Swiss Army WWII Rucksack / Backpack

[gebris353]

Hi everybody! I came across this rucksack or backpack and was told it's from the Swiss Army from the WWII era, of course it could be earlier and used during WWII. I say this cause the WWII ones I have checked in e-Bay have leather all around the bottom so they are more resistant. So I would like to confirm if these are actually Swiss or from another Army, and an average price. Here are some pics. There isn't any maker mark and that's why I also think these could be pre war. Thanks for all and any help!

Best regards,
Fabian.-

[August]

Hello Fabian,

I would suggest this is not Swiss. It does look to be good quality and design. I have a French rucksack that is very similar, so I think French.

[gebris353]

Thanks for the help August! You are right, I made a fast Google search for "WWII French rucksack" and this same one came up! You are the man! Thanks!

[EdwardLionheart]

It is french , I own at least 10 variations of it , but it's absolutely not a WW2 item , these backpacks , called Bergham , were first issued in 1946/1947 and were still in production in the late 70's .
In my opinion , compared to the swiss models , the french ones are not far from deserving to be called junk ...

[lew]

I concur on it being French. I have two of them. I would call them junk only compared to Swiss stuff. They are very durable and fairly comfortable. The yellow (chromium-treated, at least I think it was chromium) leather first appeared in late 1962/early 1963, months after the Algerian War had ended.

They are called Bergans (Bergam in French), by the way. They originated in Norway early in the last century, and most frame packs of WW2 and post-war vintage trace their lineage back to one of their designs.

[EdwardLionheart]

Well , their durability greatly depends on the quality of the materials used in their making , and you cannot forget that even the highest quality materials are often ruined by the atrocious french brass rivets that bloat and disintegrate with time .I had to replace dozens of these over the years .
I'm much more happy with the 70's " vert armée " models that are of a stronger build.
Chromium tanned leather was the regular 1947 to 1962 material , the yellow finish you mentionned is plastified leather . It ages rather poorly .
By the way all of my bags came from the same producer . Here's the little anodised brass dot that is usually attached to the base of the steel frame :

It reads , in an abreviated version , " Lafuma , made in France , breveté sous la garantie du gouvernement " .