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P64 Lightweigt Rucksack waist belt for $217?


Constabulary
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Constabulary has correctly illustrated the three different waist belt/straps for the lightweight rucksack. The waist belt with Davis buckle was for the Limited Procurement Type rucksacks. The waist strap with snap hook replaced it on 20 August 1965. The last "quick release" waist strap, standardized 23 October 1970, DOES look like the LC-1 ALICE waist belt, because the LC-1 ALICE belt was developed from it.

 

The 23 October 1970 waist strap for the lightweight rucksack was originally developed during the LINCLOE program and used on most of the test field packs during the later LINCLOE trials.

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Hi sgtmonroe

About the LWT rucksack,it always confused me,Which one is the first pattern,normally called P62?

I have a FSN 8465-965-4416,as you mentioned was: with welded frame (FSN 8465-889-3773) was only produced for Counterinsurgency School use. Only 1,300 were manufactured and only with the waist belt with Davis buckle. which date:November 1962.

Another one with white label said: T-62-2, DATE :November 1962, also with info(R&E 61-25-DTE)

Pls take a look attached photos.

Thanks for you time.

 

T62-2RucksackLabel.jpg

P62LWTRUCKSACK_9.jpg

 

 

 

 

I do not know what a P64 lightweight rucksack is. Is that the Canadian version?

 

The T-62-2 lightweight rucksack with welded frame (FSN 8465-889-3773) was only produced for Counterinsurgency School use. Only 1,300 were manufactured and only with the waist belt with Davis buckle.

 

The second contract for the lightweight rucksack (with altered welded frame, FSN 8465-965-4416) was very small. I do not have the exact numbers but the contract only amounted to a few thousand units for testing and usage by USSF advisors as it was still Limited Procurement Type and not standardized. It too was issued with the waist belt with Davis buckle.

 

On 20 August 1965 the waist belt with Davis buckle was officially superceded by the nylon "quick-release" waist strap. So the waist belt with Davis buckle only existed for, at the maximum, a little over two years.

 

All in all, only a few thousand of the waist belts with Davis buckle were manufactured. The handful of the T-62-2 and Limited Procurement lightweight rucksacks I have seen for sale did not have the waist belt included with them.

 

The following link shows Craig's waist belts. At the bottom of the thread (last image) is an infamous image with a USSF Captain using the waist belt as an individual equipment belt:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...?showtopic=2545

 

It was a pretty common occurance and there are quite a few more images out there with, mostly, USSF wearing the waist belt as an individual equipment belt. I have a memo somewhere that is from a field command asking MACV (I think) where they can get some of the "high speed, low drag" USSF belts. I'll have to dig it out as it is pretty humorous since neither the field command, nor MACV, realized that the belt in question was the waist belt for the lightweight rucksack.

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About the LWT rucksack,it always confused me,Which one is the first pattern,normally called P62? Another one with white label said: T-62-2, DATE :November 1962, also with info(R&E 61-25-DTE).

Thanks for bringing this subject up. First the "P62", "P64", etc. designations are not official United States Army terminology. They are collector terms that have recently began to pop up throwing confusion on the hobby. The term "pattern" is, of course, an Imperial term, that was NEVER used by Natick during the development of the Lightweight Rucksack.

 

While researching the development of the Lightweight Rucksack for the book [thanks again to Sabrejet for the plug] I was not able to find any specific information on R&E Project 6225 / 61-25-DTE. The little information I was able to uncover was concerning R&E Project 5132 / 62-32-SF in the form of a 10 page memo from R&E to OQMG about the Lightweight Rucksack testing, request for procurement, and their intended use for the Counterinsurgency Warfare School.

 

Project Number 6225 is not mentioned, but there is a notation of 200 Lightweight Rucksacks to be procured for further testing to be included in the 1,300 procurement total [1,100 for Counterinsurgency Warfare School and an additional 200 for "test"].

 

Now, one can ASSUME that Project 5132 was for 1,100 Lightweight Rucksacks and Project 6225 was for 200 Lightweight Rucksacks for a total of 1,300. But without the memo being more specific, and no further corroborating evidence I have to go with what little I have on the two 1962 Lightweight Rucksacks in that all 1,300 ended up at the Counterinsurgency Warfare School.

 

I have seen both Project 5132 and 6225 Lightweight Rucksacks and they are identical in construction.

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