KotCS Backpack (UPDATED thread on Germany Army Rucksack!)

IndyRiv · Post by **IndyRiv** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:30 am

InexorableTash wrote:Guess what kind of backpack the character Shane was wearing in tonight's episode of The Walking Dead?

You beat me to it InexortableTash!

I could tell the bag right away but still couldn't believe my eyes at what I was seeing.

nihil · Post by **nihil** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 10:01 am

Hi everyone. It seems my colleague is very slow at getting the labels done. Therefore, unless you can wait until next year-ish, I suggest you get the bags without the label. Sorry for the waiting time.

Bemo · Post by **Bemo** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:53 pm

So are you making a reservation list for bags with and without the tag?

IndyJedi · Post by **IndyJedi** » Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:05 pm

I can do without the label.

Post by **Holt** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:45 pm

here is the one I am thinking of getting. it's the norwegian army rucksack. it's a top shelf made backpack. pretty SA to.

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:36 pm

I'm fine with waiting...Next year isn't so far away....

Unless Michael is still selling his patches separately? In which case, that might work too? Tundra? What say you good sir?

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:19 pm

Bemo :

So are you making a reservation list for bags with and without the tag?

Curious if you still have a source, with out label.
Price for rucksack with shipping

Croft

nihil · Post by **nihil** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 4:38 am

I got some in stock without labels. Just write me and I'll sort you out. If stock runs out, I'll make a new reservation list

Christian Jones · Post by **Christian Jones** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:29 am

Here's my rucksack with my home made label :

Thank you nihil, I love it

.

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:30 pm

Just ordered my bag from Mikkel. I'm looking forward to its arrival.

Christian Jones · Post by **Christian Jones** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 7:54 am

Tundrarider wrote:Nice work, Christian!!!

For me, the label really accents the bag and gives it some personal character. (Which is the purpose of a monogram in the first place! )

Michael

Thank you Michael

. And I agree on the label, also looks more screen accurate too

.

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:36 am

Nihil.....

HIGHLY impressive rucksack mate! Thanks so much for the speedy delivery to Japan too! Less than a week! I'm impressed!

The ruck itself is a delight....Feels solid enough to load a lot of stuff into for walking and the straps are very comfortable too..The new details are lovely too...Very well made gear all in all! And at the price Nihil sells at, VERY good gear...Thank you sir!

Some more photos for those out there who are undecided....

The bag from the front:

Close up of the side pocket:

The straps:

The other side with the Mil-Tec logo:

Very cool bag....Now all I need to do is find someone who knows how to make the "HJ" tags!

Regards..

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:49 pm

I too have one on order, can't wait. $\:D/$

Croft

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:03 pm

They really are great quality....I like the pockets...the side ones have a space between the main bag and the pocket itself (possibly to insert picks, weapons, umbrellas etc..LOL), which makes the pack really kinda useful for carrying longer objects too...It's easy to see Indy using something like this for real...The pockets inside are cool too..A big deep "main" pocket, and a smaller document pocket as well...With string draws for the closure....The straps are very comfortable to wear as well...Great stuff!

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:21 am

Skis eh? I had figured on work tools....Cool!

I think they make a lot of sense...They could even carry bottles of water at a pinch...Rather a clever design all in all....

Oh, out of interest, Michael, do you still make the "HJ" tags at all?

nihil · Post by **nihil** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:55 pm

Some news about the backpacks:

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=52555&p=760026#p760026

Sorry for the semi-advertising, but I don't got a clue about how to get the message across otherwise.

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:14 am

Thank you Sir.

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:16 pm

Woohoo my wife just called asking what I bought from Denmark! When I told her she just laugh and said I'm obsessed. I replied, 'whats your point?'.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 1:45 am

Love the bag! One question how does the waist strap connect when you have both ends having the same metal connector? Is this a design feature for either a left or right hand person by cutting the opposite connector off?

nihil · Post by **nihil** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:23 am

I think it's a design mistake. If you wanted it to go to the opposite side, you could just take the strap out (only held in place by a few loops), and put it back in the other way.

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:09 am

Soooooo, guess what my son bought from a yard sale this morning? FOR $1!!!!!!!!!!

Not a repro, this one is the real deal!!! I'm cleaning it up a little bit and treating the straps with conditioner right now, but more pics are coming.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:54 am

That is incredible!!!!

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:49 pm

Hollowpond wrote:Soooooo, guess what my son bought from a yard sale this morning? FOR $1!!!!!!!!!!

Not a repro, this one is the real deal!!! I'm cleaning it up a little bit and treating the straps with conditioner right now, but more pics are coming.

Don't you just love miracles!

Is the bottom outside rubberized, I can't see it in the photo?

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:16 pm

No, its not rubberized. I believe that's not SA, but I really don't care. I also have NO intention of putting a tag up there either

(actually I say "I" when I should say "he"...it is my son's bag). Its a REALLY cool original vintage bag and I (he) love it!!!

Funny part about this is; I was not with my 10 year old son when he bought it. HE found it, recognized it and bought it! Gotta love that gearhead gene!

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:39 pm

Sweet deal, and you son has a great eye.

I'll be seliing off my orriginal I bought from Jens a few years back, I distressed to the point of no return. Still solid, but I had to re-dye it so to speak.

Learned my lesson I did.

Croft

Hollowpond · Post by **Hollowpond** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 4:28 pm

I will do that Michael! I actually prefer this look over the other as well. Its been a cool day to be a gearhead!

Bemo · Post by **Bemo** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:42 pm

What a great story! Congrats!

wwtwo · Post by **wwtwo** » Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:17 pm

Gentlemen and Ladies,
I thought I would add my two cents to the KotCS rucksack thread. I bought a German Army bag at an Army/Navy store in Tampa back in the early 90s and used it carting books for school, traveling and pretty much everything. I'd long been an Indy fan and had been on a quest for Indy gear since Raiders. When Indy IV came out I thought I recognized MY bag. So! After years and years trying my best to emulate Indy's look and gear, he ends up using MY bag! The nerve!

Unfortunately, I may have retired the bag long ago and after 14 years in the Marines it may be buried in the desert.

I wish I had a better picture, but if you look really closely, you just might see it! The picture was taken at the Acropolis in 1997 with my good friend, Charles. That's me on the right. BTW: kindly observe my GH Bass Boots which were the nearest I could find to Indy boots back then. They were excellent boots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70817127@N ... hotostream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(hopefully flickr works - it is my first go at it)

Cheers!
-W

wwtwo · Post by **wwtwo** » Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:51 pm

Tundrarider wrote:That's a great story! Though it's a shame you no longer have the Rucksack, at least you have a great photo with it!

Michael

Yes! Too bad...! Sometimes I go a little Goodwill crazy and it ends up biting me in the rear later.

Thanks. The stories are what make this hobby interesting. I spent a large portion of two trips to Europe ducking in to every shoe store looking for Indy boots (much to my traveling companions' chagrin), because at that point I had no idea who made them. I even called Paramount from Florida in 1990 looking for Anthony Powell's contact information just so I could ask who made the boots! Boy, was I a rookie...

It's amazing what the internet has done for us!

Regards,
- William

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:03 pm

(A small update)

The bag is lovely....I've used it for two treks so far in the last week or so...Both north towards Saitama...(It's cool in Japan now, and lovely weather to walk...And no ravenous mosquitos helps some too..), and the bag has shown it's value...

I also asked a friend of mine here in Japan if he could help with my "HJ" tag, since my leather working skills aren't great, and I wouldn't have known where to start...(Thanks Moto!)..He was busy at the time, but he emailed me and said he'd try and get it done and I heard yesterday that despite being busy he'd found the time to make one for me and already sent it off!

When it arrives and I've sewn it into place I'll get some photos up here perhaps, but basically I just wanted to say that Indygear mates REALLY rule!!! His kindness was DEEPLY appreciated (he said "Christmas present!") and I am VERY glad that I was able to meet people like that who are kind enough to help out for Indy mates...

I was very impressed....

Will post pics when it all arrives!

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:31 pm

Okay!

Well, despite not being able to get Tundraraiders great labels, I was able to make contact with a man in Japan who came through with a great label and sent it over to me in record time! It arrived yesterday and I found time after some light Christmas shopping in town this morning to sit down and get it sewn into place!

I'm rather happy with the overall turn out! I'll need to wear it in some (using the method I've used for all my distressing.."Wearing and tearing naturally"), but I'm delighted with the way it worked out!

Thank you very much Ito san...This tag makes the bag work, and for all your kindness, I can't say enough...Thank you my good friend.

(本当に有難うで御座る！素敵なバッグになって助けてくれて有難う！)　
{the same in Japanese essentially}

Here's the pic I'd promised! And thanks also to Nihil for the great bag!

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Fri Dec 02, 2011 7:38 pm

Thanks Michael!

Your words are appreciated! I like the colours being the same as the straps, but the straps are pale green on mine, and I'm not sure the colours would suit so much? So I was glad that Ito san chose the darker brown leather...It's not SA perhaps? (Although it's hard to tell...I've been straining to look on the Blu-Ray, but so far nothing decisive..), but it suits the bag a little more for this one I think!

Sewing it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped...LOL...But that's because I'm a pathetic sewer..

Regards Sir!

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:27 am

Yeah, totally...

Indy being Indy, I'd imagine he'd have used something that looked a lot more like yours do than a simple print pattern or a written on pattern...The etching shows a little more "class" that I feel Indy probably would have appreciated...But like you said, it's not clear from the film, so anything close is fine..(This time!)..

As for colouring, well..I think the two natural choices would have to be the same as the leather straps, or a colour that complimented the bag/straps which would mean a darker colour like brown or dark green perhaps? But again, we don't know for sure, so you can have a lot of room to move..

And let's face it, even if we HAD the original tag in our hands, some people would STILL say the colouring was "off" and the pattern was "wrong"...Heh..So..Basically, SA can fly...I'm more than happy getting the flavour of it and as close as I can in "spirit"...That's the main thing for me..And I do feel I covered that with the bag!

It's always rather hard to hit it on the button eh? But I think your tags are what he "would have chosen", if he was a real person and had any taste at all (which we know he did...Look at his house!)..

Regards!

wwtwo · Post by **wwtwo** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:22 pm

wwtwo wrote:Gentlemen and Ladies,
I thought I would add my two cents to the KotCS rucksack thread. I bought a German Army bag at an Army/Navy store in Tampa back in the early 90s and used it carting books for school, traveling and pretty much everything. I'd long been an Indy fan and had been on a quest for Indy gear since Raiders. When Indy IV came out I thought I recognized MY bag. So! After years and years trying my best to emulate Indy's look and gear, he ends up using MY bag! The nerve!

Unfortunately, I may have retired the bag long ago and after 14 years in the Marines it may be buried in the desert.

I wish I had a better picture, but if you look really closely, you just might see it! The picture was taken at the Acropolis in 1997 with my good friend, Charles. That's me on the right. BTW: kindly observe my GH Bass Boots which were the nearest I could find to Indy boots back then. They were excellent boots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70817127@N ... hotostream" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(hopefully flickr works - it is my first go at it)

Cheers!
-W

All,
I just found another picture of my rucksack taken in 1997 and before it hit the big screen. http://www.flickr.com/photos/70817127@N ... 8990081011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,
Two

morethanatimelord · Post by **morethanatimelord** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:54 am

This is a bag i got from a seller on ebay UK for 29.99. I think the quality is great, the leather is quite thick,material is good and each bag flap has a waterproof lining on the inside.

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:18 am

That's one great find at that price. Is it a repro?

morethanatimelord · Post by **morethanatimelord** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:40 am

Tennessee Smith wrote:That's one great find at that price. Is it a repro?

Yes its repro. I still have the link in my ebay i believe, im i allowed to post it here?

Post by **Tennessee Smith** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:14 am

Yeah, since it's closed you can.

morethanatimelord · Post by **morethanatimelord** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:19 am

Thanks

This is where i bought mine from. The straps in the photo look a lot darker than mine, but for the price i think the quality is good. Just wish i had a HJ label to finish it off

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300613080741? ... 1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mourazav · Post by **mourazav** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:13 pm

Hey guys, I've been on here for quite some time but haven't really jumped in on anything.

I ordered one of nihil's bags a few weeks ago and was wondering how long it took for them to arrive in the States? Just out of curiosity. I'm scheduled to go on a trip and I really wanted to bring it with me. I'm just hoping it arrives in time.

- Zav

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:18 pm

mourazav wrote:Hey guys, I've been on here for quite some time but haven't really jumped in on anything.

I ordered one of nihil's bags a few weeks ago and was wondering how long it took for them to arrive in the States? Just out of curiosity. I'm scheduled to go on a trip and I really wanted to bring it with me. I'm just hoping it arrives in time.

- Zav

Looking at the previous page of this thread I ordered mine 11/5 and it arrived 11/17. He shipped it right away.

mourazav · Post by **mourazav** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:32 pm

Weird. I know he shipped it out I'm just wondering if it got caught up in customs or if something happened. Has this happened to anyone else?

Kinda getting nervous

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:36 pm

yoshinori hatakeyama wrote:HOW ABOUT THIS?

Taking this picture into Photoshop and lining up the original strap to the longer one it looks like they are about half again longer.
My original measures 15" so doing the math I get, 15 x 1.5 = 22.5"
So I'm going to guess they went with 24". Sound right?

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:51 pm

morethanatimelord wrote:This is a bag i got from a seller on ebay UK for 29.99. I think the quality is great, the leather is quite thick,material is good and each bag flap has a waterproof lining on the inside.

That appears to be the Max Fuchs bag. I have the Mil-Tec and was interested in the MF bag because it appears browner. The Mil-Tec is very nicely built but is more olive color. Can you take some more pictures of your bag from all angles?

http://www.max-fuchs.de/cgi-bin/iboshop ... 30,,30303B

It looks like on the Military 1st website they sell for £24.99 and £22.00 to ship to the US.
£46.99 total or $75.00

http://www.military1st.co.uk/30303b-ger ... olive.html

IndyRiv · Post by **IndyRiv** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:14 am

I think, if I recall right, the MFH bag is the one with the "pleather" straps. I owned one of them at one time (but don't have any pics of it anymore) and wasn't impressed by it at all. The pleather is very thin and seemed as though if you strained the straps even the slightest, you'd snap a big chunk off the strap. Just not good quality - the straps that is.

Everything else, however, was just great and if one could replace all the straps with thicker leather, this would make a great CS rucksack as, indeed, you are correct Lantzn that the bag is more of a brown rather than olive like most of the other German rucksacks out there.

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:29 pm

IndyRiv wrote:I think, if I recall right, the MFH bag is the one with the "pleather" straps. I owned one of them at one time (but don't have any pics of it anymore) and wasn't impressed by it at all. The pleather is very thin and seemed as though if you strained the straps even the slightest, you'd snap a big chunk off the strap. Just not good quality - the straps that is.

Everything else, however, was just great and if one could replace all the straps with thicker leather, this would make a great CS rucksack as, indeed, you are correct Lantzn that the bag is more of a brown rather than olive like most of the other German rucksacks out there.

I went ahead and ordered one to see the quality next too my Mil-Tec and your originals from 1984.

On another note I removed one of my front straps and made a chipboard template based on what I saw on my HDTV of the longer strap. There a great shot of it just as Indy walks up to Mutt siting on his bike. The template ended up being 26" long. Even if someone wanted to shorten it having it a little longer is better I noticed its a green paint over white and they distress it so the white comes through in places. I'm going to try and see if this leather exists or if it's a paint job.

Update: Here's a screenshot of the longer strap.

lantzn · Post by **lantzn** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:44 am

Tundrarider wrote:]Have you handled an original bag, Lantz? On the ones I've seen, the leather itself is actually quite white and I agree, the green seems more like a paint then a dye.

The leather I use for my labels is a natural tan, so I always paint the edges of the label a "dirty white" so the label matches the straps.

You can see the white leather edges on the straps in the pic at the top of this page.

Michael

Michael,
Yeah the leather does have something like a whitewash to it. Even the fibrous back has a pale greenish-white color and the edges are white.

I noticed those doing the duplicating above have tan backs so I'm assuming they are just paint the face of the leather with white then green to get the same look as well.

youngjedi71 · Post by **youngjedi71** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:31 pm

Can someone tell me how we get the "look" for this bag when there arent really any good clear pics of it in the movie? Does someone just know the brand and make? OR do you just kind of take bits and pieces and make OR buy whats close? Not looking to get one,just interested in how you are going about it..Thanks

fifthchamber · Post by **fifthchamber** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:55 pm

Mike..

The bag was identified as a German Army Rucksack... There's no denying the shape is exact, as are the smaller identifying features... There are several makers of them still in production (Like the Mark VII's... Many different makers, but all to a certain military spec I suspect), and the one I have is a "Mil-Tec" bag.. Which is a very good one, but the design is one used by the German army and not especially hard to come by... (Online anyway..)

You can see enough of the bag in the screenshots and film itself to identify it... Despite there not being any close and lingering shots of it... There's very little doubt about what bag it was...

All the ones in this thread follow the same design, and all are "German army" rucks....

Indiana Bond · Post by **Indiana Bond** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:51 am

Hmmmm.... Read We Must Young Jedi....