Scrolling through Market Place listings on Facebook I found two old army bags that looked similar to Indiana Jones’ satchel in the films. Without further research I grabbed them both for $20 (Australian dollars), and drove across town to pick them up.
Although similar neither matched the Mark VII screen used prop, one is a Mark V and the other a Mark VI (pictured above). A Mark VI is used in one scene in Temple of Doom but both are similar enough to use for cosplay or display purposes.
I removed the original shoulder strap, and replaced it with a 25mm (one inch) leather bridle strap cut to a length of 1625mm (65 inches). Each end is secured by a Chicago screw (also known as screw or binding posts). A slide, in this case an altered buckle, is used to adjust the strap length to get the bag sitting right on the wearer’s body.
That’s it, I will probably weather the strap to match the well-worn bag and I am looking a for a more screen accurate slide. A quick but satisfying build to get me back into making stuff after a few months of procrastination.
I gifted the Mark V satchel to my Replica Prop Forum Secret Santa recipient, and the Mark VI is for my personal collection. Now what items do I need to put in it?