Mystery Ranch makes great gear, no doubt. Personally I went with a Kifaru Reckoning for what you describe. They, as well, offer different sized frames for different builds.
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Have 4 MR packs for various jobs, call and speak with them about sizing and actually measure with a cloth tape. Don't use clothing sizes.
Really? Some of you guys miss the ALICE?
Serious question, I'm not kidding.
So I have far less time under a ruck than most of the guys that say it, but I always wonder why when I hear it (I’ve heard it for my entire career, usually from infantry guys). I’ve always looked at as a form of Stockholm syndrome.
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I always imagined the Alice couldn’t be great for you because every commercial pack I’m aware of extends vertically to carry more stuff, while the Alice extends horizontally.
Either way, love my MR bags. I have a SATL and 3 day assault. The SATL was just a tad bit small for NTC though so I kind of want the Blackjack 100 too.
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When we switched from primarily using the large ALICE to the Large MOLLE, a lot of guys tended to miss the old ruck. To a certain extent, it is simply a case of nostalgia and "different and therefore wrong", but there are legit reasons as well. I am not a fan of the Large MOLLE in any way, shape or form, and the ALICE does have a few advantages (smaller, and distributes the load a bit better). Objectively, the ALICE really is obsolete though. Eventually realized that myself when I started rucking regularly for exercise last year and tried using an old Medium ALICE. I think the best compromise (at least in sticking to just military issue rucks) is the Medium MOLLE, but there are tons of commercial packs much better than all of these. Too few people have the option of using them though, at least on the .mil side.
Thanks gents, I was really curious.
I got badly injured a while back in a climbing accident. As in months in the hospital, then wheelchair, relearn to walk, yada yada yada. When the orthopedic folks were staring at the imagery of my spine, one of then just stared and stared. Then he looked at me and asked "Army or Marine Infantry?"
I told him what branch, and he nodded. I guess the pics don't lie. :(
Every time I look at a ALICE pack I remember his words.