Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Remember the ALICE pack and accessories? Time was, that was state-of-the-art field gear for your average survivalist and I guarantee you that there are still folks out there with bunkers full of ALICE packs and accessories. I’ve no military experience with the ALICE gear but I have gone on a few backpacking trips with it and it seemed good for the task, although a bit heavy. I’m always willing to trade light weight for durability though.

The newer MOLLE and MOLLE II gear is what is currently being used. It’s big advantage is that its a bit more modular through use of PALS webbing. The ALICE system did let you incorporate some modular components (pouches, etc) into the system but nothing like the huge variety the PALS system offers.

,Rawles had a link on his website a few weeks back to a place that was having a sale on brand new unissued MOLLE pack systems and components. I was curious since I only had a few ALICE packs and frames on hand and finding new ones (real ones, not the made in China knockoffs) was getting tricky and expensive. I ordered one complete pack with the idea that if it was any good I’d get together with the local LMI and order the six-pack.

The pack arrived a few days ago and it is, indeed, absolutely unused. Its a decent size for general use and I’ll be playing with it a bit as summer approaches. Since Ive no experience with one, I figured the person with experience would be someone in the military who has been using them recently. I asked the fellow blogger over at TSLRF for some thoughts on the MOLLE packs, esp. compared to the ALICE packs, and he was nice enough to oblige. I recommend you read his post on the subject.

Now, I already have several good backpacks including some stuff from Tactical Tailor and Kifaru, so why the interest? Well, its pretty simple – I wanted some backpacks for dedicated-use, low-activity items. What that means is, if I keep a pack with all my winter survival gear to keep in the truck during the winter I dont want to tie up a $300 pack with it. Since the pack is going to be sitting in storage for 6 months outta the year, why tie up that kinda money? At the same time, if I do need the pack in a critical situation I’d like it to have at least enough quality and ruggedness to get me outta the situation Im in. So…these packs are perfect for that. I can set them up as wintergear packs, BOB’s, whatever and not have a huge amount of cash tied up in packs that may very well see minimal use but still have good quality.

Another attraction, and this should be obvious to those with our particular outlook on things, is that these things are cheap enough to buy enough to have a ‘group standard’ pack or a very healthy supply of redundant spares. Nothing kills like overkill.

So, if you think you might have an interest in these things, check out the links.