Aye Up,
Ive been a fan of a copy of the NI patrol ruck for some time now.
The one in question is that made by the company Kombat and it is in olive green.
It was the compactness, design and superior internal lining that convinced me to buy it in the first place.
Id already made some mods to it and posted them on here previously.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143436
Post this summer season I knew that my green season waist belt/shoulder yoke set up didnt have the carrying capacity that I needed for winter and so it was back to the NI ruck.
The first outing with my brown season load reminded me of how all the weight is carried on the shoulders, normally not an issue but this time I was carrying some extras and I really felt the weight (55 pounds to be exact (approx 25kgs).
I needed a way to share that weight on my hips a la waist-belt/shoulder yoke set-up.
Id already added a stability belt but that sits way too high to help. A proper load carrying waist belt was the way forward but how to attach it as the bottom of the ruck sat 6 inches (15 cms) above my waist?
I tried the original set-up waist belt with rear pouches which the bottom of the ruck would sit on but without the yoke uncomfortable and only part effective.
Solution extend the body of the ruck; add waist-belt fixings and proper waist-belt.
So take two NI Patrol rucks cut each appropriately into two parts (great courage required! :yikes
Stitch the two required-length top and bottom sections back together. (By hand. Aaaaargh! Fingers of steel required. :aargh4::aargh4
Result Longback NI Patrol ruck with load bearing waist-belt and increased capacity by approx 9 litres.
With the previous load (25kgs) it is already noticeably more comfortable and stable (TBC after first 5 miler!!)
So with my ordinary winter bushcraft load - I - am - gonna -float!
Image 1. Take x 2 standard size NI patrol rucks.
Image 2. Cut one to leave a large top section and cut the other to leave a large lower section.
Image 3. Left. Internal view of lower section made good after removal of the upper lid section.
Right. View of two sections pinned together. Ruck was filled with kit to help adjust the required size of ruck body to match my
personal hip-to-shoulder dimension (22inches waist-belt centre to shoulder strap attachment points)
Image 4. Internal views (back and front) showing upper and lower section joins.
1 inch (25mm) webbing tape was used to sandwich each section.
Upper was machine sewn but lower had to be stitched by hand!
Image 5 External view showing back and front join line and new hip belt attachments.
Image 6. Hip belt attached.
Image 7. Comparison Standard NI Patrol ruck - v Extended (Back)
Image 8. Comparison Standard NI Patrol ruck v Extended (Front)
Image 9. Comparison - Standard & Extended NI rucks with 120l Bergen (not even fully loaded!).
Image 10 Comparison as per image 9.
Ive been a fan of a copy of the NI patrol ruck for some time now.
The one in question is that made by the company Kombat and it is in olive green.
It was the compactness, design and superior internal lining that convinced me to buy it in the first place.
Id already made some mods to it and posted them on here previously.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143436
Post this summer season I knew that my green season waist belt/shoulder yoke set up didnt have the carrying capacity that I needed for winter and so it was back to the NI ruck.
The first outing with my brown season load reminded me of how all the weight is carried on the shoulders, normally not an issue but this time I was carrying some extras and I really felt the weight (55 pounds to be exact (approx 25kgs).
I needed a way to share that weight on my hips a la waist-belt/shoulder yoke set-up.
Id already added a stability belt but that sits way too high to help. A proper load carrying waist belt was the way forward but how to attach it as the bottom of the ruck sat 6 inches (15 cms) above my waist?
I tried the original set-up waist belt with rear pouches which the bottom of the ruck would sit on but without the yoke uncomfortable and only part effective.
Solution extend the body of the ruck; add waist-belt fixings and proper waist-belt.
So take two NI Patrol rucks cut each appropriately into two parts (great courage required! :yikes
Stitch the two required-length top and bottom sections back together. (By hand. Aaaaargh! Fingers of steel required. :aargh4::aargh4
Result Longback NI Patrol ruck with load bearing waist-belt and increased capacity by approx 9 litres.
With the previous load (25kgs) it is already noticeably more comfortable and stable (TBC after first 5 miler!!)
So with my ordinary winter bushcraft load - I - am - gonna -float!
Image 1. Take x 2 standard size NI patrol rucks.
Image 2. Cut one to leave a large top section and cut the other to leave a large lower section.
Image 3. Left. Internal view of lower section made good after removal of the upper lid section.
Right. View of two sections pinned together. Ruck was filled with kit to help adjust the required size of ruck body to match my
personal hip-to-shoulder dimension (22inches waist-belt centre to shoulder strap attachment points)
Image 4. Internal views (back and front) showing upper and lower section joins.
1 inch (25mm) webbing tape was used to sandwich each section.
Upper was machine sewn but lower had to be stitched by hand!
Image 5 External view showing back and front join line and new hip belt attachments.
Image 6. Hip belt attached.
Image 7. Comparison Standard NI Patrol ruck - v Extended (Back)
Image 8. Comparison Standard NI Patrol ruck v Extended (Front)
Image 9. Comparison - Standard & Extended NI rucks with 120l Bergen (not even fully loaded!).
Image 10 Comparison as per image 9.
