Hi,

I've developed my own gear lists for backpacking in "civilian" locations:
Overnight: http://www.roblester.com/rob/backpacking_gear_checklist.htm
and
Day hike: http://www.roblester.com/rob/day_hiking_gear_checklist.htm

The war coverage has made me curious as to what our soldiers are packing. Of course this would vary according to service branch, specialty, terrain, etc. Anyone know of a list online, maybe even just a basic equipment list for an infantryman? I'm just a list junkie, and curious. Thanks.

Well, we used to carry way too much weight. It's hard to be certain from the footage I've seen, but I can generalize my observations thus far: Mounted troops seem to carry a modest amount of gear when dismounted and light fighters seem to be toting their houses on their backs. That was my experience, so it looks like nothing has changed... I can explain it, but it was a bad idea to be overloaded then and I reckon its a bad idea now.

I was a light fighter and later a motorized (not mechanized) fighter. Keep in mind that a lot of the weight carried individually is directly related to ones duties (and sometimes indirectly - like spare ammo for certain crew-served weapons). Strip that away and most regular guys used to carry less gear than a weekend backpacker (but more weight - mil-spec stuff for the foot soldier is not light duty stuff). There are serious trade-offs in all of this, and I'm not being critical.

I suspect (but don't know) that looking at non-mission gear carried by Army Special Forces soldiers operating for short periods away from support vehicles (2 - 5 days) would be more useful to examine.

For the past several months I've been tinkering with using much more of my (retired) military gear and one of the things that strikes me right off the bat is how my weight jumped up - it adds up quickly. But - it also strikes me how much more robust and reliable much of that gear is (go figure). I'm coming to some conclusions for my applications, but these sorts of things are certainly personalized. To generalize: military gear for serious bugout stuff is really worth looking at. Most of it is too dang heavy for recreational gear unless that's all you can get your hands on / can afford. YMMV.

I caught a brief interview of a infantryman in Iraq. He stated they were carrying loads of @ 120 lbs. Most of this is obviously not carried during actual combat. There was a book called " Geronimo is alive and well in Vietnam." It was a fascinating comparison between the heavily laden army troopers and their Apache foes and the then current gear and strategy of the U.S.A. vs. Vietcong.

This is just off the top of my head, and it’s been more than 10 years since I soldiered for a living, but an 11-B serving in a light infantry battalion (such as in the 10th Mountain, 101st, or the Ranger Regiment) could be expected to carry the following:

Uniform:
Jungle or Desert boots (with 550 cord laces), issue wool/cotton sox with polypro sock liners.
BDU/DCU pants and shirt, with brown t-shirt (Coolmax is best), Polypro ECWCS top.
Riggers belt.
Dog tags & green ID card.
K-Pot.
Patrol Cap or Booney hat, and wool watch cap (carried in pants cargo pockets).
Drive on rag (in pants cargo pockets).
Shemagh (in the desert)
Goggles (the cheep ones you get at clothing sales, with the dark lens).
Nomex flight or CVC gloves.

Also carried in uniform pockets is usually a notebook, a map of your AO, a boy scout silva compass, your wallet, at least one black ball point pen, a multi tool, a signal mirror, what ever keys you might need, a P-38, an MRE spoon, various amounts of pogy bait, and some matches. If you are high speed, you will also have a strobe, and a Garmin etrex, some extra 550 cord, and maybe a chem light or two. You will also carry your protective mask around on your hip all the time.
Weight: I don’t know, I never weighed my uniform, but I’d imagine up to ~20lbs+.

Body Armor:
…After Somalia every one is in body armor.
Weight: depending on what it is, 20-30lbs.

Web-Gear (LBE, LBV, or something cool by Eagle, LBT, SOE etc. if you can get away with it).
Basic load of ammo (between a 120 and 180 rounds of 5.56 if you are carrying an M-4 or M-16).
Two 1qt canteens of water.
A fixed blade knife, or bayonet depending on unit SOP.
Basic first aid kit (the issue “airborne” kit).
Several pressure dressings.
A couple grenades, and some smoke or CS as mission dictates.
A butt pack with various snivel gear (p-liner, poncho, hammock, etc.), and maybe an MRE or two.
An issue lensatic compass.
Leather gloves.
NVG’s.
A couple of snap links, and a sling rope.
A cleaning kit for your weapon.
Weight: with live ammo your web-gear can weigh 30 to 40lbs.

Rucksack (generally an ALICE Large):
MOPP gear.
More water.
More ammo.
More snivel gear.
Mission specific gear (radio, LAW, Dragon, bolt cutters, C-4, extra rounds for the 60, etc.).
Weight: 45-75lbs.

Well, at any rate this is roughly what we carried in the 80’s, mixed in with some stuff my friends that are still on active duty tell me that they use now (Garmin etrex for example).

Hope this answers your question.

Gary

Excellent reply, Casket10. Thanks!

In 1966, I was reapiring buildings and doing archeological excavations at Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Arizona. This historic army post was the hub for ops against Geronimo back inthe 1880s-90s.. While I was exploring the physical remnants of this campaign, I was reading about our work in Vietnam. Deja vue all over again!

all true..... but the most important things that you will miss if you don't have them, are clean socks/ underwear and a toothbrush.

Been there.

sorry-i'm not military but what is snivel gear?

Thanks

Mark

Snivel Gear - 1. Comfort items that are usually the first things tossed out of your gear when the going gets tough; 2. Useless stuff you pickup because its cool or nifty. Often found on the wall at the Clothing Sales Store (ranger rubber bands, velcro notebooks, laser pointers, junk like that). "If its shiny, I want it."

Its been a while since I did any yomping as well, but In the attic I've got the SAS kitlist, the Royal Marine Commando kit list and a kit list for officer training at Sandhurst. (All of them original and real). If I can be arsed over the weekend I'll get the ladder out and PM them to you.