In this issue, we will continue to talk about the development history of individual carrying equipment in China. In the last issue, we talked about the initial single-piece separation of China's individual carrying equipment from 53 to 81, and in this issue we will talk about the second stage of China's individual carrying equipment, which is also a stage of China's rapid progress in individual carrying equipment.

    From 91 to 01 through foreign exchanges in the 80s, our army has undergone a huge change in concept and understanding. Since the end of the 80s, new individual equipment has been put into development, and the result is the Type 91 equipment system, which began to equip the entire army in 1995. The Type 91 equipment is divided into two parts: combat carrying equipment (tactical vest) and life carrying equipment (backpack). 

  Type 91 Carrying Gear    

 Type 91 backpack  

 The Type 91 combat carry equipment and the Type 63 ammunition equipment have a lot in common, both adopt a quick-opening design on the chest, and both take into account the carrying of rifle ammunition and grenades. As a latecomer, the Type 91 combat carrying gear (tactical vest) is much more advanced in many places: first of all, the main structure has changed from a single body to a 3-piece tactical vest with 2 front and 1 back, and the front and rear pieces are connected with nylon ropes that can be quickly pulled and locked to provide distance adjustment function, which not only makes it a huge breakthrough in its adaptability to different soldier body types, but also makes the heat load much lower. secondly, the area of the shoulder strap is widened, and the pressure on the soldier's shoulders is reduced, which is conducive to reducing fatigue; The quick-opening lock on the chest is divided into upper and lower buckles, which is also more conducive to the stability of the gear after wearing; The plastic buckle and Velcro strap allow for quick opening of both the magazine pouch and the grenade pouch.

However, the 91 tactical vest also has obvious design omissions: it integrates the water bottle bag behind the lumbar spine, which makes it very uncomfortable for soldiers to sit down, lie down, and roll with a gun, and the water bottle must be taken out. And it is not convenient to take out the kettle in this position. This design shows that the designer's ideas are still not appropriate enough for actual use, and the feedback from the use test during the development process is not real and effective.

Type 91 is a standardized large backpack, with two models: cold zone and warm zone; The main difference is that the cold backpack is larger and can fit an extra coat for cold areas. Previously, soldiers had no carrying gear for bedding, clothes, shoes, etc., and could only fold the squares and wrap them in a raincoat, then tie them with a backpack strap and carry them on their backs. Not only is it time-consuming and labor-intensive, but it also requires high packaging skills, and it is easy to cause bedding to be wet and dirty by rain and muddy water on the ground, and lose its ability to keep warm.

The emergence of the 91 backpack allows soldiers to quickly and conveniently store bedding (sleeping bags), clothing, shoes and boots into large backpacks, which has been proved to be effective in reducing the physical exertion of soldiers, while greatly reducing the time required for emergency assembly, which is very helpful for rapid response ability. 

     Type 91 backpack    

 In response to the shortcomings of the Type 91 carrying gear, China has launched a follow-up Type 95 combat carrying tool on the basis of retaining its backpack design. The Type 95 tactical vest has two main improvements, the first is the addition of an additional lower belt with mounting holes underneath, which allows soldiers to place items such as water bottles, bayonets, and other accessory bags (such as gas mask kits). The second is the Type 95 tactical vest is divided into several subtypes such as machine gunner carrier, rifleman carrier, sniper carrier, etc. according to the nature of the task, which meets the equipment characteristics of different soldiers.

It can be said that when the Type 91 backpack and the Type 95 tactical vest are combined, the development of China's individual carrying equipment has begun to basically mature, and the main functions and structural design have been established. The tactical vests and backpacks of the later Type 01 carrying equipment did not have breakthrough changes, but improved materials, craftsmanship and some detailed design problems on the basis of the 95 carrying gear; In addition, a sleeping system including raincoats, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, etc. has been added, forming a complete set of individual equipment systems with complete functions and rich accessories. 

Type 95 tactical vest  

  Tuqiang has various types and styles of tactical vests and backpacks, and in the basic style, Tuqiang has made its own innovations, especially in terms of tactical vests, to make soldiers lighter and faster to operate. We'll tell you more about it later, so stay tuned!