Has any one seen one of these rucksacks in the U.S.?
I have a different external frame Swedish Army rucksack that looks like it has the same frame but the bag on only a simple nylon canvas sack with just a flap. No external pockets and actually quite small. You have to carry your sleeping bag strapped to the frame underneath the bag. There are straps on the flap to attach things to the top when it is full and also a couple of small straps, which I take to be for an entrenching tool. The waistbelt is a combination of padded nylon and leather.
I also have two other "Norse" style Swedish Army rucksacks, identical except one is grey canvas, the other green nylon. Actually very nice but the load gets to be a strain when it gets to be as much as 35-40 pounds. Again, too small for a sleeping bag inside but it also came with long leather straps to attach it on top of everything.
I have never been quite happy with waist straps on packs, no matter how practical they might be. It is just the feeling of being strapped in and that pack pulling me one way or the other. Of course, once I get out of the basement and onto a woodland trail, especially a steep one, I stop noticing it so much.
In all fairness, the old so-called Para bergen from 25 years or so ago had no waist strap and it became a little heavy before you had gone very far. But it would hold just about everything and had all sorts of pockets, which I like on a pack. I haven't seen one around in quite a while (here in the US). I never did see any of the other G.S. bergans that were also used back then.