The Pack:
History
The history of Swiss military gear is pretty straight forward. In 1957, they launched the TAZ 57 system, new jacket, new trousers, new pack, awesome! In 1983 they launched the TAZ 83 system, new jacket, new trousers, new pack, again pretty cool! Then in 1990 they launched the TAZ 90 system which looks like this:
Also new Jacket, new trousers and a new pack!
The Swiss military have experimented a lot over the years with their packs, and haven't really settled for one type, but rather gone in very different directions every time a new uniform system was issued.
In 1957 the pack was made from really soft and floppy cotton and the pack attached directly unto the combat jacket, this actually works surprisingly well, but more on that another day.
In 1983 the pack was made from heavy duty rubberized nylon with a skeleton of steel. This time the pack was 100% waterproof, but suffered because of the heavy weight.
Then in 1990 the Swiss made a hybrid of the two, taking the best features from the old and the new packs and combining them into a Pack that is both lightweight and waterproof.
I believe that the point of the TAZ 90 pack is to function as a travel bag, as all the photos and videos i have found of the Swiss Army never includes this sweet ass pack when the Swiss army is out on maneuvers. Take a look for yourself in this highly educational and serious documentary:
Onwards!
The Pack:
The Pack is made from some sort of "Wunder" material, it's feels like rubberized nylon but seems a bit more lightweight. It's also comfortable to the touch and seems really sturdy.
The Pack in itself is just a square rubber box, with shoulder straps included. It does have some additional features that makes it extra sweet.
The first that you probably noticed is the web-like substance on the front, this is actually meant for keeping you helmet in place when out marching around, or when you are in transit, but as you can see, it works just as well as a place to keep my cooking-kit. AND as an added bonus it makes the pack look cool as Fack!
The web-shit opens with two regular, but heavy duty plastic buckles:
On the sides we have two of these babies:
Each of the pouches are about one liter, and my Nalgene Bottle fits snugly(Yeah that's right i said Snugly, deal with it) inside. The pouches closes with the "Spanish Fly" system which i really don't trust, as it almost seems like black magic. Nothing that opens this smoothly can possibly be secure:
The back of the pack is not particularly well padded and combine this with the rubber material, you would, in any other case, have the recipe for a disastrous Pack, but the Swiss have got you back! Literally.
This is strange to me, as this is usually the time where i start screaming about poor work ethics and what a shitty job the army did, but not this time! The Swiss are world renowned for their workmanship and you really get a feeling that someone actually thought this pack trough.
So what the designer did was add this cushion-thing to the lower part of the pack. This keeps the pack feeling comfortable, and it allows for you to wear the pack without dying of dehydration! What a grand design!
When the Swiss designed this pack there seems to have been one important issue that needed to be fixed:
KEEPING SHIT FROM FALLING OUT
Why do i say this? Well the main compartment of the pack is probably as secure as the color black as a fashion choice. let me run you through it:
Step one in
KEEPING YOUR SHIT FROM FALLING OUT:
The lid. The lid seems pretty standard, and it is. It's a big flap, kept in place by two medium sized plastic buckles:
Step II:
The buckles. When you open the lid you are met by an amazing site.
TWO! side flaps, buckled on the middle, AND a compression strap, also buckled in the middle, makes everything doubly secure. NOTHING is going to fall out of this pack.
Step 3:
Insanity. As if the front flap, side flaps and compression strap wasn't enough for these Swiss bastards, they also added a Snow guard, which is also secured additionally by one of those things you press to make string go trough it:
And there you have it! Shit. kept. in. Place.
The shoulder straps are perfect for the pack, and are well padded:
They are also attached to the bottom part of the pack with this really cool-looking, quick-release system, It's almost asking me to try and brake it, even though it knows i most certainly will fail:
So.. Uhh.. Anything, you know, Special?
Well, a couple of small things.
You have this strap:
Located on top of the pack, which looks really cool when you add a ton of Carbines to it!
Also!
On the either side of the pack are two compression straps, which are designed in such a way that they don't actually destroy the things in your pack, but just makes it more stable to wear.
Negatives:
One thing! Only one this time, but it's kinda big from a civilian point of view.
When you are in the army you tend to wear one of these things:
When a civilian, Not so much..
But being army issued, the pack has two of these things:
These are meant to be attached to your combat belt to take some of the load of your shoulders.
The system works really well, if you wear a combat belt, but if you don't, the straps are only going to be in the way.
This might seem like a tiny detail, but it irritates the shit out of me when i wear the pack.
Buy it. Where?
The pack was 9.90 Euros(13$ and 8£) at Raeer.com which is probably the best place to get one right know, if you live in Europe.
These seem to come and go on ebay, but i have seen them at the reasonable price of 6£(7 Euros or 10$).
But are priced at 30£(50$ or 36 Euros), this however is way to high of a price and you should never pay this much. The pack is pretty common in surplus stores, but being current issue, the stocks are not constant.
Verdict
I like this pack, it makes me happy. It radiates quality, and it can take a beating like a champ. It's almost entirely waterproof, and what ever stuff you put in it, is going to stay in it, trust me.
The only negative is the additional load straps, but with a little modding these, can of course, be removed.
overall a really freaking awesome pack.
I give it five Swiss Soldiers Extraordinaire out of six.
Thanks for reading
Chris
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