Fatboy Versipack

Submitted by JByrd

Check this out, I have actually carried this. My boss when I first joined carried a map case and it worked good for him. Later as a scout, I found the same to be true; it IS a functional item, and there is not enough room in a truck for patrol bags anyway, we strapped ours down in the back.

I often carried a computer, every good fire direction guy should, but later mine became a PDA.

ED -- The image may not show it well, but this is an over-the shoulder bag, similar in concept to the old Army map case.

Maxpedition, the maker of the Fatboy Versipack describes it as follows...

The Maxpedition Fatboy Versipack is more than a durable, ergonomic shoulder sling pack; it is the state-of-the-art portable gear organizer that provides secured containment for and rapid accessibility of daily equipment. The versatile main compartment has a huge 156 cu. in. of space with a water-resistant storm collar that can be deployed by pulling a cord-locked drawstring. An array of integral fixed-position external pouches retains and indexes individual pieces of gear while two sets of nylon webbing anchors accommodate MAXPEDITION's modular expansion accessories such as the CP-L Radio Holster. Each Fatboy comes with a tactile non-slip shoulder pad providing great comfort during extended use.

The Versipack comes in a variety of colors (including the digital ACU pattern) and is available in a left-hand version.

Thanks to DeanS for digging up the info on this.

Get the Maxpedition Fatboy here

Trangia Mess Kits

Submitted by Waldo

For the civvies, the equivalent is the Trangia 25-1 goes everywhere I go with a backpack.

ED -- The Trangia 25-1 is an all aluminum messkit designed to meet the cooking needs of 3-4 people.  While the kit does come with a number of pots and a frypan, it does not come with "eating" trays, so you must either eat out of the pot you cook in, or bring a eating bowl with you.  To clarify, the Trangia 25-1 messkit comes with the following:

2 Saucepans (pots) 1.5 and 1.75 liters.

1 Frying pan.

1 Alcohol fueled (sterno) stove.

1 pair of pot grippers and a binding strap to secure the whole kit.

Pair of windscreens.

Trangia is a Swedish company and their line of products appears first rate.  In addition to their basic kits they offer a wide variety of accessories, ranging from winter baseplates (for cooking on snow and ice) to liquid fuel burner attachments (which allow you to adapt the alcohol burner to run off of white gas.)

Get a Trangia 25-1 here

Battlefield Fashion

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Ok ok, I know this is outside the realm of Kit-Up since this particular item is still currently under development and it will be GI issue but I couldn’t just let it pass as soon as I found out that the Army was actually investing man-hours and tax dollars on developing this piece of battlefield technology.

In the event you don’t follow cutting edge technology like I do, you probably haven’t heard about the new tactical sling bag NATIC is working on.  Seems that the old OD green canvas, um…”alternate lifestyle sachel” (to be PC about it) has finally lost its usefulness in today’s digital asymetric battlespace.

Apparently soldiers have issue with the assault bag, which is a “daypack” you stuff with goodies like more magazines, demo, food, batteries, and maybe a poncho liner and poncho for in case you have to “bug out.”  In the old days, wearing an assault pack was a no-brainer, but now that most of what we’re doing is vehicle based (get in the truck, get out of the truck, get in the truck…) using an assault pack has become a pain in the ass.  For starters, you can’t wear it in the truck, and putting it on and taking it off not only takes time (which you might not have) but it could potentially expose you to enemy fire (if you hapopen to be doing a “hot” dismount.)  One option is to just leave it in the truck, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of taking it on a patrol.  Another option is to use a different bag, one that you can stow in front of you or behind you.

This is where the old Army map bag, a.k.a. the “Foxtrot Bravo”, comes in.  The FB was a pretty versitile bag.  The size of a large telephone book, it was durable, simple, it could hold quite a bit, and with the shoulder strap, you could stow it behind you, or hip throw it to swing it around and get something out.  Unfortunately however, it would seem that the FB is no longer up to snuff and the Army has chosen to set out building a better wheel.

Mind you, I’ve no issue with improving on the qualities and functionality of the FB, but where I get confused is in the justification that the Army used to develop their own unique product (i.e. reinventing the wheel.)  Hell, to be perfectly honest, why don’t we go back to issuing the Bag, Canvas, Field, M1936 (Musette Bag), which could be worn both as an assault pack, or a shoulder bag.

It is said that “they” evaluated a number of existing commercial bags but none of them met the criteria they had established for the bag.  Who did they check out?  Coach? Versace? Gucci? Louis Vuitton?  There have got to be dozens top quality tactical gear manufacturers out there, each producing dozens of different tactical bags. From metric to left-handed, from canvas to cordura, there is a bag out there to meet your needs.

Yet the Army, apparently, couldn’t find a bag it liked, so it built its own.  The Army also goes on to identify potential uses for the bag such as storing small electronic devices and laptops (who takes a laptop to a firefight? and what were you carrying your laptop in before the Army developed this bag?) or for medics, to store there supplies in, which would be laudable, if it wasn’t for the fact that there are already a couple of million medic bags already on the market.  Truly, after reading the Army press release, it seems almost as if the Army just developed the bag and it will be up to the soldiers in the field to figure out what to do with it.

Bottom line here is, great idea, but where I’m left lost and clueless is how this new and improved Army developed bag is going to be so much better than what’s already out there.

Thoughts?

Ka-Bar, part II (D2 tool steel variant)

Submitted by Bar

You know, if you are wanting new technology and newer steels, Ka-Bar now makes the USMC combat knife with D2 tool steel as an option.  You can still get it with the stacked leather handle or a new fangled thermal plastic job, and with a partial serration if you must have that.  (I prefer the stacked leather!  The Corps is all about traditions... like winning!)

The design of the USMC Ka-Bar is a legend and there is no need to change it.  It's an all purpose general work, utility and fighting knife that can't be beat.

Just get one with the steel upgraded to the D2 and you have a winner in my book! and it sure isn't $300 either!

ED – Bar, I did some rooting around on the Ka-Bar site for the D2 variant and found this.  I assume this is what you’re referencing.

For the uninitiated (like me, who had to look this up) D2 tool steel is a high-carbon, high-chromium air-hardened tool steel often used for blanking dies. (A blanking die is a shaped metal punch that is used to cut a specific shape out of softer metal.  Think of it as a cookie cutter from hell.)  D2 tool steel has a Rockwell HRC “hardness” rating of 59-60. This steel has excellent edge holding ability but is very difficult to process.  The standard Ka-Bar is made from 1095 carbon steel, which is somewhat “softer” with an HRC “hardness” rating of 56-58.  I would imagine that the D2 version would be more corrosion resistant than the 1095 blade, more durable and hold an edge better than the standard Ka-Bar, but I don’t know how easy it would be to re-edge it if you, God forbid, gouged or chipped the edge (I use a mill bastard file on my Kukri, but then it’s made from POS leafspring steel too…)

And you’re right, it isn’t $300, but rather $144 (from the factory) which makes it about twice as expensive as the stock Ka-Bar.

Get the D2 Tool Steel Ka-Bar knife here

Äta middag ut - Dining Out in Sweden

Submitted by J.W. Will

I have seen this mess kit labeled as a Norwegian and Swedish mess kit as well.  I purchased a Swedish model, bare aluminum, but it also came with three extra items.

1 alcohol stove
1 alcohol fuel bottle
1 metal cook stand that holds the pots above the flame, acts as a stand and base for the stove and a windbreak.

All of the above except for the stand fit inside the metal cups.  Upon first getting it I put it to the test and made a batch of impromptu chili with ground beef, dried red beans and peppers, onions and chili powder and tomatoes.  I let the beans simmer and rehydrate for several hours and then added the rest and let simmer, figure about four hours of cook time all using just the items in the mess kit.

The kit is good to go; it works well on a camp stove, its alcohol stove or the kitchen stovetop.

The stand works very well to keep your cook pots either the shallow one or the deep one so you don't have any spills.

The downside, its aluminum so it turns black from the campfire and that can be a bit messy,

Overall it’s a good piece of kit, and the cook system is leaps and bounds ahead of a canteen cup and those aftermarket canteen cup cooker/stands and trioxaine.

ED -- What you are referring to actually IS the Swedish mess kit.  I too purchased one of these while looking for a replacement/upgrade to the GI issue kit, and as you say, it comes complete with a large boiling pot, lid/frying pan, as well as a combination windscreen/cook stand and a alcohol fuel burner and fuel bottle.

I had no issue at all in cooking with this stove/mess kit combo (in fact, I still use it to cook kim-chee noodles when I visit the office) and, I agree, it’s good to go as is, right out of the box.

The only reason I selected the German mess kit over this one was the fact that the German kit comes with a second, smaller bowel/container and I did not have a ready supply of alcohol fuel in the field.  Also, the shield/cook stand was an additional source of weight (though, since it is aluminum, it isn’t really all that heavy.)

All in all though, I cannot fault your preference for this piece of kit though, and I’m pleased that you have found success with it.

Get a Swedish mess kit here