Inspired by  a video review by McQ Bushcraft I liked the idea of a traditional metal framed backpack, so wanted to try out the LK-35 backpack for myself. The basic pack can be sourced for as little as £12.50 in the UK, cost increases dependant upon the material and grade required.

You can find an abundance of modification options on the internet ranging from side pockets that can be sewn on, additional back supports, waist or kidney belts, ALICE frame straps, etc. one particular option to lighten to the original frame by replacing it with a used a lighter  aluminium frame that I found on a fellow bloggers page in a post by New England Bushcraft. This is something that I wanted to try out on my LK-35 project.

So for my initial pack I purchased a grade A, LK-35 in the Cordura material option along with the Swedish Webbing pouch set to closely match the Cordura at £8.50, the set consists of 2 x pouches, 1 x water bottle pouch, 1 x belt and 1 x harness.

Also for this project I wanted a good size Hip or Kidney belt, there are plenty available in the USA but not so many in the UK. Trying a different search string under Military Webbing Belt, I managed to pick up a olive green MOLLE version for £17.95 which I think will be a good fit providing further MOLLE options to attach onto the belt itself..

On eBay I also found a low cost old aluminium frame rucksack to test out the difference between the traditional LK frame.

Coming up in Part 2 I’ll start to put these components together and provide some feedback on potential options.