>>2535948That sucks. There is one major issue with the recon pack, which is the plastic plate holding the shoulder strap in place(and is used for height adjustment). It broke on me, and looking at reviews seem to be a issue others have had. The outer part of the plate is really thin, so its prone to snapping if youre unkucky. I got a new plate for free from Norrøna, but switching it out was a pain. Still an amazing pack tho, and I havet had any issues with the new plate. It's not too much of a concern tho, when it broke I just tied the straps together, which worked amazingly.
>>2535928Then youre definitely covered. Should of course be noted that you can always optimize from what the army issues. But in terms of familiarity and just knowing that stuff will endure is always a safety I'm happy to carry.
>>2535943Good to hear. There's a lot of work put into safe and competent arctic operations. The cold really is a killer, one way or another. That being said I feel a lot more confident in winter enviroment than in cold rainy enviroment. Cold and snow can be countered by either dynamic movement, or adding layers when static. But rain and wind just seeps in and drains you of any warmth. We had a bigger percentage of potential moderate hypthermia cases during a summer exercise with rain, wind and 0C, than we did during a -40C winter exercise.