I am guessing they would do a good job at protecting against low velocity stuff, pistols, shrapnel and maybe full sized mg and assault rifle rounds when they are near their max range and more or less spent.
But, the contents of the pack well, think about what we stuffed in the packs. A shelter half, 1 spare uniform, the boots if you carried extra may stop a round. But most things nope, they just contribute to stopping things.
One of the big reasons we put packs on the outside was room, so we could cram more guys in the truck. And so our packs are more accessible than just tossing them in the bed cramping your knees, rattling around, then the confusion of whose pack is whose when its time to off load. We had two trucks bog down on the drive to the city so in the end we have almost two platoons stuffed in the back of 1 duece, the bench seats were filled and then two rows of packs along the bed guys sat on.
So there is another reason for strapping them a lack of confusion and ease of access when you need them.
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