Quote:
Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh
My impressions -
Socks grey not green.
Warmth layer - very misleading.
Underwear - waffle cotton tops and bottoms were just fine until the Army issued polypro.
Helmet covers - no one had worn out combat shirts to rip up. QM wanted them back.
Boots - again leaning too far forward to allow Goretex versus old-school.
CF Goretex jacket - ditto. Combat Jackets were all there was for the longest time.
Stealth suits - ever heard of them?
Shelter Half - correct but there were plenty of acceptable alternatives.
Pocket knives - there is no man on the planet who opened a brand new C5 without breaking his fingernails.
Canteens - insulated canteens were definately a Bosnia innovation.
CF Flashlight - very misleading insistence on US made green lights.
Pad, pen and pencil - no mention of FMPs
If anyone wants, I can message 4 pages of observations. Scott's experiences no doubt differ, but no two units or organizations were every identical.
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Perhaps thye stealth suit = ghilli suit? They were for the most part ad-hoc, but certainly not for everyone. The Brisith Dennison smock was on issue to snipers under a Cdn NSN, but again, not something just any one could order (or wear).
Goretex in the cold war? There were those goofy oversize goretex socks, but I never saw any other goretex during the cold war time period aside from a set of goretex work boots issued around 1991. The airforce had goretex mind you, lots of it, but all of it in blue.
I would have to look up the NSN of the shelter half to see if it was cold war era. All I remember was the bog standard ground sheet. You could so great things with it, but it was no shelter half.
When it came to flashlights, they are right. There was only the straight or right angle US flashlights, with the multitude of filters. I did manage to order in some Brinkman flashlights out of the depot around 1980, but they were not an army light. It wasn't until a engineer in Bosnia compalined on W5 that they had to buy their own maglights in order to clear mines that they suddenly became availble. The sysytem seems to be saturated with flashlights these days, but most of them bumped over to local purchase to control usage.
I noted the absence of the field message pad as well. They are commercially availble. Add the little canvas cover with all the pens and the whole thing will easily set you back $20 or so.