Two projects I completed some time ago but had not got around to photographing.
The first project was to experiment with some textilage on rucksacs. For this I used a British army “Northern Ireland” patrol pack and a larger rucksac. I found a company that sells half a kilo of camouflage material strips. Most are PU MTP pattern and unlike most MTP there is good contrast between the colour elements. Strips of hessian cloth or cord are also used. Note the variation in DPM colours. This is particularly notable between the large pack and its side pouches.
This is the large pack. Note that the side pouches can be removed. More on this later.
Harness side. The shoulder straps have a strap sewn down them in loops. These allow strips of fabric to be easily applied.
“Public” side of the large pack. Some netting, brown on one side and green on the other, has been added to the lid. This does not show up much against the DPM, but can be used for attaching natural materials. Note that there are are additional “ladder” straps down the outside. More textilage could be attached to these to further break up the shape.
Patrol pack, harness side. The shoulder straps lacked a looped narrower strap. Instead a length of paracord was zig-zagged down the padding and sewn at the curves. As you can see, the paracord is totally hidden by the textilage and the shoulder straps themselves are well concealed.
Public side of the patrol pack. Textilage added to the pack top to break up the shape. The top photo is the standard configuration. The side pockets are well constructed with a waterproof lining and drawcord top, the latter in DPM PU. Unlike the side pockets of the larger pack, these cannot be be detached. This feature may have been added to later versions of the Northern Ireland.
This photo (above) shows my second project. This pack has been modified so that a pair of the detachable side pouches can be attached. This can simply be achieved with some lengths of 20mm webbing and 20mm buckles.
Side pouches rigged for independent use.
Side pouches with their harness. The entire thing can be clipped to the patrol pack without needing to be disassembled.
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