What’s with the webbing PAL?
What’s with all that webbing on the side of many of our packs and organizers? Well, it’s probably one of the most important pieces of backpack technology since the zipper! It’s called Molle webbing (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment – Pronounced like Molly) as a means to attach accessories or additional organization to the outside of your pack.
Here’s the basics of how Molle works. There’s horizontal webbing sewn onto the side of our packs, also known as PALS (pouch attachment ladder system). This webbing is one inch wide and spaced an inch apart, this is key to ensure the webbing is compatible with various accessories. You will need some kind of attachment device like Molle Sticks to weave between the PALS on your pack and the pouch or accessory you want to attach. By alternating and skipping rows between the pouch and pack, you are essentially creating a solid connection with the webbing and the molle stick to secure extra space onto your bag (Example image below). This can take some time to set up so just take each row at a time and get your accessories properly secured.
Some accessories have attachment devices built in like the Hydra bottle holder. There are straps sewn into the back of the Hydra and a snap button to keep your water bottle tightly fit to your bag. If you want to get more creative, we have a few molle adapters to give you the ability to convert molle webbing to hook and loop.
We have a few quick tips to help get molle configured. Firstly, use all the rows possible. This makes the attachment as secure as can be and will keep your gear in place. Second, attach standard molle accessories together. Many brands use a “proprietary” attachment system that more than likely won’t play nice with molle, it’s best to avoid these kinds of systems to give yourself as many options as possible. Lastly, plan where you want to attach your gear. If you are following an SOP or department guidelines then you know where to place everything. Otherwise have fun customizing your gear!
Once you start playing with its potential, it’s easy to go down the rabbit hole and spend entire weekends organizing gear, not that we have done that or anything…
