Bush War SADF Pattern 83 Rucksack

The P83 Rucksack is colloquially known as the grootsak (“big bag” in Afrikaans). It is technically a Bergen Rucksack, an alpine-style bag popularized by the British SAS. It is a large comfortable bag suitable for long range patrols. It was designed specifically to be worn with a chest rig. While all grootsaks were originally issued with a metal frame designed to aid paratroopers, many soldiers removed it to lighten the pack and improve comfort. This field modification became so popular that most packs were stripped in the field, and eventually bags were issued without the frame to all but airborne soldiers.

This example was manufactured by Specifico in the former Bophuthatswana homeland and carries a number of names of previous SADF/SANDF users.