My father deals in military antiques and surplus as a hobby job in his retirement.. recently he came across a small lot of original german mtn troop rucks.. Great condition.. and the real deal.. He picked up 7 of them I believe... I advised him to register here and put them in the Cairo bazaar.. He also has a few other items of Indy interest.. same german field cap Elsa wore... some of the green Afrika Korps hats as seen in Raiders... those will be going up in there as well soon... meanwhile.. check these rucks out.. been trying to find a good one for forever !
I just checked their website and the only european ruck they offer is an Austrian one @ $89.99.. If they do in fact have the original German Mtn Troop rucks at that price, then obviously they have a good deal... As a dealer he wasn't able to find original rucks at that kind of a price... Is the one you got the actual vintage SA version or one of the newer rucks with the plastic buckles ?
OK... disregard the last post.... found them on the site.. kinda makes sense now.. after looking at borntorun's pack (with the busted buckle) and the photo on the Montana surplus site it was clear why they have such a low price.. looks like they got a hold of a lot of simply beaten old damaged surplus.. which is common in the surplus industry.. you can buy surplus at different quality levels.. their supply has definitely seen some use.. the photo of the pack they show on the site has a really mottled appearance.. the canvas has been badly stained or faded in an odd pattern... plus the leather looks to be in questionable condition as well.. I will try and get over to my father's later this week.. (have been working crazy shifts here at the police department lately with my new position).. but I will get good photos of each individual bag so if you are interested in purchasing one, you will see EXACTLY what you are getting beforehand.. that way it is not the surplus store gamble of just hoping you get one with functioning straps, buckles, and all pieces in tact..
I stopped and checked what the Billings army navy store had in stock. They are all in pretty bad shape. Leather straps missing and the bottoms were all cracked. They had 8 out and only 1 was good. All used.
Does anyone know if he ever put these up for sale?, I was in contact about one but never heard back. Sent him my email to send a pic, I was (still am) ready to buy one.
Hope all is well, we all know how things can come up un-expectly.
PM me if you have them still, I'm interested.
Croft