D
-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
I don’t have experience with that kit specifically, and definitely won’t comment on how the individual pouches or pack work.
However, from general webbing experience and developing a new dismount/jungle rig for myself, I have a few comments on it.
This is obviously very dependent on your intended use:
1: Overall it looks like a decent dismounted kit
2: The yoke should be fine with the four attachment points to keep things fairly centered
3: The belt is a little narrow and isn’t padded, could become uncomfortable over some miles with the amount of weight that rig can hold in all those pouches.
4: consider sewing on little loops to the pouches so you can route a bungee cord through them all to keep them tight against your body and don’t flop around as much when running (if you plan on running at all)
5: if you plan on wearing a separate pack, the belt will need to be moved down low on your hips, and any tall pouches won’t be able to be mounted on the front, because they’ll interfere with your leg movement.
However, from general webbing experience and developing a new dismount/jungle rig for myself, I have a few comments on it.
This is obviously very dependent on your intended use:
1: Overall it looks like a decent dismounted kit
2: The yoke should be fine with the four attachment points to keep things fairly centered
3: The belt is a little narrow and isn’t padded, could become uncomfortable over some miles with the amount of weight that rig can hold in all those pouches.
4: consider sewing on little loops to the pouches so you can route a bungee cord through them all to keep them tight against your body and don’t flop around as much when running (if you plan on running at all)
5: if you plan on wearing a separate pack, the belt will need to be moved down low on your hips, and any tall pouches won’t be able to be mounted on the front, because they’ll interfere with your leg movement.
I own one.
Miles better than the '37, not as comfortable as ALICE LBE. The kidney packs are well-designed and very useful. The knapsacks are just about useless. The E-tool carrier at the top of the yoke tended to dig into my spine, but in fairness I was wearing it with a framed ALICE pack.
I bought it because it was cheap and because, back then, Nalgene bottles were a thing and the ammo pouches were the perfect size for carrying them. Now, it just sits around; I'm not even sure where all the pieces are, but I did cut apart one of the kidney pouches and I've used it for years as a shaving kit.
I prefer to simply tie all my stuff to the belt with 550 cord (including the suspenders), and the belt allows for that better than the Pattern 37 does. But if you use the C-hooks to attach your stuff, I'm sure they'll work well enough; the hooks feel cheaper than the '37, though. The belt is no less comfortable than a USGI one, and considerably "softer" and more flexible.
All in all, it'll do ya. @PappyM3 has some good points to consider, though YMMV; I find his 5th point to be useless for me, personally, though everyone's body is different and so are their LBE preferences. I like mine cinched way up, either with or without a ruck, though my preference is always ALICE instead of all the modern crap.
Miles better than the '37, not as comfortable as ALICE LBE. The kidney packs are well-designed and very useful. The knapsacks are just about useless. The E-tool carrier at the top of the yoke tended to dig into my spine, but in fairness I was wearing it with a framed ALICE pack.
I bought it because it was cheap and because, back then, Nalgene bottles were a thing and the ammo pouches were the perfect size for carrying them. Now, it just sits around; I'm not even sure where all the pieces are, but I did cut apart one of the kidney pouches and I've used it for years as a shaving kit.
I prefer to simply tie all my stuff to the belt with 550 cord (including the suspenders), and the belt allows for that better than the Pattern 37 does. But if you use the C-hooks to attach your stuff, I'm sure they'll work well enough; the hooks feel cheaper than the '37, though. The belt is no less comfortable than a USGI one, and considerably "softer" and more flexible.
All in all, it'll do ya. @PappyM3 has some good points to consider, though YMMV; I find his 5th point to be useless for me, personally, though everyone's body is different and so are their LBE preferences. I like mine cinched way up, either with or without a ruck, though my preference is always ALICE instead of all the modern crap.
Good input. Regarding your point about wear with a ruck, you’re right that it really is dependent on preferences. Do you have pouches mounted all across the back, or do you have a spot open for the pack to sit?
For me it depends on how much I have attached at the rear of the kit. Currently I have my rig setup so that my ruck rests slightly on top of my pouches. My current webbing setup isn’t riding nearly as low as some people’s did back in the day, but it’s also not up above ruck’s waist pad like some prefer. I find it hard to wear it up high above the waist pad when you are wearing the British style of large pouches all the way around the back.
Oh yeah, the 550 cord for attaching the suspenders/yoke to the belt is key for a number of different versions. Great comment.
Back in THE DAY when I was living out in the woods and wearing green for extended periods, I had a buttpack on the back of my LBE. I never kept it all that full, though, and if I knew I was going to be ruck-marching for awhile, I just emptied everything out of it or, if there wasn't much in there, it just tucked in above the pad on the ruck frame. It never gave me any issues.
I wore it low-slung for years because it looked cooler, but when you're doing any kind of IMT you want everything to sit really tightly (as you pointed out). I found it was easiest to go in and out of the prone if everything was really high. Some guys didn't, and more power to them.
Most of the people in my unit used ALICE clips backed up by 550 cord. I just didn't bother with the clips, and tied everything tight into the belt eyelets. The suspenders themselves got tied down in a similar manner.
I still use it all the time for hiking.
