Varusteleka’s Särmä Large Assault Pack
* Note on the photos, I have bunch of stuff mounted on this because I have been using it. I wasn’t to keen on having to pull it all off to get pics. If you need more check the Varusteleka page, they have plenty of great pics.
I bought this along with the smaller Särmä Assault Pack during COVID. This will run you $75.99 CAD at Varusteleka. It is, as they describe it, a good quality and affordable mid-size 35-liter (2135 cu in) 3-Day pack. Like the smaller version the molle is strong af and you can certainly add external pouches to up your capacity. I have added external pouches including these two wynex side pouches from amazon that have increased its capacity dramatically. I also added a couple old single AR mag pouches on the sides at the bottom so that I can throw an axe or saw (or whatever) down the outside of the bag along the side behind these side pouches giving me a lot of versatility.
You can carry quite a bit in this but in terms of a 3-day pack I’d warn it would be more a 3-day by military definition than civilian. You do run out of room pretty fast. For an example, if I throw my water bladder in the main compartment along with a woobie and tarp tent (in compression bags), and a woolly-pully jumper I’m running out of room, might get a pair of pants in if I was lucky but that would really be it. You wouldn’t like that, it’s just to give you some idea of size. Sleeping with a tarp you can easily make this work for an overnight, especially with external pouches added, but in terms of carrying food and water (depending on whether you had access to a water source) I don’t know how far you would want to try stretch it. Like most things it really depends on you and your intended use. That said, I think two to three days is totally doable with those side pouches. On the subject of water, it has an internal slot for a water bladder and a small port underneath the top handle to run the tube out of. It also has a mesh pocket/divider in the main bag opposite the water bladder pouch that is handy.
The shoulder straps are really nicely padded and comfortable. The back panel as well as the shoulder straps are all mesh vented. It has both a sternum strap and a belt. The belt is also completely removable if you wanted to do that. The belt is a gripe of mine. You can weigh this bag down with enough gear that an unpadded belt, essentially designed to hold the bag against your body, will feel insufficient. I am not sure the best solution here, perhaps they might look towards changing the mounting slightly so you can opt to mount a padded battle belt. Some might argue it’s bit overkill on a bag this size, but I’d argue it sort of sits right on the line and I could see people going either way on this. After adding the extra pouches, I ended up buying a padded mole battle belt and rigging that up to it. The way it mounts is less than ideal, but it is still an improvement in my eyes. To be fair part of the problem here is me trying to take the bag further than it was intended.
I like that the zippers run all the way down then main bag so that it folds open all the way. That is how all bags should be made in my opinion. I wish the main pocket did the same but I can totally understand why some would strongly disagree on that point. The front pockets don’t have any sort of organizing dividers. For the larger of the two this might have been something worth considering but the lack of dividers could equally be seen as preferable. One complaint regarding the pockets is the decision to go with a full velcro panel for the upper pocket instead of velcro molle, which I would personally prefer but it’s debatable whether this would be of any benefit when you consider the Y compression strap that runs down the front of the bag.
On that point, all the straps have wraps so nothing is left flying loose. There are D rings on the shoulder straps and plenty of tiedown points on the bag. There are also and upper and lower compression straps on the side as well as two along the bottom which helps lock everything down and also allows you to throw something on the outside of it quickly. Additionally, the Y strap top compression strap that comes down across the front of the bag that is super handy for jamming something under.
The key takeaway I would offer here is that the quality is excellent. I have taken this out on a lot of rucks and a couple overnights in the summer and found it pretty comfortable even when ridiculously overloaded and on that point it’s extremely durable. It looks like a lot of other generic military style 3-day bags out there on amazon but the quality on this is top tier.
Like many things this is really going to come down to your personal ambitions for the bag, but I would argue that there is a heck of a lot you could do with this. I personally tend to use it for a big day outing where there is a possibility I could be stuck overnight. In that capacity I would easily be able to spend 24 hours in the woods and be extremely comfortable with what I throw in/on this ruck.
Feature Photo: Varusteleka’s Särmä Large Assault Pack. Photo: Chris Murray, 2024
Inset Photos: Varusteleka’s Särmä Large Assault Pack. Photo: Chris Murray, 2024.
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