A couple of weeks ago, my youngest went with me to a local event called the Geek Gathering.
As usual, he wanted to wear my pack, so I let him wear it for about the first forty-five minutes until he tired.
When I helped him take it off, I noticed the vertical bar of the ALICE frame was 'flexing' around the upper bolt. I decided not to wear it myself, and just put it in a chair for the rest of the day.
With Hallowe'en fast approaching, last Saturday I thought I'd investigate and make some minor repairs to problem areas.
Once the motherboard was separated from the ALICE frame, I realized it was only the giant washer I'd added that was holding that vertical bar together.
As I disassembled it I discovered, with a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach, it was cracked completely through.
Ironically, this was the last component of my first LC-2 ALICE frame left on my pack. I'd already replaced the shoulder straps, waist strap, and kidney pad with more movie-accurate LC-1 parts.
I immediately got on eBay and searched for a replacement frame. One seller had a pretty cheap one with a buy it now price. The photo showed an olive drab LC-2, just like my first one. I figured that was fine, I would simply strip it and paint it black, just like I'd done the first one.
Today, this happened...
Alex