I'd like to voice a complaint, however I worry that my very limited time in the army might make my opinion less weighted.
I have no experience with the New Ruck, but even in my initial training and first few follow up exercises I encountered some difficulties when using the tac-vest. On course this was usually having the bayonet hitting me in the jugular because the course standards were to have it mounted high. On my DP1 I found that even with just practice engagements I quickly ran out of ammo when using the C-9, and using mags on the thing is a load of horseshit, especially on the go. The C-9 pouch on the thing, as is, is also slightly too small, and as such makes for difficult extraction either in a dug-in position or on the move. Simply making the pouch a touch bigger and/or giving the thing a slight angle would make for much easier extraction. The zipper is also a bitch, as are the buttons with the bayonet affixed. I've broken 2 zippers on the things already. Replace it with plastic buckles, or at least make the buckles a viable secondary option vs. the metal buttons. Not enough map pocket space, can be fixed by putting a map pocket on the right hand side. And setting up a system where the mp pockets can be accessed from the outside with a zippered system would be preferable to the current setup where one has to undo his tack-vest to access the map pockets.
There is also the problem of not being able to stuff all the required kit into the retardedly small pouches, especially with a C-9 Loadout.
As for the rucks, my only complaints about the 82 pattern is that it isn't really large enough, and the external pockets are shit-pieces. The belt is also a bit of a problem around my boney hips. Got some nice scars from where the belt dug in, even after being shown how to properly wear the ruck.
Those are my personal gripes, and requisite possible solutions from after being in for only 14 months. Because of them I would like a new ruck and vest for when I go overseas, though based on what my current position is (Coyote Driver), a new vest might not be necessary. I'd still like a larger ruck, and have been looking at getting a 64 pattern for some time now.
Once I get the new ruck, if I get it, and I have the same problems as many other people on here have voiced regarding problems with PPE, the waistbelt when used with tac-vest and PPE, etc. I would like to gripe to my MP about the problems, if it would make a difference. But again, I am very new to the army, so I don't think I have enough experience working with my kit to begin complaining about it to the MPs.
