Russian Veschmeshok

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The one and only, Veschmeshok!
Made famous by the Russian troops during World War 2:

Used during and after the coldwar:

Even today!

'

History:

The history of the Veschmeshok is kinda cloudy, as i have had no luck in finding any sources explaining when it was issued. BUT! i did find this picture:

In the picture are troops of the Imperial Russian Army, meaning pre. 1916 Russians, and the Veschmeshok is not on here. I have therefore concluded that it was not standard issue in the Russian army before, at least, the 1920's or 30's. 

The pack in it self is about as simple as it gets. When first issued it was just a plain, roughly spun, sack with a strap sewn to it. but as time went on, the Russian army decided to upgrade the old packs instead of developing new and wearable ones. "Why exchange shit, when you can just make it less shitty!?" seems to be the slogan of the Russian army in this case. 

The service record of this pack is quite impressive, i have to say. Serving with the Russian army for almost, or maybe even more, than a hundred years. Seeing action in almost every conflict since the Russian revolution. I can almost here the cry of one hundred years worth of Russian soldiers, shhh, listen closely and you might as well.. "WHAT THE F*** IS THIS!?"

The Pack:

So the pack i got is a modern version of the old classic, meaning it has some additional features that you won't find on the original, but i will get to those in a minute.

First and foremost, this is a sack, a rough cotton sack, but none the less, a sack:  

It is, as you can see, just a rectangular piece of cotton cloth, folded and sewn together in the sides. Where you then attach a long piece of cotton fabric to act as the shoulder straps in a rather ingenious way.

On the front of the pack, the Russians have made some additions to the original design.

They have added a small pocket, close-able with a standard button. the pocket is quite small and was probably added as a place to keep personal items, party papers, or maybe even a map! 

Below that you have a leather name-tag holder, covered in hard plastic. Which, unlike the one on the Polish combat pack, actually has water shedding capabilities.  

Carrying system.

Alright here we go. The carrying system is the one thing that actually makes the Veschmeshok kinda cool, and doesn't banish it to that very special place, where all the other terrible packs come to die, and probably also the reason for its long service record:

So the carrying strap is sort of "tied" around the top. This, in it self, sound pretty simple, but the ingenious part is this: when tied correctly, the knot becomes tighter the more pressure is added to the straps, meaning that it doesn't open when you carry it around and spill all your stuff out on the ground, and when you wanna open it, it's really easy! This is so fricking ingenious! Had the inventor of this not been living in the soviet union, he would have made dozens of rubles!

Extra Features:

I have 3 things for you, one of them a little tame, so lets start with that!!! WUUUHH!

The designer added some pretty rough string, as a means of closing the pack before attaching the shoulder straps! Facking awesome! What a great blog this is! Always pushing the limits of what you can and cannot write about string on the internet! Moving on..

At some point the Russians decided that the troops didn't have to carry their blankets across their chests as they had been doing for centuries, but might as well carry them on the pack, and thus the side straps were introduced into the glorious soviet empire! These are in all seriousness actually pretty rugged and really useful, as they can be tightened a lot, so you'll be able to carry, for example, an ax with you, if Ya Want To.

Final thing is the sternum strap, which is so good its terrible. I'll explain. The shoulder-straps are padded, wide, and overall pretty good. The Sack is without back support, and there is a bigger possibility of you packing it wrong than right, overall it's below average. The Sternum strap is wide, has a great tightening mechanism and is probably the best made thing on the pack. BUT WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!! GET TO THE POINT! I will. The strap is too good for this pack, and that makes it terrible. because of the built of the pack, the strap will end up being more of a nuisance than a help. Had the pack had some back support and some stiffer shoulder-straps it would have worked way better. At least that's what i think.

What's Bad then?

Well, this pack is one of those packs that you either love or hate. The simplicity and rustic appearance may appeal to many of you old school bushcrafters, who just want functionality and don't care about ridicules details. 

On the other hand the general shit-look of the pack might also appeal to the so called "hipster" community who have begun raiding my beloved army surplus stores. Shout out to the hipster community by the way: "GET AWAY FROM THE SURPLUS STORES, THEY ARE MINE, ALL MINE!!! I WILL CUT YOU!"

On the third hand, which you have if you have ever lived near a "clean source of energy", the modernist probably hate this thing for NOT being any of the following things: Waterproof, Watershedding, comfortable, filled with details, pretty, modern, and so on.

In conclusion: You either love or hate it, and if i find a hipster at my local surplus store, it's not gonna be pretty..

Price?

Got mine on Raeer.com for 8.90 Euros(12$ or 7£)

On ebay they generally go for below 10£(12 Euro or 16$)

This a cool pack and if you get the chance, get one, but don't pay more than 10£, please, don't.

Verdict:

I like it. I like the closing mechanism, i like the appearance, i like the few functions, it's all really fine and dandy, but the comfort of the thing is utter shit. But as i have said multiple times, i review these things with heart, not mind, so i give this pack Five Russian super-soldiers out of Six! 

Thanks for reading
Chris

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