Thought I'd post up a little comparo of the Swiss and Swedish gas mask bags. As attested to the popularity of the Finnish gas mask bag, they make for a great a day woods bumming bag- these are no exception
I'll start w/ the Swiss bag, it's constructed of the familiar "salt & pepper" canvas, has an adjustable 1" shoulder strap and a strap on the rear to secure the bag to a belt, it's ~ 9" tall by 9" wide and 4" deep, weight is 10.5 oz. The lid is secured by a cloth loop one of two buttons. Construction is excellent, everything is over sewn and stitching is neat and tidy. It has a small internal flat pocket at the rear, and a round cloth divider on the opposite side- the round divider is just perfect for securing a water bottle so it isn't flopping about (I replaced the cloth cinch w/ elastic cord and a cord lock for ease of drawing it tight)
The Swedish bag is constructed of a sturdy canvas with the bottom third of the bag covered in a heavy leather, it's more oval in shape vs the Swiss bag. Rough measurements 10" high, 7" wide and 4.5" deep- again it's more oval shaped so measuring is a little difficult. It also has an additional front pocket that measures ~ 7"x5"x1.5". It has an adjustable 1 3/8" shoulder strap, w/ a 1" waist strap secured on the rear of the bag. Weight is 17.5 oz. Both lids are secured by leather straps and metal studs, pretty slick setup. No internal features in the bag. Construction is top notch and very well sewn.
Front shot
Rear shot
inside of Swiss bag
inside of Swedish bag
I wanted to compare volume between the two, but with their different shapes I wasn't going to solve it w/ math- so I loaded the Swedish bag full of packing peanuts (including the front pocket) and then transfered them to the Swiss bag- low and behold they are basically identical volumes- roughly 6 liters
Both are sturdy and well constructed bags, the leather bottom of the Swedish bag is clearly more bombproof (at the expense of more weight). The Swedish bag w/ it's wider strap and waist belt, carries better- especially when you start to get them loaded up. With shoulder bags one most resist the temptation to overload them, not easy to do- but they sure carry better w/ a reasonable loadout. While these bags aren't rare, they seem to be a little difficult to come by- pricing is in the $15-25-ish range from what I've seen. I do have to caution you that there is a knockoff Swiss bag (it has the same number stamped on everyone
)- it may be fine, but my experience w/ knockoffs is they usually aren't.
Anywho, that's a quick and dirty comparo of two European gas mask bags
I'll start w/ the Swiss bag, it's constructed of the familiar "salt & pepper" canvas, has an adjustable 1" shoulder strap and a strap on the rear to secure the bag to a belt, it's ~ 9" tall by 9" wide and 4" deep, weight is 10.5 oz. The lid is secured by a cloth loop one of two buttons. Construction is excellent, everything is over sewn and stitching is neat and tidy. It has a small internal flat pocket at the rear, and a round cloth divider on the opposite side- the round divider is just perfect for securing a water bottle so it isn't flopping about (I replaced the cloth cinch w/ elastic cord and a cord lock for ease of drawing it tight)
The Swedish bag is constructed of a sturdy canvas with the bottom third of the bag covered in a heavy leather, it's more oval in shape vs the Swiss bag. Rough measurements 10" high, 7" wide and 4.5" deep- again it's more oval shaped so measuring is a little difficult. It also has an additional front pocket that measures ~ 7"x5"x1.5". It has an adjustable 1 3/8" shoulder strap, w/ a 1" waist strap secured on the rear of the bag. Weight is 17.5 oz. Both lids are secured by leather straps and metal studs, pretty slick setup. No internal features in the bag. Construction is top notch and very well sewn.
Front shot
Rear shot
inside of Swiss bag
inside of Swedish bag
I wanted to compare volume between the two, but with their different shapes I wasn't going to solve it w/ math- so I loaded the Swedish bag full of packing peanuts (including the front pocket) and then transfered them to the Swiss bag- low and behold they are basically identical volumes- roughly 6 liters
Both are sturdy and well constructed bags, the leather bottom of the Swedish bag is clearly more bombproof (at the expense of more weight). The Swedish bag w/ it's wider strap and waist belt, carries better- especially when you start to get them loaded up. With shoulder bags one most resist the temptation to overload them, not easy to do- but they sure carry better w/ a reasonable loadout. While these bags aren't rare, they seem to be a little difficult to come by- pricing is in the $15-25-ish range from what I've seen. I do have to caution you that there is a knockoff Swiss bag (it has the same number stamped on everyone
)- it may be fine, but my experience w/ knockoffs is they usually aren't.Anywho, that's a quick and dirty comparo of two European gas mask bags
