Historical and Outstanding Mountaineering Rucksacks

1945
L'appel de la haute montagne
Raymond et René Millet prennent le relais de leurs parents et développent, avec le jeune alpiniste Louis Lachenal, des sacs à dos adaptés à la pratique de la haute montagne.

1950
Premier 8000 !
Le 3 juin, « l'annapurna 50 » triomphe à l'Annapurna avec Louis Lachenal et Maurice Herzog.

1959
L'esprit d'équipe
Millet intègre son premier conseiller technique sous contrat : Walter Bonatti

1963
Belles signatures...
Walter Bonatti et René Desmaison réunissent la première et deuxième face nord des grandes Jorasses

Mid 70's Wilderness Experience is what I shouldered.

I always liked Lowe stuff. I still have one of their large packs,

the ergonomic pack allowed climbers and skiers to tackle steep, technical terrain without the awkward sway of an aluminum frame or the roll of a cylindrical sack. Shaped by a brilliant mathematical mind, the Jensen melded with the user's back, but only with careful planning: if packed meticulously, the spineless rig stood tall, its structural pillar formed by the pressure of the contents. Improperly crated, the Jensen puckered and sagged.

Here's a Bergans I got in early 50s

anybody know exactly when and why REI stopped selling them?

The French have the word "Bergam"... a Bergans' style rucksack, and looking at that old Bergans catalogue, it now explains WHY the French have a "Bergam". The catalogue shows and describes a mixture of Norwegian and French troops using the Bergans style rucksack. So there is some long history of French Alpine troops using that rucksack - hence "Bergam".

The three Lafuma brothers - Victor, Alfred and Gabriel - founded Lafuma in 1930 producing backpacks. In 1936, the company invented the metal-frame braced backpack, which expanded the group considerably. Having produced products for both the French Army pre-World War II, and during the occupation of France by Nazi Germany for the Wehrmacht, the company resumed production post-war. In 1954 Lafuma expanded into camping furniture.

In 1984, the company went bankrupt, and was taken over by a grandson of the founders, Philippe Joffard. In 1985 the company expanded into sleeping bags, and in 1986 moved part of its production to Tunisia. In 1991, the company launched new clothing brands, and in 1992 opened new production facilities in Hungary. This allowed the resumption of the production of brands Millet and Le Chameau in 1995.

The group is still highly reliant on the domestic French market, with 60% of group turnover generated from French sales. The current brandlines of the group include (with reported sales percentages):
Lafuma (44.1%)
Oxbow Surfwear (28.2%)
Millet (16.3%)
Le Chameau (11.4%)

I don't remember the name of rucksack shown in this photo. I was bright orange with a leather bottom. It was tough enough for hauling by the top loop and as far as I remember it never tore. Great pack.

Millet filed out a Patent for their Minyl back pack straps on March 29th 1963 (Patent FR 1 365 328A).

The “Karrimor K100 Whillan’s Alpiniste by Nigel Cabourn” pack that turned up in stores I’ve never been through the door of such as Van Mildert with a RRP of around £700 (good grief) was done right, exactly right. I know this because they used my original 60’s Whillan’s pack as the pattern for it.

Thread counts, exact dimensions, textures, materials, construction detailing, everything was inspected and modern equivalents were sourced, sampled and tested to make the reissue as close to the original as possible. In same cases they found the obscure original manufacturers, look at the studs that attach the lid.

They did all this in a Glasgow workshop too, itself as historic as the goods being recreated inside.

Metal, leather and cotton. It speaks to me more than any synthetic.

Karrimor O Bound I: What's the story?

The general theme of pack size and load carrying between Europe (UK included) and the US. Europe distances are far shorter getting into the climbs. There is/was a relatively sophisticated infrastructure system, including "huts". We didn't necessarily need to haul as much gear. Hence the "alpine pack" being 35-45 litres.

That rucksac (strangely not advertised on the SD site I'm looking at) would probably fall apart in very short order. If you have the ability to stitch, it might be worth a punt!