This pack:
This is the legendary Norwegian army "Telemark" Pack. I say legendary, because this pack was dragged along by Kirk Douglas himself in the 1965 movie "The heroes of Telemark":
Here's a really blurry picture of that:
History:
The Pack was first introduced to Norwegian troops in the 50's or 60's, but is still issued today.
It was doubt Ludvig by the troops as a loving nickname to a pack that quickly gained popularity with the troops.
As time passed, the Norwegian army realized that the pack was a keeper, and instead of issuing new designs, they just kept updating the old Ludvig. As far as i know three different versions exist:
The oldest versions of this pack was made of grey cotton.
The newer version of the old version is made of green cotton, like the one i have.
The newest version of the pack is made of a greenish nylon.
How is it?
The pack is an external frame pack with an aluminium(Update, so i discovered, that it's acutally steel, so read STEEL on the picture!), external skeleton:
leather shoulder straps, and a canvas backrest.
The steel skeleton is very rugged, and you don't hardly notice it if you were a thick shirt and a light jacket. But be aware, this is not a pack made for summer, this pack, was made to be worn outside heavy army clothing. But if you don't mind feeling the pack on your back, this shouldn't bother you.
The Skeleton is obviously made to last, and if you take care of your pack this will probably outlast you.
On a side note: you can actually fairly easily take of the pack and where the frame by it self. This is very handy if you are out looking for fire wood, as you can just strap it right on the frame and carry it back to camp.
The leather shoulder straps are excellent. they are the perfect width and can be adjusted freely with a really simple system.
The Canvas backrest provides very nice protection of your back, sparing it from the horrors of coming into direct contact with the external frame. The backrest is also very rugged, and doesn't seem like its going to break in the immediate future.
All these things makes up a very rugged and cool looking pack that even though it doesn't have hip support is easily one of the most comfortable external frame packs i have ever tried.
What else?
The pack has side pockets, really big side pockets, let me illustrate:
The side pocket in the picture, one of 2 on the pack, contains one Nalgene 1 liter bottle, and there is still room to spare. These pockets have crazy amounts of room. This is really cool, since you will be able to keep a tarp in there or maybe a shirt, even a light jacket.
There is room behind the pocket to keep a trenchtool or an axe, and a leather strap above it to hold the item in place. A really nice detail that makes the pack look really cool, while providing easy access to your axe or Trenchtool. (Note: The room behind the two pockets was probably intended for skies):
The mechanism for closing the pack is simple cord and it works surprisingly well:
Negatives?
The pack is about 50 liters, and that's pretty darn awesome.. But.
It's to large to have small amounts of gear with you.
Just this day i had packed it, ready for school, carrying a small amount of books. Just as i thought i had secured all of my books completely i picked up the pack, and the entire content shifted forward away from my back. This was pretty annoying, but because of the build of the pack, it wasn't uncomfortable as such
Price and where to get it?
I got mine for 20 EUR(25$ and 17£) on a finnish webside: http://www.varusteleka.fi/en/
If you live in the States, or anywhere ells for that matter, i would really suggest checking out The Norwegian Army Pack here, at Keepshooting.com they have it for 21.95$, plus a bunch of other packs for very little money.
You should never ever pay more that 20EUR, as these are not very rare.
So whats the verdict?
This is a great pack, very rugged, it just looks mean. When you look at it, it's pretty much telling you, that if you tried something it could take you down with a roundhouse kick to the face. And keep in mind that the Norwegian army is still issuing these to their troops,and THEY LOVE IT! It's just that good.
Its dirt cheap to!
This being said, it could use some modding, so it became better at small loads.
I give it 5 Mustaches out of 6.
Chris
Please like the site "Surplus Mania" on facebook to get updates and notification on when the new reviews are posted!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SurplusMania
