Crossfire is family owned and operated, based about an hour from Canberra, Australia. Their products are the best on the market and they supply a lot of packs to the Australian military and law enforcement, in particular our SF. I have the DG3 and it is the best pack I own bar none.
Great review… The sleeping bag compartment is pretty common with Australian packs, it’s the first mod made to a large US ALICE pack on private purchase and is also found on the issued packs too… both the general issue and the larger “Recon” ALICE based system packs. We generally just stuffed the sleeping bag and Bivvy all in one in the compartment so we aren’t stuffing around with stuff sacks… 🤙🇦🇺
First quality costs (Eye watering amounts) you get what you pay for. Secondly all good large Bergens are heavy by necessity to carry the huge load required. Great review and an awesome pack Tom, too big for me now but a great bit of kit.
WOW That has to be the most well thought out backpack I’ve ever seen. I recognize a lot of those systems, but never seen them all on one bag. I would say that’s something you could take to any part of the World and have everything you need for any length of time. Great video! 👍🏼👍🏼
Great review. I got this pack at the beginning of the year for 7day+ hikes. Very comfortable in the Australian climate, to be expected as the guys are based in Perth in WA. When I bought mine I think it only came in green or cam so as a civvie I went with green. I only got one bladder sleeve and no radio pouch though. I’m not 100% sure but I think at some stage crossfire may have came from another company called Wilderness Equipment who were also In Perth and made custom gear for the Stranglers at Swanbourne. That is where the MKVII has its routes with little things like the side sleeping bag compartment making it easier to pack your gear up while staying prone
Another great review and excellent pack ! I have looked at that one, but I think it might be a bit large for my needs. I have the DG3 and DG16 which work great for me. I would like to see them add a hip belt for the removable lid, that would make it more versatile. I will mention that in my review of the DG16 soon..
11 or so pounds empty is quite a piece. I remember having a USMC ruck and it was 14lbs empty. I never really considered empty weight a consideration until I got that ruck. After that it was always a consideration.. My current monster sized ruck from Finland is about 4-5 pounds empty with an internal aluminum frame and w/o pouches attached.. That sleep sack pouch is the tets man! Is that sleep sack pouch submersion proof or just rain proof or?
It's not submersion proof, but it'll definitely be rain proof. I think they're changing the design so it has a removable waterproof liner, in which case it'll be submersion proof.
@@GruntLife-yi6xv l’d say the Crossfire packs are better for hauling serious weight. Karrimor quality went downhill a few years back, however Karrimor SF still make decent kit.
Tom, thanks for a great video, very thorough and fair. Do you consider this pack would work in combination with the DZ rig if you had your Carinthia Defence 4 in the bottom compartment?
My compliments on the review, measured, well thought out, logical and reasoned. Typical of your former experience and practises. A couple of questions though: 1. Lots of pockets and compartments and all useful BUT I found that if there is a pocket, the tendency is to fill it regardless of operational and personal comfort need. For instance if there is a folding bicycle pocket someone will take a folding bicycle even where it is impossible to use it. 2. I appreciate that this is a kit review but I would be interested to know what you would choose to take with you on ops. Especially given that it is impractical to amass a whole stable of mission purposed bergens suitable for every occasion.. Just a thought 348
Folding bicycle pocket 😂. Yep l know what you mean mate, but for most of my service l had so much kit to carry l didn’t have the luxury of packing extra personal kit to fill space. Ref having a whole load of packs, l only ever had one bergen at any time whilst serving, the SAS/Para bergen until 2003, then the PLCE Air Support bergen (both issued). Most of these new ones have been sent to me to trial.
I also notice that, so far anyway, you have not mentioned a, “getaway pack/bag.” When operating from vehicles each man had a small pack, Claymore bag, or equivalent packed with the bare necessities to grab and leg it, if you needed to just abandon everything and run. If you were truly on the run there was little opportunity to set snares or fish it was a matter of foraging from what you passed through, or stealing what you needed that you thought would not be missed. Most had a couple of lock picks and a pair of scissors to cut lock shims, water purifying tabs and first aid kit. But little else, fires were operationally avoided and energy foods and tablets a thing of the future. When you go into the bag a switched on enemy is going to loot your watch and take your clothes and boots and give you a pair of overalls or something. If you were caught with sovereigns it only made you less of the grey man. Better to make do with what you can find and improvise. I carried a WW2 fighting knife everywhere but I knew it was a death sentence if I was caught with it and more of a liability than anything else Being on the run was, ideally not going to be for long and huge log cabin building kits would not be desirable, or needed. Oh well swinging the lamp again sorry
@@jamesrichardwhitehouse5653 yeah roger all mate, l talked through the daysack/assault pack in my British Army Personal Kit videos, that was the grab bag.
Great review. That packs looks like monster and weighs like one too. That's the price for durability. I like the ability to remove the top and side pouches. Any idea on how much weight you would drop leaving all the bells and whistles behind? Nate
Too much pack for me mate. I carried a large Alice for 20 years as a leg (Air Assault) Infantryman, sometimes with 80-90 lbs (35-40 kgs) of personal and mission equipment and ammo. I'm safely retired though, and 16 kg is my limit now! (11B40, US Army, Retired).
Had a small cross fire, little buger could do 90lbs!good pack. Got a dg6, hated that completely overbuilt torture device. Reminds me of a super tough wrist watches, your a lump of carbonized shit but the watch still works.
Other than the side-loading sleeping bag compartment, it's basically like the USMC FILBE pack, but lacks the ability to attach the assault pack to the top.
Weighty, sophisticated and pricey, it kind of defeats the acronym KISS, there's too much going on with that bergen, too many straps and buckles, zips can burst open under strain rendering them useless, 500 Denier isn't as tough as 1000 Denier etc, the Berghaus Vulcan/Crusader is large, comfortable and extremely tough and well built without the fuss of this bergen, my personal opinion is this bergen is over engineered for a soldier on exercise or on a battlefield. As you know, you live out of your bergen, fight out of your webbing and survive out of your smock, if it ain't broke don't fix it, with respect.
The only zips on this are to access the top pouches, like every rucksack. On the Crusader the side pouches are attached by zips. So by that token they’ve fixed something that could potentially be broken. Also this rucksack enables you to field repair buckles, not something seen on many packs.
