British Infantryman, 1975 Pattern Troop Trials, Mid 1970s

A recreation of the 1970s trials of the 1975 Pattern equipment.
Patreon - / riflemanmoore
Paypal - www.paypal.me/riflemanmoore
Facebook - / riflemanmoore
Instagram - / riflemanmoore
Twitter - / rifleman_moore
Email - [e-mail]

[@TonyBelas]

thanks again for this great work, for me you are regularly answering questions i was asking myself 50 years ago! Im not sure at the time many of my colleagues cared, but I did, and it interested me why weird pieces of kit in this nylon materiel kept turning up as if there was a develpment program that nobody really fully canseled. For example the resperator pouch which was clearly out of whack with the 58 set, the 84mm acessory pouches which were not in cotton, but nylon, and a lot of the clansman radio pouches and bags which seemed to be produced to compliment a web set that never made it.

[@badgertheskinnycow]

None of those items you mentioned have anything to do with the 1975 pattern versions of PLCE.

[@andrewcombe8907]

Plainly influenced by US webbing designs to adapt to Vietnam with the use of nylon and plastic to prevent rot. If only they had kept working on the Bergen and got rid of the 58 large pack. The Falklands war showed that infantry must always be ready to carry large loads and have the equipment necessary to do it.

[@chrissheppard5068]

I do not think the average civilian will understand the hardship of carrying heavy loads long distances in terrible weather and awful ground and this is what the wazzucks came up with on an improvement of the 58 pattern garbage. A blatant copy of the yank kit but hey lets make it cheap as Bleep Bleep. After 82 they made another load of garbage to trial. Fortunately being RM we could buy our own Bergan's which were light years ahead of this Ker Rap. Good video. I never knew about this awful set of webbing obviously designed by a bunch of old civilians at the MOD whose only idea of load carrying is the wife's shopping on Saturdays or their fekin golf clubs.

[@heathmurphy3735]

Well said that man

[@badgertheskinnycow]

Just so people do not get the timelines for this equipment misunderstood - any reference to 'Mid 1970s' (such as in the vid and in the vid title) is not quite correct. This equipment was trialled in 1972 and was already rejected as a concept in early 1973. By the mid 1970s (1975) the Army had already moved on to the Nylon MK2 1958 Pattern concept.

[@Wardog-rf1tx]

What we did in the Canadian Forces with our C64 rucksacks with a sleeping bag valise on the top, was we used to drop our webbing over the valise and connect the buckle on the back of the rucksack. Made this a lot easier for moving place to place. Once you went into a hide location, your webbing went on you, and your ruck stayed in the hide area. Your rucksack frame looks pretty similar to our C64 frame which I think might have been bases on the older USA Alice pack?.💂‍♂️🪖⛑️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦

[@user-gx3xb5tk5p]

As a cadet in the mid 80's I privately purchased and wore 72/75 pattern (Belt kit only no ruck) many times and believe it or not it was actually really comfortable especially when compared to the Hodge podge of 37 and odd bits of 44 that were issued. Of course as soon as i could afford it i upgraded to 58 pattern and gave the 72/75 kit to my little brother. My main issue with 72/75 was that it was not modular in that as it had no separate belt you could not omit the butt pack and or yoke to just have a light belt order like was possible with 44 or 58 patterns so you were stuck with the entire belt/pouch/yoke layout as per the video. Clearly ok for cadet purposes but would not have worked for the regulars.

[@jameskellard5075]

Back in the day a lot of us used to wear our helmets backwards so that it didn't push over our eyes when we were in the prone position, with scrim you couldn't tell and they were always worn with scrim (rather more than you have here). You could also get away with para, RAC/RN and even US style NATO helmets if they were scrimmed up.

[@mikewinston8709]

Ugghh…..shirts hairy Mary……ghastly memories.

[@user-nj3rh6tt4o]

nice video. in regards to wearing the bergan, I believe that the rear pouch can be moved down to provide more room. attaching top rear pouch fastener to bottom front pouch fasteners and attaching the rear lower fastener to the fastener under the single mag pouch. there is a pic on tales from the supply depot that seems to show this.

[@Wardog-rf1tx]

When I was in the British army 1974-82 we used 58 webbing. I rebadged from infantry to RCT. I was in the troop supply store in Sennelager signing for a waterproof jacket (something else I didn’t know existed. OD green jacket, with a front zip and attached hood which had a peak on it? Thinking it was either RN or RAF?) and noticed this 75 style pack or something similar on the shelves. Brand new never issued.💂‍♂️🪖⛑️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦

[@Goalie002]

I remember my old man telling me about being given webbing and other items in the 70s that were non-standard issue by "boffins" as he called them to wear on exercise in the Para Reg, I'd have loved to have known if it was this very obviously ALICE pack inspired rucksack and webbing

[@mattvye9228]

I got hold off that trials G.S bergen for my final exercise in training 1988 the last owner had got rid of the flimsy plastic clips and replaced them with modern at the time fastex clips from a civilian rucksack that included attaching them to the main bergen straps that didn't have any the frame was missing and the shoulder straps were from an A41 Larkspur radio frame lol it wasn't brilliant but better than the Larry large pack

[@anthony_obrien4080]

Would have hated to use this whilst I was in. Good video though- much love from Skippyland 🍻🤙🍻🤙🍻🤙

[@michaelamos4651]

Thanks for video. Have never come across this before. Doesn't look great both ergonomically and in its robustness

[@davidbrennan660]

Great video! The Butt pack would be a nuisance when the Ruck is carried. The pick blade carrier is interesting.

[@reddevilparatrooper]

Looks like it has a very strong influence from the American ALICE system but using more a synthetic waterproofing material instead of straight up nylon like ALICE.

[@stevethomas5849]

D&D well I still stuck on a rotten veranda outside a cabin in a swamp with very little strength and stamina. My comrades are prisoners of Orcs and I'm supposed to free them. Now the pause in game was in 1985.

[@helvetiabushcraft]

interesting. That pack, without the heavy frame is a great little design. Of course it would be better with buckles and not the tying of closer straps. The layout of the load bearing part is interesting. Would be better with more magazine space, and allowing the wearer to take off the butt pack or lowering it by loosening the shoulder straps. What we did in the US Army with the LBE. we wore the belt lower on the hips, allowing us to carry it all under the Large ALICE. This is probably one of the best layouts for a ruck I've seen. Allowing to distribute important items to the outside pockets, and using the main pocket for sleeping gear.

[@Frogboxer]

The weight should be high...behind the shoulders....and the bergen resting on rear pouches is also a benefit as you can take the weight off shoulder straps. Don't know what the '75 frame is like but the para/sas one was comfortable enough. Some people have far too high an expectation of how comfortable carrying a bergen and webbing should be....it's never good.

[@LegitimateLlamas]

The rucksack's frame looks very similar to that of the US Lightweight Rucksack or the Canadian equivalent - is the frame the same design?

[@geodkyt]

Yet one more data point that the "belt and braces, add pouches as needed, where needed" approach of the Pattern 37 - which, IIRC, is the first place a major power fully fielded such a system (and shamelessly emulated by the later US LCE and ALICE) equipment is far superior to the earlier system of specialty bits and bobs clipping together, and unable to be truly taillored by troops to requirements.

[@Dave-cw9ie]

I've just picked a brand new one up from a charity shop for £10 strangely it has no stamp on it

[@willjohnson1273]

Perhaps designed around the armoured infantry concept. Whereby they strap the bergen to the outside of wagon and don't carry it very far.

[@SafetyProMalta]

You can definitely see the influencing to the SAS/PARA bergen from this rucksack.

[@badgertheskinnycow]

There was no influence - the two bergens were designed together.

[@paladinmaid2334]

Fantastic video! Interesting to see what might have been used in the Falklands had 58 Pattern not hung about. However that rucksack design looks awful, probably a very good thing it didn't get adopted before '82, can imagine it would have become even more unpopular due to most units having to walk everywhere on the island during the conflict.

[@badgertheskinnycow]

The Nylon GS Bergan was adopted prior to the Falklands - on a limited issue - and some examples were used during the conflict.

[@paladinmaid2334]

@@badgertheskinnycow Huh! That I didn't know!

[@user-gx3xb5tk5p]

I have a set of that webbing (excluding the ruck). What would it be worth in 2023?

[@flatmoon6359]

MOD procurement at its worst, just about every Army had better webbing kit till relatively recently. The idea of asking people who use kit day to day never occurred to designers. From DMS onwards it's been woeful. Get a Sapper, Signaler, Infantry, and a Marine to say what is required is something that never occurred to MOD desk bound officers.

[@ericworst]

That look horrendous...

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Not that Bad for 1975, Only 1975 Desperately Needs Replacement in Small Details Not Very Forward Thinking 1970-72 Great Grade Kit 1975 Too Late Grade Kit

[@mattpierre891]

First!!