Cold war re-enactor kit

[maple_leaf_eh]

The US Ranger blanket is dynamite - soft, durable and squishy. The CF issue horse blanket was crap - stiff, never-to-be-used so it never wore out, and crisp. The excuse I heard for the fail was fire retardancy and made in Canada.

BTW Scott, I have a set of US liners for winter pants. Four Yankee folding dollars at some surplus store. I like them a lot! So much I split the outside leg seam and sewed in full length zippers. No need to take off my boots for donning and doffing.

Speaking of Cold War accessories, don't forget the pale yellow Melmac cup, plate and bowl. Either carry them in the gas mask bag, or some form of drawstring bag. No need to replace the KFS. The nesting Canadian set made by Heritage in Perth, ON are as good as any kitchen utensils. The only ones I like better are the set I stole from the German mess hall at Camp Butmir in Sarajevo. A big bowl and a comfortable handle.

Boots, Rubber, Clumsy - when I was a very youthful soldier I had a summer callout in Alert as a construction worker. Every building had a cloakroom inside the double doors. The trick was to spray paint your boots some exotic pattern so they wouldn't get switched. If you had a choice, always take about 2 sizes too big just to keep the zippers from blowing out.

[rob love]

I always liked the rubber overboots. You could wear your running shoes in great comfort inside them. Even in the winter they provided good heat, and don't forget where I am located at before poo-pooing the idea.

Best of all, nobody ever questioned why I would be wearing the rubber overboots, even on some relatively decent days. Compared to continually wearing combat boots for 30 or 40 days straight, they felt like slippers.

Which reminds me, you can add those rubber tent slippers to the useless kit list.

[rob love]

Those are the ground sheets. The design of them, as you have noted, allows them to be coupled up and made into a small hooch.

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by rob love

Those are the ground sheets. The design of them, as you have noted, allows them to be coupled up and made into a small hooch.

If you were lucky, both you and your fire team partner had half-shelters that were the same length. At some point along the way, they either got longer, or shorter; some are nearly a foot longer than others. Made for some additional improv when trying to build a hooch

[maple_leaf_eh]

If the poncho has a hood and metal cylinder-like cord locks, that is a good one to have. It has snaps around the perimeter to make a "hootchie" or improvised shelter. The cadets were issued a smaller one with less functionality, but I remember it had a horrible smell like dog crap on a hot day.

The shelter halves dispensed with any pretense of wearing in the rain. The fabric is lighter, has left and right side zippers, and triangles for door flaps. It is also long enough to actually cover anything. I doubt it is wide enough to sleep inside like a sleeping bag cover. That role goes to the second smartest personal kit ever issued, the Goretex bivvy bag.

On a related topic, my old friend Phil Palmer claims the only waterproof piece of kit he was ever issued, was his steel helmet. He also claimed that the warmest thing he was ever issued, was his desk at defence headquarters.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Wind suits - no one has mentioned them as the Gucci alternative to a rain suit. Before the Army got around to issuing very effective rainsuits, the troops discovered that wearing a Goretex wind suit under their combat, they could move quieter and still get to their pockets.

[rob love]

Terry brought up a point wrt any of the waterproofed stuff from that era. If the conditions were right (or actually wrong) they seemed to develop an aroma quite like puke. I have had that on the ponchos, and especially the sleeping bag valise. It was enough to make you gag.

[rob love]

Summer time was the inner and liner only.

If you were humping it, then it was the air mattress or later the self inflating mattress. If you were mechanized, then a 3" thick foamy (foam with a canvas cover sewn over it) was the order of the day. I still have mine, and coupled with a cot is as comfortable as any mattress I have ever slept on.

Regarding the self inflating mattress, an evening with some soapy water and the patches ensured you did not wake up in the morning with your hip touching the ground through the mattress. Surprising how many holes you would find in them.

[maple_leaf_eh]

The rubber Black Beauty is the ONLY CF air mattress worth sleeping on. The green self-inflating air mattress is the ONLY CF air mattress worth carrying. Not the same, and mutually exclusive.

I don't remember any issue shelter half poles. Some old sweat showed me how to lace about a 10' bungee cord through the grommets to quickly sling the shelter half between two trees or off a vehicle.

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

I don't remember any issue shelter half poles. Some old sweat showed me how to lace about a 10' bungee cord through the grommets to quickly sling the shelter half between two trees or off a vehicle.

Yep, there are no issued poles for the shelter halves. Bungie, 5/50 Cord or whatever else you could improv was the order of the day.

The only poles i've ever seen issued to an individual for anything were the 4 wooded dowels to keep your bug net suspended over the camp cot.

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

The rubber Black Beauty is the ONLY CF air mattress worth sleeping on. The green self-inflating air mattress is the ONLY CF air mattress worth carrying. Not the same, and mutually exclusive.

I'll add that 90% of my peers long ditched the self inflator in favour of a Ridge Rest or similar aftermarket sleeping mat. Especially if you're hauling it around on your back. Easy to pack, super light weight and is no worst than the self inflator for comfort.

The only time I ever see the Black Beauties come out of storage anymore are for trips to the Arctic. That is where it truly shines (along with the original Thermos and carrier, not that ridiculous canteen shaped one designed to fit in webbing or a tac vest, both items that you don't use in the high arctic...... I digress). The reality is, these things are getting pretty long in the tooth now. I've still got one, but frankly, it doesn't leave the basement anymore.

[Robert Bergeron]

Guys,

Speaking of Black Beauties, i have a story. Back in 1990 or so , i was on a course in Suffield Alberta with the PPCLi.

We were bussed from Curry Barracks in Calgary to Suffield in late afternoon and then trucked into the field during nightime.

At the time , i had learned already the virtue of sleeping whenever you could so i carried around an american green foam bedrest i could just unfold and trow myself one whenever i could to catch up on some sleep.

Anyway, we set up camp in a Combat Team bivouac with the M-113's and the Cougars with our groud sheets zipped up together and suspended on the side of my section M-113. The guys are blowing up their Black Beauties while i am already laying on my american foam mattress. The guys finally lay down on them and i hear air hissing out of all of them. Someone lights up with a red lens on his flashlight and all of a sudden we realise we had set up in the night on a bunch of crazy Suffield low crawling cactus !

Needless to say my friends slept for two weeks directly on hard , sunbaked and cold desert ground and those Black Beauties could never be restored having hundreds of prickholes in them !

Ah those Black Beauties. A good thing there aren't any cactus in the High Arctic !