MOLLE ruck

[Monsoon65]

OK, please bear with me. This is my first post here.

I have a MOLLE ruck, no frame. Can this be adapted to the ALICE frame, or adapted to use without a frame and just straps? I'm looking to use it for just casual hikes and whatnot.

[Ambush Master]

Before I welcome you here, you should follow the directions in the "Stickies" at the top of the Threads.

Go to: http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=92861#post92861

Introduce yourself and then read all of the stickies before you post.

At least you did fill out your Profile .

Take care.
Martin

[Monsoon65]

Well, don't I feel like an a$$. Sorry about that. Let me straighten that out.

Off to the intro post!

[Monsoon65]

Well, OK, I have some questions about this beast.

Is MOLLE any good? I've read reports pro and con about this system. Seems like the frames cracked under the weight of mortar baseplates and whatnot, and some guys were blowing out seams in the ruck itself.

I'll admit, after looking at the manual, it does seem like a pretty complicated piece of gear for just an average grunt concerned with carrying his stuff dry and comfortable.

So, anyone out there actually use it? How did they like it?

I have the main ruck that was given to my by a friend. I know it won't mate to an ALICE frame, but would it be worth getting a MOLLE frame and using it?

Thanks for the help!

[Pete]

...Can this be adapted to the ALICE frame, or adapted to use without a frame and just straps?

You are a little off the beaten military path. All large military posts have a few sewing shops around them that can handle heavy nylon straps and rucks. Some ground pounder thinks he has a better way to carry or load his stuff so he takes his stuff to the shop and has it modified.

He carries it around and if it works his friends ask where he got the work done. They take their stuff to the same shop and also get it modified. After a few more come by the shop owner starts making some up pre-made.

You can do anything with military equipment. The key is will it get the job done. There is nothing as funny as looking at the high speed-low drag team member who got the latest hot item as his stuff falls apart the first time he gets in the field.

Actors can have a wardrobe malfunction but it's not good for soldiers to have an equipment malfunction. They generally come at the worst posible moment.

[Monsoon65]

I'll have to call around and see what I can find in my area. Fort Indiantown Gap is near, so I should think I could find someone there, or even someone local that does work for local backpackers. Looking at the ruck, it looks like I could do some mods that would work.

I know that Razor did that PALS mod for someones ALICE, and that seemed to be a real good deal.

[12B4S]

Wow! This is good stuff. All we had, is what was issued and made do. If you had an idea and had access to someone that could pull it off...... all the better.

[Pete]

Wow! This is good stuff. All we had, is what was issued and made do. If you had an idea and had access to someone that could pull it off...... all the better.

In the second half of the 70s we were spending a bunch of time in the field. We were bouncing all over the place and in every season. The 70s was also the explosion in commercial outdoor gear.

For the most part, up until that time, the average person used military surplus or stuff from Sears, Monkey Wards, JC Penny, etc. The military gear was heavy and soaked up water like a sponge.

The first thing to pop up on teams were civilian stoves & sleeping bags followed quickly by underwear, socks and gaitors (for a very few). When Gortex came out anything in a woods color was quickly grabbed off the shelf.

Most of the gear would be packed away when the teams went into the field so the guys looked pretty normal. Exfil was a different story. Teams comming out during a cold rainy night could have a very odd and disjointed look.

By around 1981 +/- the Army was starting to get the "Gear Idea" and updated gear was making its way into our hands.

The Army can come up with some niffty items from time to time but if you want to see what the troops really need then take a team, keep throwing them out on operations, give them good money and time to modify their gear and buy commercial stuff between ops and then look at them after a while.

The thing that caused the most heartburn was the re-issue of the watch cap. The Army, of course, issued it in black instead of OD and that thing drove Commanders and CSMs nuts. The watch cap wars raged for about 10 years.

[miller0331]

The MOLLE is an okay system. They were just testing them out when I left the reserves and I wasn't too overly impressed with them.

If you're concerned about straps/ruggedness/durability of such items as field gear and you don't have a commercial sewing machine, call around to your local Drop Zone and see if they have a rigger and machine available. They'll be able to reinforce potential weak points in the sewing, change the straps out for heavier ones, or add more padding. Ahhh... The old Deuce gear before belt pads were introduced! I had a good friend of mine that was a rigger and he worked to customize a lot of my gear. The only thing is to have a second set for inspections...

But always try to play with the gear before you actually have to use it. Adjust it to yourself, find out how every works, fit your gear into, pack and repack (this is nice when you have your own system of packing gear so you can find you stuff at night... Like those dry socks that seem to find their way to the very bottom of a mountain ruck.). Work it out, maybe do a couple short jaunts with it (I've taken back rucks to REI after a weekend because they just didn't fit right), just find out what is comfortable...

Ooops! Did I post this in the wrong spot? Oh, MOLLE gear... Talk to your local Marine grunts...


Nothing's more entertaining than watching an unsecured ruck hit the deck from a goodly distance. You know... And it always happens on the first day of a 30 day exercise! :eek: