Month: January 2017

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Phillosoph

Kidney Pouches and Combat Order

Some armies define a soldier’s combat equipment as being three levels.  This paper gives a concise account of the British Army’s perception:
  • Assault Order, to provide for operations lasting a few hours. Items needed to “close and defeat an enemy then hold off his immediate counter attack. Weapons, ammunition, water and digging tools”. NBC equipment, communication gear, a flashlight and immediate first aid (field dressings) might also be included here.
  • Combat Order for operations of 24hrs/overnight. Assault order with some food and “just enough clothing to keep warm and dry”. This level might include some provision for sleeping in reasonable comfort.
  • Marching Order, containing “all of the man’s issued items that he had in the field.” Some armies have had some very odd ideas what should be in this category! The Wehrmacht infantryman took to the field with his best shoes and sports kit in his pack. At least this pack was carried on the company wagon.
To the above list I would add a fourth level, the Emergency Order. These are the things you have in your pockets that will be available if your webbing is lost. See my post on “sundries” for suggestions in this direction.

Theory and practice often diverge!
For most British soldiers in the last quarter of the 20th century there was no real distinction between Assault order and Combat order. (For clarity, I am using photos of the 58 pattern webbing. More recent systems use the same design.)
Many of the “Combat Order” items were carried in the kidney pouches and poncho roll. These also carried not so vital items such as boot polish!
The weight of the webbing with the kidney pouches and contents necessitates that the yoke be more thickly padded and this can interfere with the wearing of some rucksacs.
The kidney pouches could not be easily removed from the webbing, so the infantryman went into the assault carrying a significant weight of equipment he did not immediately need. During one assault in the Falklands, paratroopers discarded all of their webbing and carried ammunition in their pockets!

The kidney pouches also caused considerable problems with the design of military rucksacs.
A good rucksac puts most of the weight on the top of your pelvis. It may have a hip belt to facilitate this. The main function of the shoulder straps is to keep the load in position. Kidney pouches or similar items hinder this.
While British army designed rucksacs may resemble civilian models, they behave quite differently.
In a recent post we looked at the Vietnam chest rig. This, combined with the grenade carrier and waterbottle on the belt is obviously an Assault order.
Marching order was created by adding a rucksac and it will be noted that there is nothing at the back of the belt to hinder a comfortable fit. Note also that the shoulder straps of the chest rig are relatively unpadded too.
The NVA soldier does not appear to have a formal means of “Combat Order” but obviously such an intermediate level of load is desirable. See my article on Soldier's sundries. Likely contents might include:
  • Compact wash kit and repair kit
  • Toilet paper
  • Spare socks
  • Canteen cup and brew kit
  • One or two days rations
  • Poncho/basha
  • Sleeping bag/blanket/poncho liner
  • Poles and pegs
  • Ground cloth/kip mat/airbed/hammock.
  • Hat(s), gloves.
  • Rope

Some of the popular designs of civilian rucksac that have been used by British soldiers have detachable side pockets which can be joined together to create a small pack.
The British Army committees in this paper regarded this as an acceptable way to carry loads of less than full Marching Order.
Sadly they did not follow on to the logical step of eliminating the kidney pouches.

A pack formed from a pair of side pockets has a capacity of about 20-30 litres. It can easily accommodate the contents of a pair of kidney pouches.
The side pockets are long enough to hold shelter pole sections.
Some lightweight sleeping bags pack down to a rugby ball-sized mass so it is quite possible room for such a sleeping bag can be found inside such a pouch.
If a number of accessory patches are fitted to the outside of the pouches, items such as ground-cloths, blankets, ponchos and kipmats can be tied under, around and between the two pouches. A mesh pocket would allow a towel or poncho to dry.
Such an approach eliminates the need for kidney pouches. It allows the use of more efficient rucksacs for marching order and gives the soldier a true, lighter assault order.
Categories
Phillosoph

Vietnam Chest Rigs

Version 2.4

Continuing my researches on how to carry equipment.
Last night I read a lengthy paper about the adoption of British PLCE. One of the points that struck me was the mixed reviews of the chest rigs trailed. It is probably safe to say that for most readers mentioning chest rigs will bring to mind the Vietnam war.
During this period Soviets and most countries under their influence used belt pouches for AK magazines. The examples below hold four 30 round magazines, although versions holding just three are also known. The side pouch on one of these examples is for an oil bottle. (The East German example with the splinter pattern shows a nice example of “staple and tag” closure, btw.) The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) did make some use of these pouches but a chest rig seems to be a more common option. Understandably such rigs are often termed as “Vietnam”, “Chicom” or “Viet Cong” chest rig.
Commonwealth forces did use some systems that could be termed chest-rigs. One of the photos below shows additional ammo pouches that could be worn above the belt pouches. Certain variants of the battle jerkin used only a pair of pouches on the chest.
It is more likely that the inspiration for the Vietnam chest rig was from closer to home. There are numerous photos of Chinese soldiers in the 1920s and 30s wearing a sort of “apron” for SMG magazines.
Several types of chest rig were in use by the Viet Cong (VC) and NVA.
The “simplest” was that intended for use with the SKS. This had ten identical pockets. Each pocket could hold two 10 round chargers for the SKS, giving a capacity of up to 200 rounds. In practice, one pocket often held a weapon combination tool and an oiler. The pockets could also accommodate a 20 round M16 magazine so this rig was also used by some GIs or Vietnamese with American weapons. It is probable that some of these pouches were used for other items. They appear to be of a size that can accommodate some designs of grenade.
A similar rig held chargers for a Mosin Nagant rifle.
A variety of SMGs were in use in this conflict so there were also chest rigs designed to accommodate SMG magazines. An example is shown below:
The third type of chest rig was intended for use with the AK-47/AKM/Type 56 and related weapons. Typically it had three central pouches each capable of holding a pair of 30 round magazines. One or two smaller pouches were to either side. These could be used for grenades but might have held other items such as loose ammunition, field dressings, cleaning kits etc. It is worth remembering that these items were often produced at a local level or homemade so show considerable variation in both colour and details. Some items had straps that crossed at the back while others are described as having a loop that passed over the head like an apron.

One of the things to note about these items is that “chest rig” is something of a misnomer. Often you see the pouches worn quite low on the torso. A sort of “combat cumberbund” or “belly rig”! Perhaps this transferred some of the weight to the pelvis? Rigs such as these can be worn either high or low, depending on physique, preference, type of rucksac worn etc. NVA/ VC seem to have kept their actual waist belts relatively uncluttered, often with just a grenade pouch and a canteen. Items not needed in the assault seem to have been carried in the rucksac rather than crammed into belt-mounted butt-packs or kidney pouch equivalents.
The Chicom chest rig has inspired a number of other designs. The Rhodesians often encountered enemies using this equipment and developed their own version with four or five pockets for 20 round FAL magazines.
The South Africans also adopted the chest rig. The 83 pattern shown below has a smoke-grenade pouch on the wearer’s right and two smaller pouches on the left, possible for a frag-grenade and shell-dressing.
There are small fittings that can carry a pen-flare/pen/pencil, knife or small flashlight.
A rather clever feature is that there is a map/document pocket behind the magazine pouches. On the other hand, the sides seem to have some excess material.

South African Chest Rig Contents

Not surprisingly, the Russians also copied the Vietnam chest rigs. The first-pattern Lifchik is very similar to the Vietnam Type 56, but designed for the AK-74 magazines. It also adds provision for carrying a pair of RSP-30 flares. The second-pattern moves the small pouches so they are vertically aligned. The second-pattern also has the option of attaching a belt holding ten 40mm (VOG-25) grenades. 
1st Pattern Lifchik Chest Rig
Second Pattern Linfhik Chest Rig
Some commercial imitations have possibly tried to incorporate too many “bells and whistles”. Some have ignored that a chest rig can also be a “belly rig”. Another problem is the chest rig is often seen as additional rather than alternate carrying capacity.
The Chicom chest rig is very much a compact assault order carrying ammo and grenades and little else. When you start adding pouches for waterbottles, mess tins and rain-proofs it become something else. The main improvements I would make over the original designs is provision to carry a couple of field dressings. I’d also add provision to carry a small fixed blade knife on either the left pouch or left suspender, a snaplink/ carbineer for empty magazines and a small pouch for a flashlight.
The chest region is often shadowed so a chest rig should have a light base colour to compensate for this .
As mentioned above, VN examples often resembled a sort of combat- cummerbund or “belly rig”. A moment’s thought will confirm that you do not want the openings of your ammo pouches up at nipple level or higher, if you are carrying them vertically. You don’t have much choice with the long AK magazines, admittedly.
The chest area is a major site of heat loss, so a lower slung chest rig may help avoid overheating.
Many (western) chest rigs simply try to carry too much, hence problems with crawling, which is your primary means of not being seen or shot!.
Don’t use frontal pouches that hold more than a pair of magazines each.
There are a great variety of options out there commercially. Some can be mounted horizontally or slanted on the chest. The under-arm or hip positions proposed in a later blog is another option.
Basically, the chest/belly rig should only carry a reasonable amount of ammo.
No more than six magazines/180 rounds and up to six (standard sized) grenades, for example, four frags and two smoke. There is probably not enough room on many designs to carry all of these grenades on the chest/belly rig. One smoke and one or two frags seems more likely, with additional grenades carried elsewhere.
You can mount your “pec’ knife;” on a rig (see Survival Weapons or Crash Combat), a shell-dressing or four, a flashlight and a snap link for spent mags.
Some of the shell-dressings may be carried at the back over the kidneys. They are more likely to be accessed by someone treating the wearer, rather than the wearer so the rear position is not a major problem.
If you have a compact weapon-cleaning kit, such as in a discarded flare container, the belly-rig is a logical place to carry that too.
You will not need the latter in a hurry so it can be stowed on the rig somewhere out of the way.
Provision to add other items temporarily can be included.
Categories
Phillosoph

Project Camelbum.


“Are you a doctor?”
I had heard the same question a number of times that day. Finally I had worked out the reason. It was a day so hot the locals were bothered by the heat. I was using my three-litre Platypus bottle. The drinking tube projected from the top of my daysac and was clipped with the bite valve near my collar. Many of the locals had come to the conclusion that I was wearing a stethoscope, and must be a doctor!
Platypus are a company that makes flexible waterbottles similar to the better known Camelbacks. I’ll use “camelback” as a generic term for water bladders of this type.
Since their introduction camelbacks and similar designs have widespread use by both civilians and military. Watch footage of troops in Iraq or Afghanistan and you are likely to spot a drinking tube.
Most camelbacks are backpacks. They are either incorporated into packs, carried in packs or worn as packs. There are a number of situations where a military user may have to operate without a pack, even one as small as a three litre camelback. There may not be time to unpack a camelback from a larger pack. It is standard practice for soldiers to carry water in their belt order for such instances. Commonly this is in the form of one or two one-litre waterbottles. Such bottles are not without their disadvantages. Typically they are rigid and if the soldier falls upon one or rolls onto it he can injure himself. If the bottle is only partially filled the sloshing of the water may be audible and reveal the soldier’s position. Drinking from a bottle usually involves removing it from its pouch. Some designs have a mug that fits over the top of the bottle and this must be removed before the bottle can be removed from the pouch.
Suppose there was something like a camelback that could fit on a soldier’s belt order instead of waterbottles? Being a bladder there would be less airspace inside and sloshing noises would be reduced. Such a system would be compatible with a drinking tube and bite value. The wearer could drink whenever he needed to with minimum hassle. The bladder would have some give should the soldier fall on it or roll on it. Perhaps there would be a pressure release valve that would prevent the bladder bursting if it was severely compressed?
I did a little bit of searching and discovered there are bumbags that include water bladders. Cyclists and runners use them but military users seem oblivious to their potential. The designs I came across tended to be 1.5 litre capacity and were only available in non-tactical colours.

Today I tried another track. Two-litre capacity bladders are available. Some are sold on their own as a replacement part. If I acquire one I could then locate a bumbag or similar that could contain it. A bumbag seems like a likely carrier since they come with their own belt and quick release buckle. If necessary they can be worn suspended from a shoulder or hung from the neck, which may be more comfortable if sitting in a vehicle for a length of time.

Keep reading the blog for further progress with this project.
Categories
Phillosoph

The Generation That Never Hears "No"

This weekend I was enjoying the company of a friend who teaches guitar. At one point he mentioned the necessity of “self-discipline” and that if a student lacks this all of his teaching was worthless.
This sticks in my mind because it echoes some conclusions I had reached about another body of students. Said students are lazy, self-indulgent, self-centred, sloppy, unfocused, negligent, selfish… basically, think of a negative character trait and you will find it well represented in this group. A single individual like this is tiresome, you can imagine what forty plus in a group are like!
Colleagues and myself have wondered why students have been so bad in recent years. An idea occurred to me the other day. The current generation had been born after corporal punishment had become illegal. (At this point I fully expect certain readers to have thrown their hands in the air and wailed that I am advocating flogging babies with a cat-o-nine tails. Respectfully, I say get over yourselves, this is not about your pet cause. Try to understand what I am saying.)
The current generation are used to getting their own way. The only sanctions they have ever known is being made to sit on the “naughty step” or being told they cannot go to Macdonalds. In the latter instance they probably just screamed their heads off until their parents gave in. Spoilt, selfish children become spoilt, selfish adults.
A friend of mine often passes on articles about narcissistic personalities. I don’t know if a childhood environment can create such personalities but certainly it could nurture and encourage such traits where they already exist. The current culture in this institution undoubtedly encourages the selfish and self-centred further.
This blog is about self-defence and survival. A generation with a high proportion of narcissistic individuals is relevant to both. To groups such as these students each one thinks they are the only person that matters. They are the people who cannot be bothered to dispose of dangerous items safely. The motorists that use their phones while driving. They are the cyclists that run the lights and injure pedestrians (My girlfriend's aunt was killed by just such a cyclist). The only rationale they need is “I want to”. These people are the reason you need to learn to protect yourself.