cheap I though I'd invest in one. I got mine from Military Mart, I was a bit worried about ordering it from them as I had heard horror stories about items not turning up ect. I did however email them first to make sure they had one in stock. They replied within the hour to confirm they had what I wanted and the order was placed, I received the pack two days later.
With the pack in my possession I checked it over and was really pleased with the condition considering the stamp was 1981, four years older than me!! While I was waiting for the pack to arrive I had started planning what I was going to mod on it. Being the canvas version I decided it would need waterproofing. It would need some better shoulder straps and also a hip belt.
For the waterproofing I decided to go old school and use a mixture of linseed oil and bees wax. This method has been used in various industries to proof canvas for years. After warming the oil and adding the wax I let it cool. Once cool it was more like a paste which was really easy to apply with a plastic spreader. I applied the paste over small sections then heated it with a hair drier to allow it to melt and soak in. I'm really happy with the end result, it's darkened the fabric down quite a lot and has the feel of a wax jacket. If you try this method of waxing canvas it takes a few days for the wax to polymerize.
With the pack sorted for now it was time to fit the kidney belt to the frame. I bought a new set of straps for an alice pack from ebay for £15 which I didn't think was too bad but couldn't decide how to fit the kidney belt. Mike had managed to fit his belt through the small triangular holes at the bottom of the frame but my buckles were far too big. I didn't fancy taking the stitching apart because I'd have have to hand stitch it back together and I'm not very good at that so opted to take the welder to the frame...
I welded a bit on to hold the strap which was really awkward as the strap had to be in place while I welded it and as I didn't have any spare bits of frame the welder had to be set up and adjusted as I done it. It came out well and only got one tiny bit of weld splatter on the belt even though I soaked it first and wrapped it in a wet rag. Painting it was just as difficult... I didn't have and olive drab paint so the choices were John Deere green or matt black (typical farm workshop) so opted for matt black. Over all it came out well and I'm quite happy with it. I'm off to Spain and Scotland for two weeks now for work so the rest of the work will have to wait till I get back. The next mods will be fitting the shoulder straps and stitching on some side pockets when I find some Swedish webbing pouches.
Cheers for now
Ben
