Many adventures in the outdoors begin with a plan on what to bring. Once that’s put together, you need a good pack to carry it all. Taking that one step further, you also need to make sure that things are accessible. In the last few years, fanny packs – now known as “hip packs” have made a steady comeback since they allow you to reserve bulky items for your backpack and keep your necessities strapped to you. But, a blast from our military past has been quietly making its presence known in the bushcraft world — the haversack.
Haversacks have a long history in our military. During the Civil War, soldiers used haversacks specifically for food rations, utensils, and other gear needed to have a proper meal on the battlefield. But they’ve been around for centuries and aren’t just relegated to wars fought near and far.
What is a haversack?
Well, in simple terms, a haversack is a small sling pack used for carrying necessities and their small form factor allows you to keep the things you’ll need at the ready. They also allow you to leave your main pack, and even daypack, at camp and still have something to carry the things you need for small, exploratory trips.
There are a handful of companies out there now making haversacks for the modern world. But Yellow Birch Outfitters, a veteran-owned company based in Connecticut has created a modern take on the haversack called The Minuteman. Yellow Birch was kind enough to send a sample out for me to use and abuse on my adventures and I’m left thinking that these things shouldn’t just be for bushcrafters – but for anyone and everyone who has things they like to carry.
Specifications
Dimensions: 11” x 11” x 4”
Fabric: 1000D Cordura Nylon with Milspec binding and threads.
Additional Materials: 1” Milspec Webbing, 2” Milspec Webbing, and Hardware.
Price: $150
What is it?
The Minuteman is a made-to-order sling pack that clocks in at a hair under 8 liters. It is made from 1000D Cordura and an ample amount of 1-inch webbing for lashing and expansion. The haversack features a large main compartment with five, smaller internal pockets. There are two large pockets on the outside of the pack that span its width, and the pocket on the back features a zipper that gives it slightly more capacity.
Additionally, the Minuteman has an ample-sized lid with a large side release buckle to help protect the contents while traveling. It also acts as an opportunity to lash down your rain shell, an outer layer, and beyond.
Organization
Yellow Birch Outfitters has made a name for themselves over the years due to the popularity of their PocKits. These organizational pouches can be plugged and played from pack to pocket, but the two front pockets inside the Minuteman are designed to be used with PocKits. They’ll work just fine without them as well, but if you’re a glutton for modularity – I recommend you head over to Yellow Birch and check out their PocKit collection.
Regarding the other pockets inside the Minuteman, I found that the two side pockets were great for a folding saw or narrow water bottle. The large back pocket is great for notebooks, a sandwich, or some Probars. But by no means are they limited to these things.
Externally, the front pouch under the lid is great for flat stuff, like maps, which – believe it or not – some of us still use, or a notebook. And the zippered back pocket could serve as storage for a ground tarp or poncho.
Even with all of its organizational features, I never felt hindered. Nothing needs to really go in a specific place. All of the pockets inside and out – even the two pockets intended for PocKits are universal.
Attention to Detail
The overall design of the Minuteman as well as the materials chosen for it and its construction are indications enough that this product was well thought out. Toiled over even. Aside from the ample amount of daisy chain and mounting point, three D-rings are specifically placed around the bag that help you appreciate all that went into this bespoke pack.
The first D-ring, up by the top of the pack is designed for keys, gloves, and anything you can think of hanging from it for easy – but protected – access. The bottom two D-rings serve a more technical purpose. They allow you to properly carry a hatchet without impacting the space inside the pack. It also keeps the head of the hatchet from banging around and causing the pack to be unnecessarily unbalanced.
Additionally, the grab handle on the Minuteman features a side-release buckle and can be adjusted. This is to allow you to hang the pack off of something, or wrap it around something to help keep it off the ground. You might say “Why not just use the shoulder strap?” Well, that would cause the bag to tighten up while hanging and would compromise your access to the stuff you’ve stored inside. With this adjustable grab handle, the pack is still fully functional.
Use and Abuse
The life of a gear tester is always a busy one. I’m always out and about and I need to swap things out of my pack all of the time. On top of that, I like to spend my leisure time outdoors. I won’t claim to be someone who subscribes to the tenets of Bushcraft, but I do enjoy some of its processes and ideas. Most importantly – leave the things behind that you don’t need to carry. Take only the things you need to thrive and survive out there.
The Minuteman allows for that.
On one outing, I used the Minuteman to carry a simple setup to test out Firemaple’s Sunflower Stove. That included the stove in its case, as well as the gas canister, and my GSI Outdoors Titanium cup. Another day I was strictly out and about taking video, so I used the Minuteman to carry my GoPro and its many accessories, as well as my Manfrotto Compact Adventure Tripod.
In those situations, as well as on an impromptu camping trip, I also carried around a folding saw, hatchet, water bottle, first aid kit, a PocKitful of all sorts of bits and pieces, and poncho. Those items became the mainstays. They found their place in and on the Minuteman and everything else got swapped out around them.
I can’t wait for warm weather to come along. There’s a ton of old orchards out here – as well as a bunch of randomly placed wild blueberry bushes. Flipping the lid of the haversack back gives me an open, oversized pouch for carrying apples and berries. How about some Morel mushrooms and fiddleheads? I could see myself even taking this to a farmer’s market with my kids.
The Minuteman is a great pack for the things you NEED to carry
In Conclusion
Yellow Birch Outfitters states that the Minuteman haversack is “Proudly made in the USA by someone who served it.” Upon further inspection of their site, it turns out that all of the gear they make is made here in the USA.
The fact that this pack goes into production when you place your order is smart thinking. That means these things aren’t sitting around on a shelf waiting for you to call. They’re made for you when you want it. That kind of situation leads me to believe that if there is something specific you want out of this pack, you can contact Yellow Birch and see what they might be able to do.
I personally wouldn’t mind a little Velcro on the lid for a morale patch myself, but otherwise – this pack is where it’s at.
Aesthetically, the Minuteman screams “bushcraft”. And that’s just not because of the color scheme, but because of its form factor. Haversacks force you to carry those things you need and aren’t made to be overstuffed or over-burdened. People who dabble or are dedicated to the bushcraft world have an eye on necessity and generally only carry the things they need to live and survive in the outdoor world.
However, I see a bigger picture here – as well as a bigger purpose for the Minuteman. There is no need for any of us to have to hump around a large pack whenever we’re out backpacking and decide to take a side quest away from camp. Sure, I like the idea of a hip-pack, but I really like the idea of something that I can manipulate to carry as little as I want or as much as I need. The modularity alone helps you stay organized and prepared out there, but the ability to expand the pack, or even just to easily forage with it, really has my head buzzing for what’s to come.
I don’t see myself putting this pack away anytime soon.
Pros:
- Well-thought-out design
- 1000D construction
- Made-to-order
- The use of PocKits takes the Minuteman to another level
Cons:
- You will overload it the first couple of times around
- It could use a shoulder pad