Quote:
Originally Posted by Surgicalcric
lssah2025: We are SF medics; not operators. 
1.) It is fairly user friendly but prioritizing equipment is a must (knowing the mission requirements and being able to pack within that constraint.) As kawika points out, you wont be stuffing kerlix or anything else into this pack in an orderly fashion.
2.) Yes.
3.) The space in the bottom will fit a BVM though it wasn't intended for that purpose. It is for a poleless litter
4.) It is single channel. My personal feelings are that if you find yourself adding pouches to this pack then you are over-extending it.
5.) It is a velcro panel thats removable
Guys, the M9 bag was designed to fit a certain mission requirement for a certain group of guys. Keeping this in mind it is a good bag, however it is not a bag that will fit the multi-mission role very well.
OOMV but thats my .02.
Crip |
I'll agree with the above posts and Crips, but I have some of my own input on the use of this bag...
1) I'm on DA team...both medics use this particular bag for our hits; however, we also keep larger bags available either with a terp, vehicle, etc...
2) yes.
3) The bottom zipper portion is where we keep the p-less litter and IVs kits. I agree there is enough room for bvm, but you can fit that bad boy in the inner area. We usually role with 2 1L Iv kits in that bottom pouch though. BVMs are pretty prone to abuse and being condensed down to fit in small places.
4) As far as attachments just be careful...too much shit added on and you're only weighing yourself down and increasing your physical size and stature considerably. The only attachments I added were grenade, flashbang, and smokes across the top for guys in the stack to grab when needed. I also threw on some chem lights and TQs. Chem lights for cleared areas, signals, etc...TQs well you can never have enough of them.
5) The straps were annoying, but that's easily fixed when you attach the fastex clips to your kit and use the waist strap in addition. As far as the inside goes...it's user friendly and medic's choice. There are 4 strips in there that can be removed to hold various items. I chose to remove one of those to leave more room for the pouch contents.
Personally I've used this bag on every hit. It's comfortable once you fastex it to your kit which keeps the weight off your shoulders and once you know the inside it's very easy to work out of. I've moved distances varying from 100m to 3k with it on my back in route to the OBJ. I've also climbed all over the freaking mountains with it on and climbed all over buildings, walls, corn fields, etc.
Choosing your aid bag is like anything else...sights, gloves, boots etc...it's your personal preference. Good luck on the hunt. Hope this helps some with your search. Let me know if you have any other questions.
**Forgot to mention** Our 18Es and CCTs liked this bag so much they stole three of our extras and modified them a little bit. Turns out that if you rip out all the velcro pieces and cut a small hole in the top of the bag....this thing will easily hold a radio and a few other various items. It fits perfectly. The 18Es also liked having the ability to fastex this thing on their kit b/c the weight of the radio was pulling their regular bag straps into their shoulders. They would run the cable out the bottom zipper from the inside to outside and attach the antenna onto the bag with zip ties where the molle attachment points are at. The X-wing actually fits without pushing over the top of the bag or sticking to far off the bag and body. This helped the 18Es streamline themselves a little bit better.