• Welcome to The Bushcraft Forum

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to join then please Register

Packing a Bergen. How do you fit it all in?

Ian

Quite Obsessed
Messages
11,187
Points
600
Age
44
OK, the Bergen came back from the menders today and I'm having a go at packing it. Now, you'd think the army sleeping bag would be a good fit for the bottom of the Bergen but it isn't, it really takes some effort to get it in there:eek:, then I want to find room for the Kelly kettle and my billy cans and all of a sudden I realise I've forgotten about the axe and a plate and KFS etc etc:eek:

Has anyone got any tips on how they pack theirs? I finally managed to squeeze the sleeping bag into the bottom (although it's that tight it might have to stay there forever!), slotted the kettle and billy cans in and the available space doesn't look like enough. I thought these bags were supposed to be huge!

I did read the other night about someone who leaves his arctic bag in it's bivi bag and just feeds it loosely into the rucksack where the other stuff can work it's way around it and he swears by this method but I'm not so sure. Have any of you more seasoned travellers got any tips like that for me to try?

Looks like I will need some straps for attaching the roll mat to the top as well, any suggestions on cheap straps and where to get them from?

I am totally open to ideas:confused:
 
my advise is to pack it in reverse order you would use the kit .... eg.. tarp/sleepingbag/hammock on the top as they will be the first items you will use whilst setting up camp....

the last thing you need to do is empty the contents of your bergen out onto a wet floor whilst your setting up:)

if you are using the same sleeping bag as me you should be able to roll it up into the hood section and do the buttons up....then fold the bag lengthways in half and you,s the 2 end straps to secure if folded !!!.....this makes it easyer to put in the bergen
 
i use a modular system. what i mean by that is no one thing is "loose" in my pack. ie.. all the kicthen/cooking equipment in one stuff sack, clothes in another stuff sack, food in another, wash bag, FAK, small bits n bobs in a response pak. my shelter equipment all goes into one of the side pockets. i use this system for 2 reasons, the first is to be organised and be able to know where any one thing is quickly without having to empty everything, and the other is i feel it helps me pack the bag better. the other thing to do is strap your sleeping bag to the outside of your pack. i dont like this though as it risks the sleeping bag getting wet, if im taking my tent though, unfortuantly my S/B has to go on the outside as my tent takes up the majority of my pack
 
OK, I always thought it was standard practice to put the sleeping bag at the bottom because it is heavy but looks like I was wrong.
I'll keep jiggling it around until I find a way to do it.

Matt, I am using a different sleeping bag but it takes up about the same amount of room. I was hoping to bring the Czech one as well but I'll have to see about weight, I am now thinking a liner for the Arctic bag would be a better idea.

I really don't want to leave the Kelly kettle at home and I am dead set on having nothing else to carry other than my Bergen and my rifle. I know we don't need to walk far but I would like to know I could if I had to, if that makes any sense.
 
Im same as Rueben, the sleeping bag is inside the bivi bag, and inside a waterproof bivi bag, (its another one I have that isnt goretex) this is then strapped to the bottom of my bergen using the green straps on the bergen, i strap the machete and axe into the army issue foam bed roll onto the top of the bergen, this leaves the bergen empty for all the rest of my kit, my basha is last thing in my bag so thats all my shelter and sleep stuff easily accessed without unpacking the bag!

I will admit its a fair old weight to carry and quite a size, but its the way I like it.
 
I can get my hammock and tarp in one of the side pockets with plenty of room left for sausages, big sausages at that!:eek:
Looks like rain is stopping play today so I might have some more time to mess around with it, I ran out of energy last night:eek:
With such a huge Bergen I can't see why I would need to keep the sleeping bag on the outside, but again, I could be wrong. I think it would help if I actually decided what kit I was taking, then get it all together outside the Bergen and go from there. So far I've just been running around grabbing bits I think I need and shoving them in randomly.
 
OK, I always thought it was standard practice to put the sleeping bag at the bottom because it is heavy but looks like I was wrong.
I'll keep jiggling it around until I find a way to do it.

Matt, I am using a different sleeping bag but it takes up about the same amount of room. I was hoping to bring the Czech one as well but I'll have to see about weight, I am now thinking a liner for the Arctic bag would be a better idea.

I really don't want to leave the Kelly kettle at home and I am dead set on having nothing else to carry other than my Bergen and my rifle. I know we don't need to walk far but I would like to know I could if I had to, if that makes any sense.

You are correct Ian, it was old practice to put the sleeping bag at the bottom to bring weight off the small of the back and transfer that weight to the middle of the back. However, with the onset of 'HIP' support and belts that isn't so necessary now... You have some great advice from those above. Consider though mate if possible of converting the sack to an extendable lid system..? Offer still stands if you need it...

SW
 
just remember aswell ian...if your going hiking for a week, you'll carry alot less than going static camp for a week, say with the feb meet your vehicle will be near the camp so trying to fit everything in one bergen isn't nessasary,you'll just make a couple o trips back to your vehicle, where-as when hiking you'd probably stop at a pub for some scrann instead of carrying a weeks worth of half decent food.
my 120lt bergen will be rammed with kit , clothes,tarps x2,hamock,dossbag,cordage,clothes etc. plus another 75 bergen full of food i wont eat within a week, then about 5 boxes of amber necter in the car, and a rifle.

if i was hiking i'd have 1xsmall tarp,dossbag/bivvi, small stove.knife/basic kit,change of clothes ,wets,some small packet food and that would be it,oh and some cash.
 
Lot of good advice here. I think Mick has hit the nail on the head though, if you are just packing for the car, rather than to carry on your back, you don't really need to worry about weight distribution, comfortable carry etc, just ease of extraction.

As far as carrying goes, Trail and error is the way to go. Do as you have done, bag in the bottom, add the rest of your kit, pick up the pack, walk about a bit with it on your back, find somewhere to set up (your garden will do) and see how much faffing about you end up doing. Try again with your bag attached to the base of your pack, then a third time with the bag in or held under the hood. You may want to have several goes at each of these three configurations, with the rest of your gear packed differently and you may also think of a completely different configuration yourself (bag in the middle of your pack for example)

One thing I have learned is, there is no one single right way to pack a rucksack/bergen and the best way to find the what best suit you is to experiment.

Good luck,

Atb.

Colin
 
Thanks everyone. I'm busy trying to clear my man cave out at the moment and make it into a usable workshop but, much to my wife's disgust, the Bergen is still out on the living room floor with gear spread around it. I'll get on to some trial packing runs this evening if I have the energy left, I've got some ideas;)
 
So far so good. All the big bulky items are pretty much in there with room to spare. The main bulk I need to find room for now is my clothes and a towel and possibly my cider.
I've also been going through my list eliminating certain items, like why do I need a plate and bowl if I have my billy can lids? Why do I need cooking utensils when a knife and fork will do for stirring a bit of bacon round a frying pan? I may have to look into a small spatula though but that sort of thing will slot in anywhere.
I've still got one empty side pocket (maybe for the cider;)), I haven't used the top pockets in the lid yet and there's a lot of air gaps and a fair amount of room at the top of the main compartment. Also, it's not too heavy yet:)
 
All the heavier items should be, as you have them, nearer the bottom the smaller the moment (force) which can unbalance you etc physics :)
 
You didn't,t say what bergan you are using. If it is mil surplus place bergan and you can't fit everything in then you have far too much stuff. You also didn't,t say what sleeping bag it is you are using. The current issue bag is massive but you won't find anything for the cost that is as warm.

From my experience, I packed the sleeping bag loose inside it's bidi bag near the bottom of my bergan. If you used the stuff sack then it is an immovable object, packed loose it molds itself around other objects and other things press into it. From bottom to top I had spare trainers, spare trousers, doss bag as above and then other stuff I would need such as softy jacket, wooly hat etc. Wash kit and spare socks, t shirt, base layer, water proofs in one side pocket, large cook pot, immediate rations and other odds and sods in the other.

Its a big bag and the aim was always to not fill it as there was always extra batteries, ammunition and water to fit in.

My roll mat was inserted vertically through two elastic acted loops I fitted myself, if you put it at the bottom and fall over it is very easy to find yourself wearing a sledge that won't stop sliding....
 
It is a British army Bergen and my sleeping bag is also British army, the Arctic one but not the modern synthetic filled one, it's the feather filled bag.
I've heard about putting the sleeping bag in lose before so I might try that but I'll probably keep it nearer the top and keep spare clothes nearer the bottom.

I'll probably have another fiddle around with it at the weekend as it's all in my car at the moment due to marital strife! Basically I'm not sure where I want to spend my nights right now so I'm keeping myself well prepared;)
 
Starting from top

1. First aid
2. Items Needed during the day.
3. Waterproofs
4. Stove
5. Tent/ hammock/tarp
6. food
7.torch
8.cooking pans
9. clothing
10 sleeping bag
11 emergency rations
12 survival bag

Heavier items to the top
 
Back
Top