Swedish webbing set 304, used

One of the last creations of the Swedish military, when it still relied on conscription, is this webbing set. Nordic quality for peanuts.

When Sweden downsized its military to about two dozen soldiers and one tank, the old kit was dumped to the surplus market for ridiculous prices. This stuff is still somewhat widely available. This webbing set represents the newer end of the kit spectrum.

A very traditional belt + suspenders type solution, the "304" is like a mix of older Swedish webbing and US ALICE stuff. Let's go through the components:

The belt is about 5 cm wide traditional combat belt with metal grommets for attaching the suspender hooks and adjustment pins, and once it's properly adjusted, you can use the leather belt part to quickly resize on the fly if necessary. The absolute maximum length of the whole belt is about 125 cm / 49" - apparently any larger men were deemed unfit for any roles where they might need webbing.

The suspenders are X-type and feature very good adjustments and ALICE-type metal hook attachment. The hooks attach directly to metal grommets on the belt or pouches.

The ammo pouches are made of tough nylon material, with silent metal knob closure. These take five M16 mags (the service rifle was at the time the AK-5, copy of the FN FNC), a few 7,62 NATO mags, and even a couple of AK mags. The inside dimensions are about 15 x 20 x 6 cm / (6" x 8" x 2.5").

Slap on a couple of water bottle pouches and a buttpack (the US models will fit) and you have a pretty decent webbing set on your hands.

Swedish army surplus

In used, but serviceable condition. We don't know when the old stocks will finally run out of the market, so if you need a hard-wearing kit for a low price, we suggest taking action while these are still available.