Mod to Isle Royale Jr daysack

[SCOMAN]

I've always fancied one but been put off by the poor comparisons to the modern rucksacks. Nonetheless tempted I have been, a combination of the waxed cotton, leather and brass. I've tried other similar packs in the last couple of years, the Swiss salt and pepper pack, Reefknot bushcraft pack.
I got one new or nearly new for a decent enough price on eBay. I'd watched a number of reviews and mods videos but none appealed. My plan was to create a 5mm HDPE frame sheet sheathed in a robust sleep mat so the HDPE didn't wear through the cotton. It came out like this;


(The HDPE was stuck to the sleep mat with double sided sticky tape. The map was an ex army one, they're pretty robust)


(The thickness of the sheet)

I fitted it and carried it with about 75% weight, comfortable enough but I noticed that the fabric tended to sag when sat on the ground so I decided to secure it firmly to the pack. Velcro would be my friend, I put some stick-on loop velcro on to the sheet and sewed some hook strips to the inside seams and cutting a slit in the mat to allow passage;


(pack inside out with strips of velcro left and right)

To stop the sagging and anchor it I sewed a flap across the top and added velcro. It's about as sympathetic to the original design of the pack as I could manage. Now I need to load it up and carry it for a decent few miles.



I thought it a better plan than fitting a small waste bin or a cut jerry can as others have done to give the pack some form.

 

[Mesquite]

Nice modification

 

[SCOMAN]

So had this out today with all but 2L of water. Far more comfortable than I thought over the 5.5 mile walk. I accepted the damp back but genuinely happy with it..

 

[Erbswurst]

Would you have bought a German army mountain troop rucksack the German army folding mat would solve the problem.

 

[SCOMAN]

Would you have bought a German army mountain troop rucksack the German army folding mat would solve the problem.

Where would one source such a fine product of western manufacture??

 

[Erbswurst]

A factory new Cordura version you can get here, made in Germany of course by the original maker:

German Infantry Backpack Cordura olive

With its 34 liter capacity, is the German army backpack the perfect roomy day pack for hiking or short trips. The large main compartment has an…

www.asmc.com

If it's currently sold out there you can get it here, usual a bit more expensive but exactly the same:

Bundeswehr Jägerrucksack Cordura-Ausführung

Neuware. Hergestellt von einem Bundeswehrlieferant, ohne Versorungsnummer!

www.militarybasics.de

If you need a few more or want to convince your local milsurp shop to import them you can ask the maker.

Offizielle Homepage der Heim GmbH

Used you can get the much heavier cotton versions with plastic buckles or even the older leather strap version still on the military surplus market and especially third hand via Ebay or special collectors forums. But attention there are cheap Asian copies on the market that aren't worth the shipping costs.

The original Bundeswehr folding mat was made by Molan, later called Trecolan in Bremen and has a molded stamp in one of the corners, apart from bad copies they exist only used on the surplus market because they are out of production. But the British enterprise Multimat makes for British parachutists a quality copy that's called Adventure 4XL and you will have no problems to get that factory new.

If Britain is only half as whet as I was told I recommend the Cordura version.

Into the side pouches fit the German army aluminium field bottles (750 ml) without mugs, because the mountain troops didn't intend to carry the heavy and pretty weird mugs around anyway. But the Swiss army plastic field bottle fits with its aluminium mug too. Both are nice to have but I recommend to stick with one sort due to the nicer look of the packed rucksack. You will surely need two of them anyway.

One could put a "Wildo fold a cup" on top of the German bottle into the pouch or put the little thing somewhere else. It fits in every jacket pocket because it's designed for that. The German bottles are bomb proof, especially if you take the older version with aluminium closure. The rubber sealing can get replaced with a flat sealing from the sanitary hardware shop if you cut the new thing into the shape of the old one if needed. There are bottles with green mugs often used very much but there are also the same with grey mugs that were issued in a civil support organisation the THW and these are usually as good as unused if you get them. They rather drank a coffee or a Coke if in service than using the field bottles. The THW was also meant as a civil support in case of a serious conflict and that's why they got Bundewehr equipment in field gray. But they didn't train in the field but rather pumped out basements and so on all the time.

If you take the swiss one you have a mug with you or two for a guest on your bench.

If you pack the rucksack intelligently you can use in the end the entire rucksack as a comfortable pillow and keep all your stuff in their during the night apart from folding mat, sleeping bag and bivvy bag and perhaps a real military poncho as additional tarp.

Thats especially interesting for stealth camping in private gardens and parks in the middle of the town because you get faster away than the police may arrive.

The rucksack under the head is also a good idea if you intend to sleep in front of a railway station.


No, seriously: It's incredibly comfortable and practical to do so and indeed you have only to care for your boots to protect it against stealing and rain because you use the entire equipment as your bed.
No problems with foxes, idiots or whatever. One must be pretty brave to awake a man who sleeps like that. One simply doesn't assume a usual civilian if you sleep like that.

I usually put the boots under the poncho, tensioned or not, but you could put them also into the bivvy bag under your knees in serious winter conditions or into the foot box. Well, that's what I'll do if have to run away in eastern direction during the winter, whyever. The boots under the poncho are not so bad if you need to go a few steps in the middle of the night. Although you can indeed develop a technique to stay in the bivvy bag if nature calls and you intend to leave the place next morning anyway.

May sound funny, but it's a serious option in adverse weather conditions, especially if you have a bivvy bag with central zipper like the German army bivvy bag or the Snugpak SF.