Gunco Forums banner

New Life for Old ALICE Packs.....

4K views 16 replies 5 participants last post by  bellson 
#1 ·
Hello Fellow Worry Warts,

I just happened to stumble across a great deal at Copes distributing, here is the link:

Cope's Distributing

Wow!

But it does not end there; Once upon a long time ago, I was a real live Army Ranger.....During my time as a Ranger, we commonly did a lot of mods to our field gear to make it more better. My ALICE ended up getting the Siamese Mod......

This Mod very simply entailed taking your standard Medium Alice bag, and Siamese(ing) a truncated Alice bag to the bottom of it to hold a Sleeping bag, Tarp, and other such stuff. We would trade a carton of smokes to someone in supply to get us a thrashed ALICE bag. $25.00 and a seamstress later, We had our super ALICE...I made 16 jumps with my super ALICE. No issues.

But Wait! There's more!!!!!!

For an additional $35.00, we can now get this very cool and updated Frame for our Super ALICE, here is the link:

#1606 Pack Frame MOLLE - Down East Inc.

Make sure you specify the ALICE COMPATIBLE Version. Now I know that they say that you should use their straps and Hip Belt.....But this is not really true. You can use the current MOLLE Shoulder Straps and Hip Belt with NO modifications, here are links to the lowest priced ones I have found:

USGI Molle shoulder straps
Molle molded waistbelt

Just to add to the fun, I have always liked this as well, and it works with the Super ALICE:

Load Bearing Vest

A close second, but much better if you are getting in and out of a vehicle is here:
7 Pocket Chest Rig

I will get some pictures of the process posted soon. Currently, the bags are cut up and waiting for a sewing machine to get fixed. Leather Project killed it....

By my figuring, this setup cost:

$9.98 for two Medium ALICE Bags.
$15.00 for MOLLE Shoulder Straps
$10.00 for MOLLE Hip Belt
$35.00 for New Polymer Frame

And about two hours of deconstruction / reconstruction of the bags into the Super ALICE.

Add $15.00 or $27.00 for the Tacti-cool Vest and you are just about done.

I have done business with all of the above vendors, and they are all a real CLASS ACT.

Gunny Surplus has really good prices on a lot of stuff as well. If you are in the Mid-West, he is at a lot of Gun Shows. That is his major biz....Still, a very good guy to work with.

Copes is without a doubt the BEST vendor I have ever done business with. Give him as much of you dollars as possible. You will not regret it. I just wish Copes carried more Surplus stuff.

Down East is OK. They do what they do, and are not terrible. They do not hold a candle to Gunny or Copes. But, they are the only game in town for the cool frame. And it is worth it.

Look for some pics and additional dialogue in the near future.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Wow..

You brought back some memories with "Alice Pack" God what a good long standing design. Very comfortable, light and if packed correctly. Carried just about anything a person could need.
I followed everything Ranger, until you got too the part about jumping out of the plane.
If the engines are running. Why are you guys jumping why?
Stay in the plane. It has too land sometime. :confused:
 
#7 · (Edited)
If the engines are running. Why are you guys jumping why?
Stay in the plane. It has too land sometime. :confused:
2 words 4th-lowest bidder!!!:kick:

i remember hearing about gallant eagle from the black hats when i enlisted(85)
they said it was the worst clusterf**k they were in!!!
and the worse one i thought was reforger!
 
#3 ·
Vertical Envelopment!

It's funny when I look at that phrase now.

When I was 18, it all made perfect sense to me. Now; not so much....:kick:

I was one of those guys back in 1982 that jumped in "Galling Chicken" at Ft Irwin, Ca. I came in on a C-141 from McChord AFB in Wa. The real op name was Gallant Eagle 82. What a cluster fuck. Officially, 6 KIA and 150 WIA. In reality, I think it was more. That was 29 years ago, and my knees, back, and neck have not improved with age.... I watched guys getting dragged across the desert in their chutes being chased by jeeps.

Here is a link with some pics taken by a LoadMaster on a different C-141. Pretty impressive. The only good thing that came out of this debacle was that the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines can now communicate directly with the Pilots and Ground Crews. They don't rely on Flares anymore. Anyway, I was dropped on DZ Gold, and ended up a bit west of DZ Silver. That was an interesting decent. I was elevating in altitude....The wind was one thing, the thermals were another. Aside from my stick, I have only heard one other guy (82nd AB) tell me about that phenom...

Link:
http://www.c141heaven.us/tall_tales/1982_airdrop.html:fruit:
 
#4 ·
Wow Bellson..

Nam buddy just passed. He was telling me about that. I do believe that is the incident he was speaking of.
He was one of the jump masters. Career Army..
If that is the incident you speak of. He said they had the wind wrong, a guy hung up in the door he did not know about, total fubar.
Damn that is sad..
He just died or I would have asked him.
Third guy from the left.
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Nam buddy just passed. He was telling me about that. I do believe that is the incident he was speaking of.
He was one of the jump masters. Career Army..
If that is the incident you speak of. He said they had the wind wrong, a guy hung up in the door he did not know about, total fubar.
Damn that is sad..
He just died or I would have asked him.
Third guy from the left.
Hi 4th.

Sorry to hear about your buddy....He's right...Total FUBAR. I was just a young pup Ranger back then..Nothing to fear. I will never forget that jump, each one since then has carried a little anxiety for me. I really don't jump anymore. I have kids, and I no longer take those chances as I once did.

I will say a prayer for your bud. PM me with his name.
 
#5 ·
So, I'm back from the land of Fruits and Nuts (San Francisco).

Here are some action shots of the Alice Pack Redeux:

I stuffed the bags with pillows and rags so that they would show up better....

Shot one is just a plain Medium Alice Pack. This is what we start off with.

Shot two is the bottom of the pack, the two tabs are what you would normally use to attach a sleeping bag to. This is the mating surface for the Sleep System Carrier.

Shot three is a Medium Alice bag after the pouches and shoulder pad is removed. This becomes the Sleep System Carrier in the new pack.

Shot four is the bottom of the hacked up Sleep System Carrier. This is the mating surface for the pack.

Shot five is the "combined" Alice Pack and Sleep system Carrier. it will not be that long, and will retain a lot of adjustability.

Shot Six is the new Down East Molle Frame for the Alice Pack.

You will notice that after the Sleep System Carrier is cut down, the normal Alice Cinching Straps are retained, and the top flap (which was removed) has been re-attached. The Sleep System Carrier is mounted upside down. This ends up being the best method if you only have access to a "normal" sewing machine. There is still a lot of fabric that has to be managed while mating the two bags together. The photo of the new combined pack is not really complete, since we have not yet sewn them together.....Still waiting on parts for the old Viking Sewing machine. My wife does not want to use her shiny new $4000 machine for this project, since the new machine would lose timing during the process. I love technology.....The old Viking repair will cost $135 with labor. The readjustment of the new machine costs $265....

Once the packs are in fact mated together, there will be enough room for a standard ECWCS Sleep System (the three bag setup), and a tarp. You may also notice that the original frame attachment straps on the bottom of the Sleep System Carrier are still there, this will allow that bag to be directly attached to the new frame as well.

When you decide to start cutting up the donor bag for the Sleep System Carrier, just remember that it takes some time. About an hour and a half. I will post up some action shots of the demil process in the next post.

I am retaining all of the removed pouches, bits and pieces. They may come in handy for later additions or maybe another project.
 

Attachments

#8 ·
"Joe." I will get his last name. Just passed. Had agent orange bad. His skin was falling off his legs.
My Nam bros are dropping like flies here.
Yes he felt real bad about the jump. Guy was hung in the door banging against the back of the plane.
I will get his last name for yah.
 
#9 ·
Hi 4th.

Prayer sent.....

No need for Joe's last name, I am sure that God will know who he is.

Apologies for the God-Awful candle.



I don't think St. Peter will care. The wife bought a couple of hundred of these years ago. It was the only candle I could find. I was raised Roman catholic, and was taught that you light a candle for the soul you pray for. Good news for Joe; This will burn a while. I thought that using my Work Bench for a makeshift Alter might be appropriate in this case. No offense or slight intended.

The Prayer,

Dear Lord, Please grant eternal peace and solace to your servant Joe. His friendship and light are missed here, and his comrades are left with loneliness and sorrow in his absence. Please send peace and comfort to those who Joe touched in his time here on earth, and please grant the peace that Joe craved and strove for during his lifetime to those who remain now that he has passed to his reward.

In Jesus name we pray.


God Bless you 4th. I am sorry for your loss.
 

Attachments

#10 · (Edited)
Thank you..

Way sorry too get off topic on the "Alice Pack." Both Vets on the right in that picture are dead.
Danny on the left Airborne Nam, we cant get though too. :confused:
My neighbor, down too skin and bones "Lymph cancer". Retired Sheriff across the canal Nam Navy, prostate cancer.
Buckley, Nam 65 Marine mass in chest. Just called on the way too see how long he has.
Best Bro Harry. U.S. Marine. Two tours, 25 year retired U.S. Marine. Two purple hearts. Dead two weeks ago.
Bald headed Barry.U.S. Army, Dead. Happy Valley. Silver star. Cancer.
You youngguns that were anywhere near that Gulf War.
Please please keep fighting for your "Gulf war syndrome" whatever the hell they exposed you guys too.
Were dropping like flies. Together the idiots in D.C. will listen. Divided you will stand alone. Join your Vets organizations. ;)
Enough of this sad crap. Lets have some fun. Life is short.
 

Attachments

#11 ·
Proper packing of an Alice Pack.

O.K.. You here will see how too pack an Alice Pack.
Always put most of the weight on the bottom.
- Helps build strong shoulders and makes your back hurt so bad, you wish your Grandmother went instead of you.
- Shows everyone in the Company you are the dumbest of all the new FNGs.
- Carry a radio and play it real loud with music. No extra ammo. Too damn heavy.
- No extra water of-course. Their has too be a convenience store somewhere. :confused:
- Carry a big knife. Even though you dont know how too knife fight.
- Demand clean clothes at least once a week. Send your old clothes too the Marines. :) :salute:
- Soon. Oh it does not take long. After the pain in your back feels like Chuck Norris gave you an ass whuppin. Oh yes. Then you learn how too put the weight up higher.
We will explain that in part two.
 

Attachments

#12 ·
Amen. On the subject of the jump fiasco a friend of mine that I was serving with, his brother suffered an injury on that jump. Somehow got his leg rammed up into his torso several inches. They were able to fix him up, and today u wouldnt know he was even hurt at all. We were thinking of transfering to an airborne unit till that happened. On the subject of alice packs I'm gonna try your mod. I went to the "off limits" pawn shop outside of Ft. Polk and bought a large alice and frame and some stuff to replace some issue items that some dirtbag stole. Gave the pack to a sniper buddy of mine when I left.
 
#15 ·
Good old Ft. Polk.



I loved that place. After basic at Ft. Dix N.J.. One week too say good bye too Mom, then get on a DC-3 I think it was?
About 30 of us. Military pilot says, as we approach the border of Louisiana.
"Hey you A holes want too have some fun?"
"Yeah sure. Trips been a little boring."
This friggen crazy mother frigger puts the plane in a dive. Starts scraping the belly of the plane on swamp cabbage.
"Here. Lets get a closer look."
WTF over. AHhhhhaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 30 of us screaming like little girls. :w00t1: Holy mother of God. Were gonna die. My buddy, too this day, swears the guy had a bottle of whiskey in his hand.
The idot must have just got home from two tours with Air America.
Beautiful place Ft. Polk.
If I was in the Military and they told me I was too be stationed there.
I would jump out of a plane with no parachute.
 
#13 ·
I just want to say, I am glad that I'm not the only guy that thought that the old LC-1 / LC-2 gear was good and useful.

After I left the Military around 1988, I did a lot of backpacking...Pacific Crest Trail, Zion, Appalachian Trail, etc. I did all of it with a Medium Alice and a lot of hand-stitched mods. The biggest reason was that at the time, I could not afford anything better than that. I got a lot of teasing over my gear at the beginning of each trip. Stupid FNG's....

I saw a lot of high-dollar gear fail in a catastrophic fashion. Thank God for Duct Tape....

My gear never failed. I broke a strap. No big deal. Two Tie-wraps later, all is good and working.

I spent some bucks on two tacticool packs for the trucks. Lots of zippers, lots of Molle straps and stuff....Zippers are already splitting, and I have not carried these even 25 yards.,......This is the reason for re-visiting the Alice Pack Concept. It is hard to fuck this system up.....

Thanks to all for reading this thread. Keep posting with your thoughts and experiences. I like to learn new things....
 
#14 ·
We beat them, dropped them from high places. Loaded them with implements of destruction. Sat on them. They took a licking and kept on ticking.
Dont know what they made the frame out of. But they never bent.
These were probably some of the first ones?? As this was 1968.
Snaps, Velcro was yet too come.
After you smartened up and learned how too pack it. You could walk for miles and not even know it was there.
It became your home on your back.
One guy in our company married his. :)
Are they using Velcro on the new ones?
I am getting reports from the youngguns they dont like the Velcro. True, false?
Velcro opening makes noise. Noise could get yah hurt at the wrong time.
If they are still making them too the quality of the old packs. I recommend them highly.
Do you young guys still have the metal frame with yours?
 
#16 ·
Bellson, did you ever run it to a forest ranger in N.H. on the AT with a huge wolf hybrid, if you did, that was me. I also did Pacific Crest with King, my hybrid, in 86. I saw allot of the alice packs back in the day on the AT. Even when I was there in 2005 I saw a few, and we still used them for hauling heavy loads when doing trail construction. They still worked great. The newer plastic frame ones were even better, better straps and a bit of flex. Good rigs, for sure. I'll tell ya though I've got a Lowe Alpine internal frame that's got thousands of miles on it and is hard to beat, and looks as good as when I bought it 20 years ago. OH come-on Ft Polk, a place of wonder!! Wonder how to hell I got myself into this!!! Been there done that. Good hog + bird hunting around there though, that was at least one saving grace, we had a few good pig roasts there. And I'll have to say that once you got away from Polk I meet some really great people in that area.
 
#17 ·
While I don't want to lie, I think I may have met you....Your hybrid,,,,May 105-100 lbs? Blackish back and top of head, graying down the sides to near white on the belly? Grey eyes? I was in the lower Cascades in 86 with two other guys....I remember the Wolf...You were with three others. One younger and two about your age. We were eating lunch, I was eating Herring and crackers....the Wolf liked the Herring....A very well mannered puppy to be sure.

Anyway, I seem to remember that the Wolf's daddy was a Forest Ranger...maybe I'm just making that up in my mind... And yes, I was carrying an Alice at the time....Hell, I looked like a reject from a surplus store....Swedish Wool Pants and blouse, German wool sweater and socks, Norwegian boots. swiss poncho. Ah, the good memories...

I sure hope that some of this rings a bell. It would be something to tell my kids about...

Howdy just the same....
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top