I recently purchased a pack for my wife, a medium ALICE. It's a surplus pack, with new frame, shoulder straps, kidney pad and sleeping bag straps. I loaded it up, and I've tested it myself on 2 weekend camping trips. I thought I would share my thoughts on the pack.

First of all, what's in it?

6 home-assembled MREs(with silverware packed)
Sterno folding stove
2 cans sterno fuel(4 1/2 hour collective runtime)
Coleman mess kit w/covered pot, pan and plate.
1 100 pc first aid kit, with a few personal adjustments
1 swiss army type knife
1 folding 3 1/2" pocket knife)
1 magnesium fire starter
1 waterproof match tube(w/matches, of course)
2 BIC lighters, small
1 waterproof crank flashlight
1 LED AA maglite
1 roll toilet paper, vacuum packed
bar soap, shampoo, moisturizing lotion(hotel sizes)
1 change clothes
1 wool blanket
1 foil survival blanket
2 emergency ponchos
1 roll twine
assorted lengths 550 cord
electrical tape
100 rounds 9mm
100 rounds .22lr
SCCY CPX-1 9mm
RG snub nose .22lr revolver

umm, I think that's it. That said, the pack still weighs less than 40 lbs, loaded. It's a bit difficult to get the straps adjusted to your liking, but once that's done, it's a joy to carry. the kidney pad transfers almost all the weight off your back, and it's quite balanced the way I have it loaded. The only complaint is that it's not big enough to put my blanket inside of. With that load, every compartment is full and the blanket goes on top. I don't have a good waterproof bag to put it in, so it just sits on top in the convenient sleeping bag straps. There's a nice large pocket inside the main compartment, in which I keep my first aid stuff and a few other items, up high and easy to get to. I see it's usefulness, but I would be completely content without it.

All in all, I like it. It definitely makes me want to replace my old frame pack BOB I keep for myself, but I think I'll buy a large for myself. 3 more outside pockets, a little more room inside, and you don't have to use the sleeping bag straps to hold the top flap down, the large has a snap to do that. Definitely worth the $43 I gave for it.

Trshbag would do OK for the blanket 3/4, just remember to twist up the ends, and also a trashbag over the whole pack would also help keep things dry, if needed.

no sleeping bag, tent, or tarp mentioned. shelter from wet weather or wind. I roll all my clothing tight, tight, tight like tents and sleeping bags. wrap each end with wide rubber bands to keep tight, put in gallon sized ziplocs (I use double zips), you can bail stuff out to ground fast to get to lower items with out getting other stuff wet or coming unfolded. PLUS, it stays dry in your pack even if you dont have a cover for it during rain events.

similar to my food preps, zip down to last half inch, compress and purge air, finish zipping. Likely the wool blanket gets a trashbag instead of ziploc. I use hefty contractor bags in my business, they are tough as nails for punctures. Maybe buy some ball bunjies to secure trash bag over blanket or sleeping bag and may assist in molle connections.

thank you, you gave me a idea on some thing

threequarterthrottle wrote:I see it's usefulness, but I would be completely content without it.

and you don't have to use the sleeping bag straps to hold the top flap down, the large has a snap to do that.

If you don't need it, turn your pack inside out and snip it off.

Out of 100s of pack threads, first time I've heard of "snap".
Could you post more detail?

bltjr1951 wrote:

threequarterthrottle wrote:I see it's usefulness, but I would be completely content without it.

and you don't have to use the sleeping bag straps to hold the top flap down, the large has a snap to do that.

If you don't need it, turn your pack inside out and snip it off.

Out of 100s of pack threads, first time I've heard of "snap".
Could you post more detail?

When I wrote the post, I had it in my head that the top flap on the large packs had a snap button/adjustable strap closure, as the smaller pockets do. Upon double-checking, I believe I'm wrong. It only appears to have a draw-cord, and the sleeping bag straps hold the top flap down.. Anyhow, here's a picture of the medium, just like mine. If you look at the center pocket, you can see 2 snap buttons(just like the ones on the field jackets), and the adjustable straps to cinch them down once loaded. Hope this is a little clearer.

Regarding the sleeping bag, that's what the wool blanket is for. Until the cold weather hits, that should be sufficient. I have an old pup tent, but it's just so darn heavy. If I can keep the rain from falling on me, I have the foil blanket to insulate myself from damp ground, and I can improvise shelter from the rain if need be. I'm looking for a small tent to include in the pack, but haven't yet found what I'm looking for. If I find one, I'm probably going to have to find a way to attach it via alice clips. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to know what works and fits conveniently. I currently have a tent, but I can't pack it on this BOB. It's just a standard 3-man camping tent I bought some years ago. Everything in there is compacted to the best of my ability.

If I covered the blanket with a trash bag, it would have to be mighty tough. There are lots of briars and brush in my neck of the woods, it's not uncommon for me to tear a cotton t-shirt at work while trying to make my way through thickets.

I took it on a hike for the first time early this morning. I took my LBV, sidearm, pack and MBR. I packed 45 minutes at a fast walking pace, with one 5 minute break. I believe I covered around 2 miles. All but about 500 yards was in woods, up and down the razorbacks of the ridge I live on. My pack weighs 30 lbs, my LBV about 10. My gun, loaded is about another 10, so that's 50 lbs additional weight. It packs very well, it's not exactly comfortable but it's by no means painful. I'm going to try to take that hike any time that I can spare, and hopefully I won't even notice it's there by the end of summer.

I figure you might have seen it, but if I remember right-and if I dug out my medium packs, there's a map or whatever pocket in the top flap that's closed with Velcro.

I'm trying to remember whether it's the larges or mediums that have the tunnels between the two outside pockets and the pack itself. I think it might just be the large ones, they can be used for cross country skis.

If you go to the Tactical Tailor site you can see what modifications they do to ALICE packs. Some of them can be done easily by yourself.

I've been told that some folk's packs don't have the pass through pockets. That's how I mount my small machete.

Since the manual and mod links didn't help, I'll remove them.