What rucksack is this?

[Tengu]

Made by Berghause, internal frame, bit smaller than my army bergan (between a rucksack and a daysack, I think)

and the back

its more OG than what it comes out on the pic

no side pouches or fittings fo but I have a pair, no reason why I couldnt add them

 

[John Fenna]

That looks like the original Cyclops to me.
I had one in blue - good kit!

 

[Crowe]

I think you have a Berghaus ROC circa 1988 one of the first to be made in cordura,before that they were made in canvas; about 50 litre. Frame is 2 curved bars in alloy rivetted at the centre in an x shape and sized for back length. Berghaus side pouches of that era were hard plastic backed. At the time , this was revolutionary and beat the army external framed bergans hands down

 

[Tengu]

One says a cyclops, one a ROC (whatever that is)

it has a small internal pocket to cover up the frame (which `is` X shaped, and rivveted in.)

and one on the lid, but no others.

Lots of straps though, does it come from the era of `hang everything on the outside`??

your right, looks about 50 litres (any way to measure??)

It cost me £3, I was told it had been round the world.

It certainly came with a Gulf airlines label.

Im tempted to keep this one. I have side pouches to adapt to fit, it looks a serious bag, I have a black Nato Daysack and a standard bergan but theres room for this, isnt there?

 

[John Fenna]

Erm - Cyclops Roc is what is is so we are both right!
Cyclops = style/back
Roc = model
I think...
Yes it is a keeper!

 

[Tengu]

Pooh!

Ill give it a wash tommorrow, and have a look see what I can do to fit the side pouches (which are berghaus too, surprisingly)

The clips need replacing but I have spares

Ill load it up and take it for a few walks, then try the bergan, see how they compare

I `wont` be taking it round the world though.

 

[addo]

Ive got a Berghaus crusader, a few quid off ebay, a bit bigger and cordura material, internal frame and loads of straps etc, from about 1982. It didn't come with side pouches but had the zips.
I found the modern plce side pouches zips didn't fit, but the older ones off the canvass gaters you get for aout £1 from army surplus did and were the right length to swap for the plce ones.
I got the side pouches, yoke, gaters and rucksack for £38 a bargin compared to a large karrimor sabre.

 

[rancid badger]

I remember sitting for about two weeks repairing about 20 cyclops bergens, mostly rocs but a few crusaders thrown in.
They had come from ( allegedly) 40 Commando and had been murdered to death
The internal frames had a tendency to break under extreme load and I ended up making a dozen or so new ones and just riveting others.
I learned to saddle stitch on these monsters!
In their day they were very good and the current issue rucksack owes it's existence to these veterans.
The 20 or so I fixed up went on to serve for many years all over the planet!
Actually, now I come to think about it, I recall an incident from a HALO exercise up at Otterburn or Redesdale-cant remember which-where a lads Roc broke free from his legs a couple of hundred feet from touch down and hit the little landing strip like a bag of horsey plops. The sack was recovered by it's owner having sustained no damage-mind you this IS one those;" mate of a mate"stories.
Good kit-
regards
R.B.

 

[Tengu]

Ive washed it (it was stale rather than dirty as I assumed)

once it dries Ill pack it out and take more pics

airing coupboard best place to dry? I had it outside all day but its not sunny enough to do a good job

 

[baggins]

Alright Tengu,
it is a berghaus cyclops Roc. It was the smaller brother to the vulcan. It is 70 litres in capacity. Berghaus phased it out after most squaddies were opting for the vulcan on which they introduced the cyclops 2 back system, which was a more comfortable system. Saying that, i've had one since i was 15 (thats 17 years ago). Pretty comfortable, although, if you overloaded it, you got bruises around your waist and shoulderblades if you used it for more than 3 days on the trot. They are completely bomb proof, and i still use mine to carry large pieces of timber i find in the woods. One of the good points was if you ran the straps through the ice axe loops, the lid still fit really well so it could be used as a day pack. Berghaus also did a civvy version called the Alp (with a cyclops 2 system), and i'd kill to get my hands on one.
A good find mate
Baggins

 

[Tengu]

not a very good pic but you can see the straps and the two tone hood.

I said to a friend I had found a good rucksack and they said `a Berghaus` and I said `yup`

 

[JonnyP]

Thats a very good price to pay for a very good sack...Check here to see what I paid for one.. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18235&highlight=berghaus+roc

 

[Lemoneyewash]

I've still got the canvas one and it's still going strong (after a few running repairs).

Great bits of kit.