Those are nice! Do you find those at military surplus stores? where do I look?
Sorry for the delay, the British bag can be found here
http://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=1914. I did not get the leather strap from there.
The Finnish bag can be had from Cheaper Than Dirt.
A lot of the older/established companies like Cabelas have "surplus" sections. There always seems to be a "surplus" store in every town, however sometimes their inventory can be "useless oddities" - dummy drop bombs?
"Skirt this issue" didn't come out the way I meant in the above post. There's always been a niche for those that want the durable gear that "our guys are using" - it's also where a lot of camping/climbing/hiking gear gets ideas and vice versa. Past few years however have seen a great deal of specializiation so there isn't aWWII pack that EVERYONE carried for this generation. Issue gear these days also tends to be HUGE(never mind the 5lbs of....quote) and did I say specialized? So companies like Maxped have come along and have products that meet that niche - not made to carry an NBC suit, elventy billion rounds of ammo, water and food for XX days but provide a peice of gear suitable to a day/3day hike. Some of the older simpler designs like messenger bags still have their place and always will.
ok, I'm done rambling.
