The U.S. military has standardized the
was individual equipment is carried by a soldier. Since this is a
very common system there are a number of manufacturers making ALICE
compatible equipment. ALICE is a Vietnam era system. The W.W. II
system used bent heavy gauge wire to attach a canteen to a pistol
belt.
MOdular
Lightweight
Load-carryng
Equipment (MOLLE) is the new system
that's now being fielded.
With this page I'm trying to collect just
the official government issue items and related information. The
Links
section below has some vendors of compatible equipment that may or may
not contain Government Issue items.
"MOLLE system was supplied to USMC by a
single contractor [
Specialty
Defense Systems] in 1988, the same contractor supplied the MOLLE II
upgrades in 2000. These systems were supplied with care & use
manuals by the contractor. The same thing is happening with the
replacement system ILBE [Improved Load Bearing Equipment - 2004] which
replaces the packs & other deficient items but continues to use
MOLLE pouches. MOLLE is miss identified with PALS [
Pouch
Attachment Ladder System]
which the MOLLE system uses, the army first used PALS in 1988 with the
SPEAR system issued to Special Forces personnel. PALS was a
requirement on the Interceptor Body Armor and items were approved for
unit purchase and received NSNs. Because of The superiority of
this
gear the army is slowly replacing the LC1/LC2, SPEAR,
& IIFS
[Integrated Individual Fighting System] gear with a MOLLE system but
has a mish mash of items from various contractors, thus no official
field manual.
Alice gear evolved from M1967 MLCE [Modernized
Load Carrying Equipment] with only the magazine pouches for 30 rd mags
carried over as ALICE LC1 all other items were upgraded or changed.
LC2/LC3 are upgrades of LC1 with no obvious changes to the gear in most
cases, H suspenders LC3 are just M1967 MLCE. Some gear add to inventory
such as individual First Aid Kit received the LC2 designation. Because
of commercial marketing the lines between these systems and upgrades is
quite confusing."
cal fischer
Belt
The items in this category can be
attached to either a belt or to a pack. My belt (see below) has
as part of it's marking "LC-2", so it's not clear to me what LC-1 and
LC-2 mean, if you know let me know.
Pistol Belt
9 mm Double Mag Pouch
First Aid/Compass Pouch
.45 Clip Pouch
M-16 Mag Pouch
A.L.I.C.E. Clips
Pack
It may be that the Load Carrying #1
(LC-1) packs can be used with either shoulder straps or the LC-2 pack
frame and the LC-2 packs can only be used with the frame.
The Medium Pack is used with or without
the LC-2 Pack & Cargo Frame.
The Large Combat Pack requires use of
the frame.
Each pack features a large internal pack sack and radio
compartment, compression straps, external cargo pockets w/cinching
buckles, Velcro® closing top flap with a pocket roomy enough for a
2 or
5 Quart collapsible canteen. Conventional lashing or gear attachment
patches are provided. Fabrics are Mil-Spec nylon duck and harness
webbing.
Medium A.L.I.C.E. Pack
Small Canvas A.L.I.C.E. Pack
Military A.L.I.C.E. Ruck Frame (Black)
(LC-2 Pack Frame only?) NSN 8465-00-001-6475 ?
A.L.I.C.E. Kidney Pad
H-Type A.L.I.C.E. Suspenders
A.L.I.C.E. Suspenders
A.L.I.C.E. LC-2 Rucksack Frame
A.L.I.C.E. Pack LC2 Shoulder Straps
LC-2 Kidney Pads
Small A.L.I.C.E. Pack
New Style ALICE Pack Frame Detachable Cargo Shelf
Old Style Alice cargo shelf
ALICE
LC-1 MEDIUM FIELD PACK - WOODLAND CAMOUFLAGE
ALICE LC-1 LARGE
COMBAT PACK - OLIVE GREEN
Features a large internal
pack sack and
radio compartment, compression straps, three large external cargo
pockets w/cinching buckles, three small accessory pockets, Velcro®
closing top flap with a pocket roomy enough for a 2 or 5 Quart
collapsible canteen. Conventional lashing or gear attachment patches
are provided. Must be used in conjunction with an LC-2 Pack Frame (sold
separately); you cannot attach Shoulder Straps to the pack by itself.
Size: 22'' x 20'' x19'' (55.9 x 51 x 48 cm). Load Capacity: 70 lbs
8465-01-465-2057
Pouch, Radio
8465-01-465-2070
Pouch, Utility 100 R...
8465-01-465-2272
Adapter K-Bar
8465-01-465-2080
Set, Buckles
8465-01-465-2082
Belt, Utility
8465-01-465-2088
Pack, Patrol
8465-01-465-2158
Frame, Pack
8465-01-465-2289
Pack Main
8465-01-491-7438
Pack, Patrol
8465-01-491-7446
Pouch, Radio
8465-01-491-7449
Frame, Pack, MOLLE 2
8465-01-491-7519
Pack, Main
8465-01-491-7525
Adapter K-Bar
8465-01-494-9667
Pouch, Utility
8465-01-495-0054
Pouch, Radio
8465-01-495-0063
Adapter, K-Bar
8465-01-513-4063
Pouch, Grenade
8465-01-513-4083
Pack, Assault
8465-01-519-6440
Frame, Pack
8465-01-515-7594
Pack, Assault
Why No Molle Manual & Related info
An email from: Tom answered my question about why no Molle manual and
then some:
Hooah
Brooke-
I
think there is no TM:
1. The
Army is cutting down on paper products
2.
MOLLE was fielded so quickly with combinations of off the shelf
stuff the
instructions
haven't caught up with the equipment-(this is not unusual,
I
was a
Company Commander in West Germany when the HWWMV (Hummer) was
fielded
with
no manuals)
3. The
Army may be waiting to field a final version of MOLLE before
they
publish
the instructions-
4.
No money for publishing…money going to fielding new body armor,
up-armored
vehicles and bullets….
I also
have the VHS tape for assembling MOLLE I-this supposed to come with
each
new
MOLLE-
There
are (I think!?) 3 versions of the MOLLE:
MOLLE
I: Woodland cammo with locking mechanism at bottom of frame (you
have
booklet-I
used this version, the locking mechanism made it a piece of
junk-one
more thing to break, and it did not work well)
MOLLE
II: Woodland cammo with revised frame (no locking
mechanism)-better
MOLLE
III: ACU (with stronger frame?)
Also
comes in black, DCU pattern, and white-
For
NSN listing for all MOLLEs:
http://www.armyproperty.com/Resources/NSN-Listings/MOLLE.htm
Lots
of Fastex buckles, straps, pouches and bags to put together to
configure
MOLLE-
Lots
of volume-if packed fully it extends behind/above my head making
it
impossible
to get into a prone firing position without quick releasing
the MOLLE off-
The
frame seems to be better for jumping than the old metal ALICE frame (I
haven't
heard of a MOLLE frame breaking on a jump (on a lowering
line))-
See:
http://www.combatreform2.com/rucksack.htm
While
I was in the Army I used:
WWII
Mountain Rucksack
Jungle
Rucksack
Tropical
Rucksack
Combination
of WWII/Korea field packs/bags with M-1956 gear
ALICE
(medium and large) (M-1956 to LBV)
I test
jumped (1978/1979) Lowe pack
Modified
ALICE (MALICE) (private mods)
I was
with the 101st Abn Div (AASLT) when the CFP-90 was fielded-(I
never
used
it)-saw lots of them tear, snap, break shoulder straps and shear
adjusting
screws for the frame-the 101st turned in CFP-90s and went
back to
ALICE-
I
have/use/used:
MALICE
with issue ALICE frame and privately purchased (more padding
:-))
shoulder
straps and waist strap
Blackhawk
SOF Ruck with issue ALICE frame and MOLLE shoulder
straps/harness
and
MOLLE waist strap
Tom
USA,
Ret., (PVT-SSG; 2LT-MAJ)
Sleeping Bag, Vacuum Packed
Specification MIL-B-6556
Order No AF 33(038)26632
Stock No. 8330-031120
Belnap & Thompson Inc.
Date Packed: Dec 14, 1951
US Property
13 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 5"
weighs 8lbs
8465-01-157-1157
Carrier, AN/PRC-68 Radio Set - (sling)
