So a reproduction of the ARVN rucksack has finally come to market. Which is a welcome development in the circles that know of the elusive little pack. Particularly now that originals are becoming more expensive as well as more fragile with time. Something interesting with these reproductions is that they use reclaimed surplus for some of the construction. Now as welcome as these new packs are there are some differences from the originals to take into consideration.

For the comparison the reproduction will be on the left and the original on the right.

First the webbing is a bit looser weave than originals, as well the metal tips are lacking and buckles are slightly different on the pockets.

The web keepers on the top flap are thicker than the originals as well. Interestingly this is a common occurrence on reproduction gear. Also the grommets on the equipment tabs are upside-down, but they are spaced correctly and do work with M1910 wire hangers.

Small note the tabs are less reenforced than the originals. The top flap one misses the center box stitch but the other ones have it.

The strap keepers are made using thicker material as well

The grommets on the side equipment hangers are upside-down as well unfortunately.

Luckily is does come with a frame, but its not spring steel, just plain metal so its thicker and heavier than originals. so to get a bend in it you have to just bend it by hand.

The shoulder straps are thicker than originals, they’re pretty much identical to the standard 1″ webbing from the USMC P1941 suspenders. The buckles are the same as the original though. But the straps are super short. They have to be let all the way out to be functional.

An example of the reclaimed or recycled surplus. A piece from an old GP strap.

While most of the differences have been more or less small (depending on opinion) the last one is pretty different. the bottom buckles for the main pack straps are completely different from the originals. they seem to be surplus cargo strap clamp buckles compared to the simple friction ones on the original.

So it’s definitely a mixed bag. From a distance it looks good and covered in gear it will probably be hard to tell, but up close it has a lot of inaccuracies. With a price being pretty close to an original currently, it may be a hard sell. It will come down to what you want to do with it I suppose. Hopefully with time the production will improve. For me I’m happy with it as I had been using my originals for the kids to use backpacking but that was getting risky. So no I have one i can beat the brakes off of with no guilt.