First off, I just want to thank you for rejoining. It’s always good to have someone back. Thank you.

I’m backing up Justin C on the LBE thing. The LBE is your survival kit. I know you were looking for a kit for stateside (training) use, but if you’re in the military, chances are you will be in either Iraq or Afghanistan soon. I am currently stationed in Iraq, so let me tell you what works for me. We use the MOLLE type vest over here that you will get from your RFI issue. It’s pretty good, although I do miss the old LBE. Military survival in a combat zone is slightly different than civilian survival, and thus your kit should be a little different. I know I might catch some flack for this, but I don’t always share the same views on my kit as others. My kit mainly focuses on my first two priorities based on what I think will kill me first.

The first is ammo. The enemy will kill you faster than anything else out here. Your LBE will have that already in the form of 30 round magazines of 5.56mm. That’s taken care of. The second is signaling. This makes up about 90% of my kit. You need to get back to coalition forces QUICK! That and water are about equal out here, but I’ll get to that in a moment. I carry a VS17 panel, 2 chemlights (green and IR) with some 550 cord attached to it so I can swing it around at night for more visibility (aka. buzz saw), signal mirror, whistle, surefire light, strobe light (works visible light and IR), and last but not least a pen flare kit with ten flares. I know that sounds like a lot, but all of these items are small or roll up small and fit in a spec ops pouch I have. It’s approx 6in by 8in, but I haven’t measured it.

After that it’s all about water. For water I have a MIOX water purifier and some PUR tablets. I carry canteens (2) with the good old metal canteen cup (old school like that) in addition to a camel back. I also have a handkerchief around each canteen cup for straining water.

This is all you need to survive, in my opinion. Not thrive, not live off the land for a month, but survive to fight the enemy and rejoin coalition forces. I also have some good fire supplies (water proof matches, lighter, spark rod, cotton, trioxine tabs), but I would use these more as signal devices than anything else. The enemy is going to hone in on your fire pretty fast, so I probably wouldn’t start on unless it was a signal. There are other things that I didn’t mention (like a compass and knife, pressure dressing) that you will have also, but you have some good intell on that from the other posts. My advice is to focus on what you think you will need based on how long you think it will take for friendlies to find you vs. space and weight requirements. I’ll try to get some pictures up of this in a later tread.

PS. Also something very important. I keep some write in the rain index cards with the Code of Conduct to remind me of the possibility of capture (that’s motivation!), exerpts from the ranger creed and various quotes. To me, the will to survive is more important than anything else. I don’t know where else to put this, but I also carry some pointee tallkees (pictures you can point at with phrases written in Arabic on them) and a knock off Blood Chit (I am an American. You will be rewarded if you aid me etc, etc. translated in several languages). It’s a knock off because they are controlled items only issued to soldiers with high risk of being cut off. I think being outside the wire every day is high risk enough, but that’s just me…

Good luck and thanks again for showing up!

"We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us." George Orwell

I am with Justin and Regulator on this,
ammo, more ammo and some more ammo.
8 mags on your vest, LBE or rig and a bandolier of 150 as a backup in a day sack.
A couple of grenades if you can get your hands on them.

Be prepared to drop everything and run, or get hit in a vehicle and get out in seconds. A grab bag of water, ammo and first aid is a winner.

As an engineer get yourself a small minestrike extraction kit, nothing special half a dozen nails, a bit of minetape and a prodder.

You might consider getting an MRE heater and hot beverage bag out of the trash next time you have a field training exercise. If you can't light a fire for whatever reason, you can use them to make a hot drink and as a body heater to fight hypothermia (and fear, much better to sit down and drink hot chocolate if you're lost then wander around in circles). Since you're already carrying water, they'll add almost no bulk or weight to your kit (important since you're already carrying a ton of ammo, body armor and water).

Also a neck gaiter and a pair of silk or polypro glove and sock liners. Again they're small and light, but they'll really make the difference in how cold you are.

Nothing new, but stuff that might not jump right out at you.

You're absolutely right about the socks...most important thing in the field. I would be a little worried about using the heater for a body warmer, they get hot enough to cause burns.

Would you happen to have these on some sort of document that you could send me? This sounds great and would help a lot. Thanks

Yeah, the heater can be dangerous, but if I was shivering , I'd probably wrap it in something (like my dirty socks maybe) and do it anyway. At the very least, you can use it as a hand warmer.

Another easily availible thing I thought of is MRE peanut butter packets. They've got a lot of calories in fat and protein,so you won't have a big crash after the energy runs out. A couple of packs of peanut butter will do you more good in the short term then fishing and snaring supplies. You can also get Hooah bars, but then you'd have to pay for those.

Yeah I have several packets of the peanut butter...I'm looking at one now and it lists 290 calories. That's about the same as regular energy bars, but half the size.

CBTENGR:

PM sent regarding pointie-talkies.

kwikpoint.com

After reading this forum, I decided to dig out an LBE I had and add a PSK to the pouches. I would probably only use it in a bug out situation or during some other local disaster. It seemed like a good idea.

As a civilian, I believe wearing an LBE without a good reason will probably be seen as suspicious activity by others and be reported to the police, but the PSK is there if needed. I do live in a community with a heightened sense of security. I also keep an PSK nearby all the time.

I don't think I would have ever bought an LBE, but this one came with two ammo pouches, two canteen covers, two canteens and canteen cups and web belt; all in great condition: all for $5.00.