ALICE dilemmas

[wildwerden]

Well I just poured through the whole backpack section here all morning and still cannot figure out which pack would be best for me. The ALICE packs tend to pop up a lot. My buddy has a medium and I tried it out, it is really fucking bulky (not sure if it's because he has a ton of shit strapped all over it or the pack itself). Not to mention, I am 6'1 with a long torso and I keep reading how uncomfortable they are for tall folks.
I think I could make it work though, especially if i get the molle ii straps / kidney belts to help with the comfort. I could also ask my dad to help me cut and weld the frame into a longer piece? (Any tips for how I could do that?). Any other ideas to make the ALICE a bit more comfortable?
Also read that folks are now getting Molle ii packs and putting the ALICE frames in those. Are molles generally more comfortable? but then there was another thread saying how the molles were ditched for the ALICE packs. i hate contradiction sometimes.
And are there any other good packs that I should look into? Something that is as tough as ALICE but a bit more comfortable? I am looking for something on the smaller side, like a medium ALICE and the CFP90 is a bit too big for me. I also would kinda prefer a internal frame. I just need some fucking input. Danke.

P.S. - Is there a way for me to waterproof the pack with beeswax / tallow or some commerical stuff?

 

[travelin]

get the molle frame , straps, and kidney pad. put medium alice on that as high as it will go, leaves room for a bedroll on the bottom. you can actually cut off the medium alice backpad that normally goes on the alice frame as you attach the alice to molle frame with the packstrap tabs top and bottom

the molle frame is taller than the alice frame and the molle kidney pad is very wide. the molle strapset has those tensioner straps to shift the load up and down your back. i know theres a fancy word for them, but all i can think of is tensioner.

 

[travelin]

the molle frame is plastic so that raises concerns of durability. its held up well for me but know that my experience with molle frame has not entailed more than a couple nights living out of the pack. if you be careful how you toss it around it should be good to go.

by the time you buy all the stuff, do all the mods, you would probably have been better off going to REI and buying a civilian hiking pack

 

[Deleted member 20]

ALICE is so fucking Antique it aint funny. Again I carried these in the military & travelin but that was 15 years ago & they were 20 years old then. Now a days I have multiple Iraq/Afghan era surplus, acu molle packs that come with super padded straps, belts, heavy duty, water resistant with some waterproof pockets etc & cheap. Guys that carried these in the service get out & are usually just done with the idea of using them ever again. I pick up all my gear off of craigslist! Army Navy both online & stores are usually real expensive. Regardless of what pack you use, it makes sense to isolate your gear in zip lock bags, trash bags or just get one large waterproof sack that sits inside the pack. I do have a waterproof & buyant bag (see red bag above) that is completely waterproof & I even used it to innertube across harbors to different bars on the NJ coast. They are expensive & waterproof but the straps are removable with velcro & not great. The other thing is you really cant live out of this bag since its a pain to get anything from the bottom, its almost like using a pickle.

 

[Deleted member 20]

http://newhaven.craigslist.org/spo/3496783162.html

I know $60 bucks aint exactly peanuts but its not a bad price for a quality piece of gear. When I search craigslist I use keywords or acronyms that seek out specific items for this search I put ACU instead of ALICE in all for sale. I have no idea where in NY you are but you can find better gear than ALICE packs unless you dig them. There aint nothin wrong with them, just that technology & high tech materials are improving gear as with anything else. I almost always try to barter first, have them meet me closer & if not into cash sale simply negotiate the price at the transaction. Just state that you are a poor traveler & that you only have X amount. If you are anti war , this aint the time to bring it up. Remember soldiers/Marines dont make policy decisions , they go where they are told to & suck it up. If your trying to get a piece of gear theres no reason to screw it up with politics.

 

[Dishka8643]

Might want to check out the USMC "ILBE" packs. The marines are replacing the ilbe, so the surplus market is flooded right now. You can find them for around 50-70 bucks on ebay. They were worth 500.00 new. pretty good deal.

 

[Deleted member 20]

I noticed that myself, I lik ethe marpat camo too. I actually just picked up some USMC RAT boots for $50

 

[travelin]

the actual alice pack itself is tough as nails, its always been the shitty straps and little frame that was the problem.

hiking gear technology is sooooooo far beyond the alice frame and straps, thats why i like the alice pack on molle frame and molle straps. the big molle pack is not optimal for me.

but remember, im short distance overnight type of hiking anymore, often when i went out last winter i never got over four five miles from the truck so if i had a pack disaster i could just walk out.

 

[iSTEVEi]

The only major problems that I've ran into with my large Alice is that it is bulky, especially once you start to fill it up.
The straps suck. I have the quick release lc2 straps and one of the buckles is prone to releasing when I'm walking with it when I have some weight in it.
Not waterproof.
The weight distribution can be bad. Especially when only half full.


Tough as nails though and it will carry all your stuff.

 

[wildwerden]

just did some research on molle frames and the newest one that just came out isnt too bad apparently: http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=39804. someone froze the frame and jumped their 200+ self on it and it still didn't snap? not too bad.....
doest he IBLE / ACU bags take frames? it would think it does..
i'll dig around more once i get lunch break. but thank you berry much guys!

 

[Bizarre Odor]

I carried a medium ALICE pack for a few years and was pretty happy with it honestly. If you get one I would highly recommend swapping the stock kidney pad out for the MOLLE II kidney pad, it will save your back and can be purchased usually for less then 10 bucks anywhere that has surplus. I also added the MOLLE sleep system carrier bag to the bottom to pack my sleeping back and bivy underneath to free up the limited space of the pack. The only drawbacks I had were sometimes fitting it inside grainer holes and the same problem someone mentioned above about the shoulder strap snaps popping off sometimes. I just duct taped over the snap and that seemed to fix the problem.