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My Vietnam Era LW Rucksack Set up


Austringer
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This is my set up for a LW Tropical rucksack. Have attached shelter half, poncho, poncho liner, M72 and 2 canteens. how does she look? Any suggestions?

post-3718-1245003849.jpg

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YankeeDiv26

Do I see a machette handle in there as well?

 

She looks good, real good. I especially like the M72 (most people use A1's and on, which I dont like) I'd lose the shelter half though as hardly anyone humped them in the field.

 

 

Not to steal your thunder, but here's mine.

 

LightweightRuck1.jpg

 

LightweightRuck2.jpg

 

LightweightRuck4.jpg

 

Any questions, comments, or criticisms welcome!

 

-Tim

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real nice jobs on the rucks guys,i also like the L.A.W on the flap to..as YankeeDiv26 said D.X. the half tent use the poncho to make a hootch...most if not all 11B's to this day just use a poncho or two to make a hootch...hey YankeeDiv26 is that machette and scabbard on your ruck a british patteren -44 ,it does'nt look U.S. but looks real good on the ruck no less..also like the rats in the sock by the way....vince g. 11b inf....

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real nice jobs on the rucks guys,i also like the L.A.W on the flap to..as YankeeDiv26 said D.X. the half tent use the poncho to make a hootch...most if not all 11B's to this day just use a poncho or two to make a hootch...hey YankeeDiv26 is that machette and scabbard on your ruck a british patteren -44 ,it does'nt look U.S. but looks real good on the ruck no less..also like the rats in the sock by the way....vince g. 11b inf....

 

Hold up, is that an Australian bush whacker?

 

The pack looks ACES!

 

T-Bone

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Looks good, where can I get a LAW?

 

Took me a while to find an original, just have to keep looking

 

Jason

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The Meatcan

lots of cool looking ruck setups there gents! :thumbsup:

how hard is it to find an inert smoke grenade?

Terry

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Hold up, is that an Australian bush whacker?

 

The pack looks ACES!

 

T-Bone

 

 

I thought it looked like a WW1 1917 bolo handle??

 

Any rate great looking set up guys!!!!!

 

RD

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how hard is it to find an inert smoke grenade?

Terry

 

You know, it is one of those things that if I had known, I could have had thousands, but who would have thunk. Now, they are hard to find as you don't see them in training like you used to. Going to AT in a few weeks, you can bet I'll keep an eye open now.

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YankeeDiv26
real nice jobs on the rucks guys,i also like the L.A.W on the flap to..as YankeeDiv26 said D.X. the half tent use the poncho to make a hootch...most if not all 11B's to this day just use a poncho or two to make a hootch...hey YankeeDiv26 is that machette and scabbard on your ruck a british patteren -44 ,it does'nt look U.S. but looks real good on the ruck no less..also like the rats in the sock by the way....vince g. 11b inf....

 

 

Yep, it's a brit made one, '44 dated. Good eye, not many people notice that!

 

The modern M18 smokes are different than the vietnam era ones. Vietnam era ones just have the lip around the top and post-vietnam ones have a little ridge AND a lip around the top (kinda like on a beer can). I think www.oldsargesdropzone.com sells post-vietnam used M18's for pretty cheap by the dozen.

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When would a smoke grenade with a brass neck for fuze and 4 vents on top one on bottom be from? I heard they were early ones but not sure.

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When would a smoke grenade with a brass neck for fuze and 4 vents on top one on bottom be from? I heard they were early ones but not sure.

 

 

I changed my setup around a little bit. Lost the shelter half, added a buttpack, a demo bag satchel charge bag. I also moved the canteens down and forward on the bag. the knife is a 1917 bolo, I just love them and a good friend of mine in the 82nd during 64-69 said that he did see several guys using them in country.

 

 

 

Not as heavy as I thought.

post-3718-1245199210.jpg

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  • 5 years later...
DeltaRecon226

I realize this thread hasn't seen a post in five years, but it's a good one so I thought I'd try and revitalize it.

 

My 1968 Tropical Rucksack with a P68 Lightweight Rucksack Frame. I've got a bag for the P68, but it has to share the frame with the Tropical Ruck.

 

15003467872_f0f4bff530.jpg

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Those rucks were designed with an opening behind the pockets to slide a machete/sheath through to hook the M1910 belt hook to the eyelets. ALICE packs are the same way. You lose that machete the way it's hung. That first pic did look like it had an M1910/or M1917 Bolo attached. SKIP

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  • 2 weeks later...

A word on these awesome ruck displays:

 

I see a lot of people here with some great stuff. But there is a bit of a divide between accuracy and collector desire. A key thing to remember when you are doing a display/ reinactor piece is to constantly ask yourself: Would I hump this on patrol? I know we collectors have spent years and years gathering our goodies and are itching to show them off, but as soon as you look through the reality lens you will start dropping a lot of gear. E-tools, US issue machetes, and other cool goodies are fun to display but most were not carried. The US issue machete was too light to cut through elephant grass. But it looks cool. So try to figure out if you are going for a accurate display of a guy in a field, or a showcase of cool gear. This is a word to the wise, no harm or discourse intended. These are fun displays, and keep them coming!

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I'm not sure that's entirely true. SOPs vary greatly depending on what type of unit we're talking about, what the mission was and what year it was. These rucks are intended to be leg infantry rucksacks around 1967-69 and virtually every grunt carried a machete/etool out in the field at that time. They were essential tools for them, clearing LZs, sleeping areas etc etc. Every night when the company stopped they'd have to clear a perimeter out using their machetes/etools. Etools did become less common towards the end of our ground involvement but M60 crews carried them for digging emplacements at night even into the 70s. Now for LRRPS/recon guys, not so much. that stuff would be dead weight to them. Rucksack items I see as unnecessary are things like gas masks/shelter halves. More than anything I think internal comfort items like spare uniforms/underwear/portable radios etc are the least realistic items people put in rucks.

 

 

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