Two of them actually. I found a closeout on last year's bags, so I picked up two of the XL size bags in black for $50 each. Then I found a sale on the medium size bags at REI, and picked up a red one.
Life is good.
You Need Me On That Wall! A blog about military service, gear, leadership, politics, motorcycles, watches and whatever else strikes me.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
Gear time
This blog is going to get into gear because I like gear.
So I've been looking at duffle bags. I have several green army duffles of course. The army has been using it for about 60 years, I think. It's evolved a little, but basically it's a canvas tube with shoulder straps. Looks like this one here:
The basic problem with the Army duffle bag is that it is top-loading. Whatever goes in first is buried until you empty the thing out. I am hoping to do better for this deployment.
I started looking around online and I found this bag that the Army is issuing to some units.
It's okay, I hope we get them. But I'd like to have a bag that isn't digital camouflage. I found a really nice, tough duffle bag from North Face.
The standard Army issue duffle bag is 5200 cu in. The wheeled deployment bag is 7000 cu in and the North Face bag is 9000 cu in. Either way, I've got more room than the standard bag, and I've got the U-shaped zipper that will allow access to all parts of the bag when it's packed.
If I have to choose between the two, I'll get the North Face bag. It has shoulder straps that can be taken off and compression straps that allow it to be cinched down to a smaller size if it's not completely full. It's made of a water resistant fabric and it won't scream "MILITARY" at the airport if I use it later for travel. It comes in red, which is always a good thing. I want the red, but I'll have to think about whether I should get it in black to take on a military deployment.
Best case, we get issued the wheeled bag and I buy the North Face bag. I'd be happy to leave all the old green duffle bags behind this time around.
So I've been looking at duffle bags. I have several green army duffles of course. The army has been using it for about 60 years, I think. It's evolved a little, but basically it's a canvas tube with shoulder straps. Looks like this one here:
The basic problem with the Army duffle bag is that it is top-loading. Whatever goes in first is buried until you empty the thing out. I am hoping to do better for this deployment.
I started looking around online and I found this bag that the Army is issuing to some units.
It's okay, I hope we get them. But I'd like to have a bag that isn't digital camouflage. I found a really nice, tough duffle bag from North Face.
The standard Army issue duffle bag is 5200 cu in. The wheeled deployment bag is 7000 cu in and the North Face bag is 9000 cu in. Either way, I've got more room than the standard bag, and I've got the U-shaped zipper that will allow access to all parts of the bag when it's packed.If I have to choose between the two, I'll get the North Face bag. It has shoulder straps that can be taken off and compression straps that allow it to be cinched down to a smaller size if it's not completely full. It's made of a water resistant fabric and it won't scream "MILITARY" at the airport if I use it later for travel. It comes in red, which is always a good thing. I want the red, but I'll have to think about whether I should get it in black to take on a military deployment.
Best case, we get issued the wheeled bag and I buy the North Face bag. I'd be happy to leave all the old green duffle bags behind this time around.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Getting deployed again
It's on! Not going to give a lot of detail here, of course. But I think I'll use this blog to talk about deployment issues and how the training is going and, well, whatever else comes up.
For now I'll just say, we're going next year, probably to Afghanistan. That's not giving too much away.
For now I'll just say, we're going next year, probably to Afghanistan. That's not giving too much away.
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