French SSA 1999 Modular Medical Rucksack, CCE, Surplus

Now here's something you don't see every day, and we neither! The French SSA Medical Rucksack is modular and convertible in so many ways that it boggles the mind – and this has been achieved without a single column of PALS webbing! Full sets, very limited single batch.

• Capacity: 75 liters / 4577 cu in (official figure, actually larger)
• Can be split into two backpacks and a roll bag
• Removable pockets can be carried with the included load-bearing harness
• 500D Cordura cover included

From the not so distant past

Designed in the late '90s, this rucksack has a lightweight aluminum frame, padded shoulder straps, and hip belt. That's where the traditional features end. We haven't had fun with auto-translate in a while so here goes, this is the official story of the purpose of this ruck:

Its design offers multiple possibilities. We will discuss them in this text:

• Tactical movements in self-sufficiency with contact units
• Access to the patient during interventions with contact units
• Evacuation, crossing exercises, jump zones, maneuvers, others
• The delivery of care in confined spaces or during urban travel

Two bags of different volumes allow a personalized distribution of the load, according to the mission, the volume of the health material, and the personal effects to carry.

Having to be highly modular, the partitioning of pockets has been rejected in order to allow each doctor not to be constrained to a standard packaging.

Damn, those things are getting too good and the translations are actually understandable. Well done, AI!

The "actual" rucksack (frame, hip belt and shoulder straps, top bag and bottom bag, 2 x large side pouches, 2 x medium side pouches) weighs 4.0 kg / 8.8 lbs. Just the top and bottom bags have a 68-liter volume so with the side pouches it's quite a bit over the official 75-liter figure. The whole set weighs 7.2 kg / 15.8 lbs but the amount of pouches and trinkets you get is incredible.

The bags and pouches

Providing the bulk of the volume, two bags are secured to the frame: a top bag and a lower one. These can be detached and used as standalone backpacks, and additional pouches can be attached with zippers to the sides or US "ALICE" keepers to the flap of the top bag.

Also included is a standalone medical roll bag (like a tool roll but bigger) with a plethora of detachable pouches, and a load-bearing assembler harness for carrying four zippered pouches on you.

All pouches have loop bases for hook strips for content ID purposes. Each set comes with instruction leaflets and lengths of hook strips of various colors.

The YKK zippers on the side pouches are spaced 170 mm / 6.7" apart and are compatible with current-type Berghaus side pouches. Even the large pouches are a little bit shorter than the British ones, but they connect just fine.

All of these components are included in the set. Here's a closer look at each:

Top Bag M2 / II SSA

The bottom, back, and top of this bag are formed by two large flaps that connect to the side panels with two zippers and hook-and-loop strips on each side. Undoing these all the way allows the bag to open up almost entirely flat with large groundsheet wings to give you some clean working space. This is fairly noisy so recon-minded folks might want to look for something else.

The Top Bag has shoulder straps for carrying it as a backpack but the shape and structure don't match the large volume so it's not that great alone.

The sides have four bases for webbing straps and zippers for attaching the Large side pouches. The top of the pack has two 60 mm / 2.4" webbing columns with slots for US "ALICE" keepers.
The Top Bag is officially 35 liters but based on our measurements it's more like 45 liters / 2746 cu in.
Width: 430 mm / 17"; Length: 400 mm / 16"; Depth 250 mm / 10".
Weight: 1150 g / 2.53 lbs.

2 x Large Side Pouch

Intended to mount on the sides of the Top Bag or as the rear pouches on the harness, the set includes two Large side pouches with 280 mm zippers. Webbing slots with US "ALICE" keepers on the backside. The closure is a lid with a buckle and hook-and-loops on the sides.
Width: 210 mm / 8.3"; Length: 315 mm / 12.4"; Depth 80 mm / 3.2".

Bottom Bag M4 / III

The Bottom Bag has a large flap with zippers and hook-and-loop strips like the Top Bag but is much simpler to open. The bottom and sides are fixed so you can actually just close the flap without the zippers for ease of access.

This one also works as a backpack and has a much better shape and size for the job. In the backpack form, the Bottom Bag is on its side so the side pouches will be at the top and bottom. Also, note that the width of this bag will be the height of the standalone backpack.

The sides have four bases for webbing straps and zippers for the Medium side pouches.
The Bottom Bag is 23 liters / 1403 cu in.
Width: 400 mm / 15.8"; Length: 230 mm / 9.1"; Depth 250 mm / 10".
Weight: 635 g / 1.4 lbs.

2 x Medium Side Pouch

Intended to mount on the sides of the Bottom Bag or as the front pouches on the harness, the set includes two Medium side pouches with 200 mm zippers. Webbing slots with US "ALICE" keepers on the backside. The closure is a lid with a buckle and hook-and-loops on the sides.
Width: 210 mm / 8.3"; Length: 225 mm / 8.9"; Depth 80 mm / 3.2".

Medical Roll Bag

The Medical Roll Bag is a sheet that can be rolled into a bag with a carrying handle. It is designed to fit inside the Top Bag and can be secured in place with a strip of hook-and-loop and snap fasteners.

The Roll Bag has a selection of pouches attached with zippers. The Small and Medium pouches also have webbing slots for US "ALICE" keepers on the backside, but no keepers installed. The wide ones are removable but don't mount to anything else. Here's the set, all measurements are Width x Height x Depth.

• 6 x Small Zippered Pouches, 100 x 150 x 60 mm / 3.9" x 5.9" x 2.4"
• 3 x Medium Drawcord Bags, 120 x 180 x 100 mm / 4.7" x 7.1" x 3.9"
• 2 x Wide Zippered Pouches, 360 x 150 x 65 mm / 14.2" x 5.9" x 2.6"

Large Medical Pouch

The Large Medical Pouch is a very simple pouch with a two-way zipper closure. It's designed to go underneath the Roll Bag inside the Top Bag but can be fastened to anything, e.g., the top of the rucksack, with US keepers. Three keepers included.
Width: 390 mm / 15.4"; Length: 250 mm / 9.8"; Depth 130 mm / 5.1".

3 x Bellows Pouch

This interesting triplet of pouches is designed to mount on the top of the Top Bag but with the US "ALICE" keepers on the backside, the options are flexible. As you open the zippers in an upright position, the contents are kept securely inside the pouch with easy access thanks to the bellows.
Width: 130 mm / 5.1"; Length: 250 mm / 9.8"; Depth 130 mm / 5.1".

Tactical Assembler Harness

You're all familiar with the "Day Pack" system of the PLCE and Berghaus rucksacks, right? Zip the two side pouches together, add a shoulder strap to each and throw it on your back. The French had to show off and make it more complicated but the harness system is actually pretty neat!

You take the Large and Medium side pouches off the ruck, zip them onto the harness, and you're carrying all four pouches in a rather streamlined webbing kit! The zippers are compatible with all the other pouches as well (including the current-type Berghaus pouches) but the zipper length may vary. The front zippers are 200 mm / 7.9" and the rear ones are 280 mm / 11".

The harness features adjustable shoulder straps with padding as well as a two-buckle closure in the front. The belt loops can be opened and reach around an ordinary pistol belt. The belt is not included.

French Surplus

Genuine high-quality stuff from the French armed forces' warehouses. Unissued, NIB condition in a storage sack. The only fault we could find that in some cases one or two colors of the velcro ID strips were missing.