My bag story

Long John Tinfoil · Post by **Long John Tinfoil** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:38 pm

Which is also, I guess, the story of how I stumbled into this community.

My dad was in the RCAF during WWII. He talked some about it, but never really made it a big deal - it was what men of his generation did. One thing he regretted, though, was that his mom threw out all his uniforms and most of his gear as soon as he stopped wearing them.

The only thing that I can say for sure he kept was a small webbing satchel or haversack.

When I was 10 or 11 the bag was my carry-all to summer day programs and later became, by turns, my lunchbag, gym-bag, book-bag, tool carrier, fishing bag, and general hold-all.

That webbing stuff was tough. Without any particular care it lasted 2 generations of users, until recently, which launched me on a search for a replacement and, indirectly, led me Club Obi Wan.

Interesting little space you have here.

I managed to find a replacement webbing bag at a flea market, but it wasn't quite right. Recently, though, I found this site

http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/ishop ... r2768.html

which some might find interesting. Not SA, but the webbing gear works in the real world and is tough enough to smoke highway flares.

The bag pictured on the site is what Dad brought home from the service and that I remember so fondly. I'll be getting one soon...

whipwarrior · Post by **whipwarrior** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:35 pm

Great story! The bag is one of those underappreciated and overlooked pieces of gear. Let's face it: Indy just wouldn't be Indy without it.

Long John Tinfoil · Post by **Long John Tinfoil** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:39 am

Thanx. Once you start to carry your day-to-day stuff that way it becomes pretty hard to imagine life without a bag.

The replacement I picked up looked like it might be more versatile, since it has extra attachments that convert it to a backpack, but it's really just a component from a whole web gear system and doesn't work as well on it's own as the older bag.

I see in another bag thread that there's interest in new gear suppliers. Has this one shown up yet?

http://www.frostriver.com/

rebelgtp · Post by **rebelgtp** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:10 am

whipwarrior wrote:Great story! The bag is one of those underappreciated and overlooked pieces of gear. Let's face it: Indy just wouldn't be Indy without it.

see and I find that very interesting because 1) it was my very first piece of gear that I actually sought out and bought. and 2) of all the pieces of gear it is one of the most versatile pieces of gear there is.

I have several MKs that I use for daily use and my field work.

Snakewhip_Sable · Post by **Snakewhip_Sable** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:56 pm

I have a very similar bag - it's current Canadian issue (I got it new, wrapped in plastic) and it has 'signal flares' stenciled on the outside. There are no dividers inside and I use it as a camera bag for my 16mm Bolex movie camera. It's a darker green than that one and it only has one closure strap.

I'll try to take a photo of it this evening.

Long John Tinfoil · Post by **Long John Tinfoil** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 8:44 pm

I'll look forward to seeing it. My dad's old bag was a bluish grey originally and faded to a nondescript mossy shade over the years. The replacement is apparently Belgian web gear and a sort of diarrhoea yellow - parents will recognize the shade immediately.

Snakewhip_Sable · Post by **Snakewhip_Sable** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:45 pm

Here's some bad pics of the bag I was talking about. The sun doesn't shine here anymore so this is the best I can do right now. It's actually a very dark forest green.

I didn't bother taking a pic of the inside, there are no separations, just an big open satchel. It actually saids 'satchel signals' on the top flap.

Long John Tinfoil · Post by **Long John Tinfoil** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:23 pm

So, uh, Snakewhip... what are the dimensions of that bag?

Snakewhip_Sable · Post by **Snakewhip_Sable** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:58 am

It's about the same as an MKVII. ...just a different closure, no vents, no dividers inside.