>>2323839I was a little mean in my initial post anon but ill give you some really good advice.
if your unable to return it look into an external frame ruck. If you can find the canadian airborne ruck, i think its a 67 or 62 pattern, get one. Its an excellent ruck by any standard and the only reasonable way to carry that awful compression bag, it straps across your upper back.
If you find the one that carries the compression bag at the bottom of the ruck (not by your shoulders like the 6 pattern) avoid it like the plague, i thinks its the 82 pattern. It wont fit into the new internal frame cadpat ruck unless you get the cadpat compression bag. Untie the inner and outer and air them out with a fan, then spray them with liquid laundry detergent, i wasnt kidding about the loads of cum in these things. If you do the above the fart and cum smell will be much less prominent. Burn the liner.
If it comes with an arctic hood, okay i guess, i fucking hate mine and never use it but some guys swear by it.
If it comes with a cadpat bivy, your a lucky bastard. Inspect it for holes and enjoy a bivy better than most civy ones. If it comes with a tan olive bivy with a zipper, its alright-ish. Seal the zipper and inspect for holes.
This sleeping system is not as great as you described in your strangely supportive post about the CAF.
With both bags, a civy bag liner, bivy, and the issued sleeping mat and a shemagh over my face to keep my nose from freezing and stop condensation i will sleep on the ground in the open down to about -10 but at that temperature even if you snuggle up next to a lav or a tree you feel every gust of wind just tear the warmth away from your body. In actual winter/arctic conditions when you bring this setup into a tent with a lantern and other people it goes a bit further. Ive done -35c but we had a stove, lantern and were spooning like fags for warmth.
