A KNAPSACK WHICH PREVENTS THE WET COMING BETWEEN IT AND THE BACK, AND A POUCH IN FRONT SUSPENDED FROM THE SHOULDER STRAPS OF THE SAID KNAPSACK, SO AS TO COUNTERACT ITS WEIGHT
Year: 1815

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CARPENTER, of Truro, in the County of Cornwall, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of
January, in the fifty-fifth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
John Carpenter, my exors, admñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole priviledge and authority, that I, the said John Carpenter, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A KNAPSACK WHICH PREVENTS
THE WET COMING BETWEEN IT AND THE BACK, AND A POUCH IN FRONT SUSPENDED
FROM THE SHOULDER STRAPS OF THE SAID KNAPSACK, SO AS TO COUNTERACT ITS
WEIGHT;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said John Carpenter, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
(relation being thereunto had,) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Carpenter, do hereby declare that my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascertained
in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following description thereof,
that in to cor

page_text: My improved equipment for soldiers consists of a knapsack that has a collar
and a cape rendered waterproof, which protects the back, neck, and shoulders
of the soldier from wet, (and may be rolled up in fine weather, and kept in that
position by button and loop or other fit means), and a pouch in front, made of
leather or any other material applicable to the purpose, with two flaps or one,
according to the size, suspended from the shoulder straps of the knapsack by
straps and buckles or other proper fastenings, so as to counteract its weight,
with a belt round the waist (which may be put under or over the other
accoutrements), fastened by a buckle or any other fit means at each end of
the pouch to keep it in its proper place. The knapsack may be used by itself
without the pouch or anything belonging to it. My improved knapsack differs
from those before used in these particulars:-A collar and cape made of the
same materials as the knapsack, (or any other fit for the purpose), rendered
waterproof by paint or otherwise, attached to or a continuation of the upper
part of the said knapsack, which collar and cape is. intended to be tied with
strings or otherwise fastened in front, so as to protect the neck, shoulders, and
back of the wearer from wet, the rain falling upon the neck and shoulders being
conducted by the collar and cape down on to a' board (or any material that
may be substituted) inclined a little downwards on the top of the knapsack,
which board by this inclination conducts the water down the back part of the
knapsack, and so to the ground, instead of allowing the water to run down
the back of the wearer, under the burthen, through his clothes, down into his
shoes, as these before used. On said board are placed (two or more) blocks,
as much thicker behind than before as to counteract the sloping of the said
board and bring the upper part of the blocks as nearly as possible to a
dead level, on which are staples or loops to receive straps for securing the
great coat, which being thus raised allows the water to pass underneath the
said great coat and over the knapsack to the ground. The said cape and
collar may be rolled up in fine weather, fastened by button and loop or other-
wise, without any inconvenience to the wearer, who can use it at his pleasure.
The pouch differs from those before worn by being slung or suspended (those
before used being fastened round the waist only) by a strap and buckle, or
straps and buckles (or otherwise), attached to the shoulder straps of knapsacks
(before described), by which the weight is taken from the abdomen, and carried
by the shoulders, counteracting the weight of the knapsack. The said pouch
is made of leather or any other material applicable to the purpose, with two
flaps or one, and may be made to contain twenty, thirty, or any number of
cartridges, (carrying the remainder in the cross belt pouch), the holes for which
may be of tin or any material fit for the purpose, and is fastened by a buckle