LoadBearingEquipment and what would "You" carry on it?

[Salvo]

Hi Guys,

I've pondered this thought many times in the past... This question is primarily for those of you who have served in the armed services and even further, those who have seen combat, regardless of which theater or for which country you fought for... From Peace keeping missions to Civil War, etc...

In the course of action...

What did you find yourself "carrying" on your LBE? Issued and non-issued items. There must be some items that were not "issued" that you found absolutely necessary to have to help sustain you...?

I have a book titled "Battle Rattle, The stuff a soldier carries"... It is a good read but I have always been interested in what else a soldier finds necessary to have...

"Thank You" for your thoughts and input!

[mace2364]

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showth...t=packing+list

I wrote this up right before I came back from Afghanistan. This is geared towards trying to piece together gear on a budget. So you may decide to use a chest rig rather than a belt and harness, for example, if that's your preference.

Now as to exactly what I carried, keeping in mind that a chunk of this stuff was issued and required as opposed to being my choice:
1: Helmet w/night vision mount
2: Body Armor
3: Some sort of LCE over my vest(though I did not always do this, I came to prefer it)
4: Ammunition
5: Frags
6: Night vision
7: Radio (for short range platoon internal comms, as required by my position)
8: Camelback (though I did not always carry this)
9: Canteen w/cup (I prefer the older style folding handle ones, not the newer wire handles)
10: Bayonet
11: Dump pouch, usually with some misc crap in it
12: Knee pads
13: Gloves

I think that's about it, but if I remember anything else I'll note it here.

[Salvo]

Mace,

Thanks!

I gave a quick glance at your thread.... Looks nice! I'm going to print it off and give it a good read...

Thanks again!

[mace2364]

No problem at all. Feel free to drop me a line if you need or would like some help putting together some equipment. If you're trying to also get some friends going the same way, there is some additional equipment you should probably have.

[Salvo]

I am actually geared up, I do however like to keep in touch with what others feel they need to carry... I update and change my gear as I feel necessary depending on the season of the year, etc...

I don't really like what may be in our future but feel the need to do what I can to help odds....


Thanks for the offer.... I actually have some questions but will keep them offline... Talk to you at some point... First, Chow time!

[vonella160]

An old retired Command Sergeant Major who was one of my instructors at SERE school explained it best I think, your gear should be broken down into three kits, A, B and C. A kit is absolutely essential for survival and should be carried on you person. B kit is made up of things that are essential for survival but are not as important as A kit and are too large to be carried on your person and those should go in you LCE/LBV/chest rig. C kit is made up of things that are not essential for survival but still important to have and that is carried in your Ruck sack. Obviously this will change depending on your environment. For me it is as follows

A kit
Ripstop pants/top/teeshirt/hat/boots worn
ID
Cash
MRE main meal pouch
Folding knife
Signaling device
Compass
Side arm with mag and one extra
Primary weapon
Lighter

B kit
8 mags for primary weapon
2 mags for side arm
Camal back
Secondary signalling
Compass/GPS
Bleeder kit/first aid kit
Fixed blade knife/sharpener
fire starter
Water purification tabs
Hard candies

C kit
Spare clothing/boots/hat
3 MREs
2 quart canteen
Water filter
Canteen cup
Small aluminum pot
Survival blanket
Poncho

There is more but this is the big stuff and a good primer

Hope this helps

[Dirt Diver]

mace

For the comms question. Do you have any advice as to what we civi's should have in our kit or at home in the comms arena for shtf type of situations. What would you have for yourself to prepare for the grid to go down.

Thanks

[mace2364]

Originally Posted by Dirt Diver

mace

For the comms question. Do you have any advice as to what we civi's should have in our kit or at home in the comms arena for shtf type of situations. What would you have for yourself to prepare for the grid to go down.

Thanks

I have a few thoughts about this, a few ideas, and a few unsolved problems.

For static comms(i.e. the elements are not physically moving for a while), permanent or temporary, get some field phones. I say this because;
1) They're about as secure as you can get(as far as I know someone would have to physically be there and tap the line).
2) They're relatively EMP proof.
3) They're relatively cheap
4) They're impossible to jam without physically cutting a line

I would recommend TA-1s for temporary(these don't need batteries, and are fairly light) and whatever for permanent(i.e. for comms out to your OPs at your base camp)

For short range mobile comms, I've been toying a bit with some of the walkie talkie type stuff. They're fairly cheap, and some even have some encryption. Depending on terrain they even have a bit of range. But, these can be jammed and probably eavesdropped by the opposition.

For longer range comms, I don't have much of an idea yet. I would think HAM radio might be an option but I don't know much about that. I've also thought CB could be an option, but I don't know much about that either(i.e. how this could be made man portable). If you've got a chunk of change, you can actually purchase military grade SATCOM gear. I have seen some sites online(sorry don't remember which ones) that sell the stuff, and it's not bootleg or illegal best I can tell, but then I don't know much here either. But, it's out of my price range anyway. Maybe someone will come along who knows something about this commo stuff.

[TheGreek!]

An option for short range coms if the others in your group are in visual range is to use laser pointers and flashlights and morse code (or whatever other kind of code you want to come up with for it (one flash for hold your position, 2 flashes for attack, etc), kinda like the way signal lights are used on ships....Ya cant evesdrop on a light beam, especially a laser beam because its hard to see unless its pointed right at you...Its use is limited of course but its still an option thats available if the situation allows for it....

[mace2364]

Not a bad idea, but I do see 2 issues.
1) If the opposition has night vision capability, using light is not conducive to remaining alive. If a guy lighting a cigarette looks almost like sunrise, signal lights are going to look like the 4th of July.
2) At the other end of the spectrum, lights would be hard to see during daylight.

But, if your opposition doesn't have night vision this is a pretty good idea for commo with an OP or along a perimeter or something.

This also would be a good way for one friendly element to identify and link up with another in the dark. Actually, without radios (or if you didn't want to use them for security reasons)this would probably be one of the best ways I can think of to do this.

As a side, those chem-lights are really good for visual signals, and they're pretty cheap. I've even seen devices that rig them up on a tripwire for early warning use.

[TheGreek!]

Originally Posted by mace2364

Not a bad idea, but I do see 2 issues.
1) If the opposition has night vision capability, using light is not conducive to remaining alive. If a guy lighting a cigarette looks almost like sunrise, signal lights are going to look like the 4th of July.
2) At the other end of the spectrum, lights would be hard to see during daylight.

But, if your opposition doesn't have night vision this is a pretty good idea for commo with an OP or along a perimeter or something.

This also would be a good way for one friendly element to identify and link up with another in the dark. Actually, without radios (or if you didn't want to use them for security reasons)this would probably be one of the best ways I can think of to do this.

As a side, those chem-lights are really good for visual signals, and they're pretty cheap. I've even seen devices that rig them up on a tripwire for early warning use.

Even if they do have night vision if you and your team are hidden behind things they wont be able to see you or the lights you're using with their night vision (use "focused" light so that it doesnt light up the whole area around you by the way, laser pointers would be great for this application). They can only see the SOURCE of the light beam with night vision (and only IF the source of the beam is in view), they wont be able to see the light beam itself....Lasers can be used in the daytime too by the way which is another plus....

[vonella160]

Originally Posted by TheGreek!

Even if they do have night vision if you and your team are hidden behind things they wont be able to see you or the lights you're using with their night vision (use "focused" light so that it doesnt light up the whole area around you by the way, laser pointers would be great for this application). They can only see the SOURCE of the light beam with night vision (and only IF the source of the beam is in view), they wont be able to see the light beam itself....Lasers can be used in the daytime too by the way which is another plus....

that is not exactly true... you can see the entire length of the beam of a laser pointer when using NVG's , now if you wanted to use a focused light the way to do it that i think would work would be to build a light box. using 1/4 inch plywood construct a rectangular box 2 feet in length with 6 inch sides, cap one end and cut a hole in the cap to the exact size of your flashlight point the open end of the box toward where you want to signal, if it is too bright you can cap the open end and drill small holes in the cap to defuse your light beam and you can experiment with the number of holes required to be seen by the person you would like to signal. You could also take a page from the Afghans, at the beginning of the war they would use flashing christmas lights to signal the approach of helicopters from one end of a valley to the other and from ridge line to ridge line

[mace2364]

^What he said. Also even focused light has residual light, unless you use something like the method above to control it. To someone using light vision this is impossible to miss. You can also see the beam of light to a certain degree. What I found to be most noticeable is the huge area illuminated by where the light it pointed(it's much larger than you realize).

[TheGreek!]

This is all assuming that the enemy is using his night vision equipment during the time you're about to attack and is looking in your direction at the exact time you happen to be flashing your signals to your team, if he isnt then your team and the light signals wont be seen. I'm no expert by any means and I did say that the use of it is limited but light signals are still a good low-tech com device if the situation allows for it...

[mace2364]

To put a little more context to this, when I was in the army if it was dark outside we had our night vision on. This is why my comments about that. With the current issued nvgs the lit end of a cigarette is like a neon sign. Given where things are in the world today it would be wise to keep these things in consideration, don't you think?

But as I mentioned previously, use of lights like that would work well for groups linking up at a rally point not visible from the intended target.

[ColonelKorn]

In regards to NVG's: We more than once caused a group of SF students to attack an IR Chemlight at night while we were 100+ meters away. When they occupied the target and said,"Uhhhhhhhhhh...there's nobody here dude." we lit them up.

[TheGreek!]

Originally Posted by ColonelKorn

In regards to NVG's: We more than once caused a group of SF students to attack an IR Chemlight at night while we were 100+ meters away. When they occupied the target and said,"Uhhhhhhhhhh...there's nobody here dude." we lit them up.

Now THATS a good idea, set up lights to attract the enemy to them and then spring the trap.....They'll go to the lights like moths to a flame(thrower).....

[ColonelKorn]

That's called "battlefield deception"

[mace2364]

That is a pretty nifty idea.

[kickassnikov47]

does an 86 ford ranger 4x4 count as load bearing equipment????? lol

[sleestak70]

Id go low key if its just a blend in and observe situation / 45 acp shoulder holster and k-bar under jacket. But for street to street fighting I wont be around for that crap, to dangerous for a sleestak . Ill be at the lost city with the night shift .