This is a tread that I posted in British Blades a while back...
Hope it is useful to at least one person in the future...
First off, I would like to thank Andrew at Outdoor Code for sending me the Ritter Survival Kit My existing mini kit will be replaced by this one, but with a few little additions.
Second,... Follow any advice given here at your own risk...
Having just received the Ritter Survival kit, I started to put my thoughts together about how a Kit like this would have made a difference to me when I was a soldier.
Soldiers and civilians have the same needs in surviving, but the former normally has the enemy to bump up the odds against a successful trip back home.
My military career was mostly in the South African Army, with a short stint in Rhodesia, when it was called by that name, but my Units and Places served in, will not be part of this thread No names, no dates, no pics
Allow for errors in my memory, remember, it is MY memory
If you do not believe or accept what I have to say here, go to another thread
I hope we can all learn something useful
Danzo in BB, requested that I share some of my experiences and profile my background from way back then, in an attempt to assist the serving soldiers of today.
Part of my service was to travel far, sometimes by air, sometimes by vehicle, and most times by foot, and two week patrols were the norm.
The things I did, and the things I participated in, are history now, and I am the sum of all the things I have experienced
It was another Time, another Place...
On one occasion, I had to separate from my buddies, and make my way back from the middle of Angola, to what is now called Namibia.
I will refer to this experience every now and then, as the Walk.
Whilst I had been given excellent survival training, the practical aspects of my Walk, have stayed with me, and always will.
A little background
Kit and Weaponry for Infantry Standard Issue
FN FAL 7.62 X 51mm NATO
7 x 20 round magazines, each loaded with 18 rounds, last three tracers
Spare box of 20
M26 hand grenades x 2
14 foot of green paracord
3 foot toggle rope, one end with toggle, and the other, a loop for the next ropes toggle to fit in.
Self bought SAK, of your choice
Clothes you are wearing
Bush jacket, wool jersey
1 x 60 mm mortar bomb
Rat-Pack rations for the time needed, but beyond a week would be heavy, so re-supply was by Buffel or Puma chopper
4 water bottles, two fire buckets
Webbing for ammo etc
20 litre canvas backpack
Two bomb bandages, one saline drip
Sleeping bag, ground sheet
Etc etc etc
We carried the above, sans the toggle rope, the webbing, and the pack, and one fire bucket
7.62mm FN FAL, or the RSA licenced version, the R1, were carried as primary weapon some of the time, but mostly AK47, AKM rifles were carried, as replenishing from the enemies no-longer needed ammo supply dump was possible. My particular R1 was accurised by our gunsmith, but the AK all-sorts were more indestructible in the elements. The FN range ability was further I prefer further, and I kept the rifle as clean as possible
Sometimes when my buddies would carry AK variants, I would still be doing the NATO thing, as one of us carried a FN MAG, belt fed, and greedy
We each carried at least 80 rounds in a linked belt, ready to be joined, for the MAG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_MAG
Chest webbing, carrying 6 Mags, two M26 hand grenades or White Phos
75 litre framed Backpack made by Three Spears, plus a Mini Pack that attacked at the top.
Extra was..total of 12 magazines, two spare boxes of Ball, one tracer
6 x M26, self bought 5Boker Bowie knife, 12 scalpel blades
One to two 60mm mortar bombs, 2 rifle grenades
10 days rations, 12 litres of water, 25 caffeine tablets, Chia seeds( hinger depressants)
Two saline drips, two Sosegon (morphine) ampoules, 8 bomb bandages, two sanitary towels, assorted sutures.
Tubing and needles for arm to arm transfusions, based on the higher blood pressure donor, filling the low blood pressure patient. The ( clean )tubing could also be used to suck up water from dryish river or lake beds.
We used fire ash for teeth hygiene, as toothpaste makes for minty fresh calling cards for the enemy to appreciate.
My own kit had extra paracord, 2 White phosphorous grenades, 4x telescopic sight on extra FN FAL dustcover mount, Band Aids, BIC disposable lighter, self bought 10x monocular, curry powder for turning maggot infested or long-dead meat into edible nosh, wool balaclava, and a Claymore with Clicker, and my Spoon .
Patrols start out with camo crème, and fresh clothes, clean water.
End with scavenged water, we resembled mobile pig sties, with engrained dirt camo.
Today as a civilian, if I was going overland where the custard might hit the fan, I would attempt to carry one saline drip, four bomb bandages, sutures, and a mini first aid kit, as well as Chia seeds for hunger depressing. The Ritter kit will now be added. The Fresnel lens would be extremely useful for lighting fires I have done just that, this morning
Here in NZ, the requirements are more for cold weather survival, and although the water is no longer safe to drink directly from ANY river or lake, I would drink even if I had no way of purifying it, whether by boiling or chemicals.
The Ritter kit is a good one, and the size and choice of contents is excellent value for money.
If I had had one of these in my Army days, the scalpel, wire, mirror, and duct tape would have been used often. I would insert needles and dental floss for clothes repairs, or large wound closing. Painkillers of some sort, even just two to four Panadol aspirin etc would help for toothache or headaches.
Where I served my time, there was little enough water, so I would ditch the fish hooks, but not the fishing line, as snares could be constructed.
A small locking folder, such as my Shrade, or indeed my new Daywalker designed Boker SubCom Magnum, could be elasticised to the outside, and I have added three alcohol swabs for cleaning wounds, for fire lighting damp wood.
BTW Daywalker is a member here, and I soon will be posting a review of that knife.
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/st...l.html?s=BO589
Although I own two ARC LSHs, I might buy and add a Fenix 1P with one spare AA cell. My boss recently bought two Fenixs , and I am mightily impressed with this value for money lighthouse
I will fit more SS wire, as NZ possums want to die, and are volunteering to be
snared
If you can get Chia seed, carry it
This is the one which sprouts and makes little stocking characters with green hair, and green beards, once you water them
Any space left in your Ritter kit, or Altoid tin should have Chia seed in.
Chia seeds are Natures little hunger depressants.
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html
Now .I must emphasise ..I do not agree with drugs to be carried by anyone who does not know how to use them, and especially without a Medical background.
I refuse to walk, or explore the outdoors with drug addicts, and the fact that I drink alcohol does not make me a hypocrite Do not go there
As Civvies, to be rescued after an ordeal, and have recreational drugs, or morphine that a Doc mate gave you, found in your kit the legal implications might make you return whence ye came, to continue the ordeal.
Leave your P, Ecstacy, Wacky Baccy, etc at home, people.
Right, my self righteous lecture is over on with the chat.
We, as soldiers, broke the law in regards to carrying and administering medicine and drugs, BUT no one I was with, ever abused the stuff we carried with us. Trust is meant to be ultimate, and addicts would soon be RTUed, after a little prison time, of course.
The Sosegon [( pentazocine) similar to morphine], I carried, once helped a mate spend his last hour alive, almost pain free, and on another occasion, some of my A-Neg blood ran in someone elses veins for a while.
BTW, I was the only A-Neg in my unit
We were trained to administer the aforementioned drugs, something I would never do now, even given access to morphine in an emergency situation today.
Martyn might tell you that the difference between relieving pain, and turning the lights off permanently, can be subtle. I am not a doctor. I could have killed someone. War is hell
Saline drips can be drunk if there is not enough water and dehydration is imminent. Some folk could not insert a needle correctly, and I would rather that they get the saline solution as soon as possible. Orally is acceptable.
Bomb bandages....a wad of cotton,and about 6 foot of strong gauze, were good for most wounds, and I even used one for a tourniquet, a method no one ever recommends any more, but the mate lived, the loss of left lower arm the price to pay.
I regard duct tape, SS wire, paracord, Band Aids/plasters, cotton wadding/sanitary towels, as essentials, and a compass an excellent addition.
RIGHT a summary, the long version which you might see later, but in a different form
The Walk
On a mission into Angola, with Luanda nearby, and on out way back to a RV, we were involved in enemy action. We were on the point of been overwhelmed, and we all decided to scatter 10 to one means it is time to make like a 747
When we bomb-shelled, I ran about 5 klicks in a South Westerly direction, and then hid in the shade of a fig tree. The fruit was not needed at this time, and so if I had been aware of what lay before me, I would have taken a dozen or three.
It was about 1420 hours
I rested and scanned the area for anyone at all, for about 20 minutes, whilst checking my body and kit for damage. I had lost my map bag, my compass, a stainless mirror, a saline bag, and a mini-bag containing four spare A53 VHF radio batteries. I did not have the A53, so it mattered not, but anyone finding the batteries could use them to detonate landmines...
http://www.kpjung.de/e_a53.htm
Worst of all, I lost my SAK, which had been attached to a short length of paracord, and tied to one of my trouser loops, which now was torn. I still had my Boker on my waist belt, but it did not have a tin opener, and my lack of a sharpening stone of sorts, meant that I wanted the Bokers edge to last. I ended up using a small stone.
I then left my Backpack on the ground, and climbed the tree with my R1, my chest webbing, and my monocular. I stayed up in the branches, about 15 foot off the ground, and scanned the area for about 3 hours, with no sign of men or animals.
http://www.answers.com/topic/fn-fal
I had no radio, and no map, no compass .I had to make a decision
A Puma would be picking us up the next day at a RV point, which was 30 klicks SW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Puma
Whoever was not there at the RV, would be regarded as dead or a POW, and no extra search would be mounted bear in mind we were around 500kms into enemy territory. The UN had RSA under great pressure to cease cross border raids, and a singular Puma at night would be brushed off as one of the Angolan Hind choppers.
It would land, pick us up, and depart for the beers at our Base.
I had no idea who else was alive at this point, and I had found two new bullet holes in my pack frame and one round tear in my trouser leg, and apart from thorn scratches, and ripped uniform, I had no injuries at all.
I filled my trouser pockets, and thigh pouches with the remains of a days worth of Rat-pack food, all the food that we had left to eat on the way to the RV.
I filled my daypack with ammo, one saline drip bag, assorted useful kit, and first aid gear, and a face cloth I used for a sweat rag. One red, and one green pencil flare for the chopper at the RV. Red for go away, green for stay.
My framed pack, with grenades, mortars, Claymore etc and what was left, I buried at the base of that fig tree, about a foot down. I left my curry powder, matches, fire lighting gear, extra underwear and socks, trip wire, extra flares, red and green smoke grenades, a portion of the MAG belt etc. Heavy in..light out. I would probably be court-martialled for abandoning the kit, but speed was of essence. I was leaving around 15 kgs behind
Someday some goat-herding boy is going to prod the dirt a bit, and find the Pack
I sometimes wake up at night, and remember that I left it there, and hope the last two decades rain has deactivated the RDX explosive somehow.
My chest webbing held 6 mags, and I had six spare in my day pack.
All my mags were camo-ed, except for one, black in colour. I filled it with tracers only, 20 in all. I topped up all the other mags till they all held 20
BTW, we normally only loaded 18, so that the spring would not remain too compressed, and cause the last two or three cartridges to be slow in cycling, and jam.
At about 1800, I checked my kit for tautness and silence, and moved slowly through the knee high grass, in a crouch. I kept to the trees as much as I could, and I waited below each tree for about a minute, scanned the area, and then moved on.
The sun started to set at about 1810, and I knew that a stiff hike through the night would get to me to near where the chopper should be, so that I could at least hear, and then see it.
I would walk for about 50 metres, and then check around for about 20 seconds, and then move on. I used tree shapes in the darkness to keep a straight line.
By sunrise at about 500 hours, I was where I thought I should be..
I waited there till the late afternoon, and waited for some sort of aerial sound
But, as time crawled along no chopper, no plane, no yellow submarine
As the sun set, I knew that the custard was rising around my knees
I never did find out how far off I was
What to do?
Go South, young man, slowly, but surely, and hope that no one sees me, and if they do, pray that they are friendlies. And that you do not owe them money from the last poker game
I could not walk by day, and when it rained, I had to stay put, as footprints in wet mud stay that way, showing the enemy the path you took. In fact, of more than one occasion, when I got up to walk again, I could see my tracks from the previous stroll, in the setting suns light.
My painted rifle eventually had a thin film of rust on the exposed metal, but a little sand rubbed with my hand on the metal removed the rust. I had no oil, and I hoped there was enough for lubrication. I had shot off two mags during the bombshelling sprint, so the action was working well.
When I found burned wood anywhere, I rubbed the ash on the rifle, and on my exposed flesh. The smell also helped to camo me from those animals with a keen smell, such as do. Cow dung also worked well, but when dry, it made my skin taut and hurt a bit Anyone for a cow dung face pack?
Dried cow dung burns well, good heat, very little smoke that does not smell disturbing at all. But, of course, I could not light a fire during my stroll.As I was on the move, placing snares was out of the question.
I dozed during the day and I was always able to find shelter of some sort, always natural, such as trees, and twice, some type of depression in the ground, with low scrub around it. I slept lightly, due to the tension, and a butterfly landing on my knee, woke me up once I always lay down for the lowest silhouette, on my stomach. My head turned to one side, and ear resting on my clenched fist, so that I would be able to hear vibration through the ground. A heard of cows about 100 meres away, make a fair amount of noise
My rifle was always cocked, and I did not clean it once, as I was afraid that I might be surprised during the task. The safety was always off, and when I dozed/slept, my hand was off the trigger and grip.
When I moved, it was at night, and initially I dragged a small mopani branch behind me to hide my prints, so it took about 6 hours to move 5 klicks. After about 4 days, I started to move quicker at night, as my night awareness, and vision, seemed to have been boosted somehow. I seldom used any broom t after that.
I must have walked around 30 to 35 klicks a night on occasion, and I only stopped walking fast, when it became obvious to my nose first, and my ears soon after, that I was near human life. Some nights, I only walked only about 5-6 klicks. I drank as I walked, and a Camelback system would have been excellent.
Walking by night has its hazards, especially in unknown terrain. We had been flown...The ground conditions can change, trees can spring out at you, man made fences can trap you:- and confuse and exaggerate the already enhanced Fear.
Remember, I could not use a light of any sort, and I did not always have the stars to see and be guided by. The Southern Cross is a Friend of mine, and always will be The moon can be your enemy, and the when it was fullish, I was only to aware of my shape of night.
Falling rain can also confuse your sense of direction, especially when it is slanted by a wind. Your muscles in the thighs and calves tire quickly when cat-footing it.
Some villages have no light at all, and on a moonless night, you could walk up to a Makalani palm fence, and almost kick it. They are held up most of the time with fronds, but sometimes with wire, and the rattle will set dogs off.
But, the darkness meant that you could sneak up on animals, if you so desired to kill and eat them. A gun shot was out of the question, so the Boker could be used to slit the throat of a cow, or goat, or even a dog, if it did not hear you. I would have eaten a dog, if the opportunity had ever arisen.
Over the 29 days of Fun-Fun-Fun, I managed to kill 4 chickens, by creeping up to the victim, lunging forward, and grabbing it by the neck, and then smashing the body to the ground, snapping the neck in the process. I then held the body while it thrashed a little. The blood also acted at camo.
Once I was far enough away from the populated area, I then dug a hole with my spoon, and plucked the chicken. I ate it raw, and only left the head, legs and guts behind. Cutting up the carcass, eating most of it raw, and tying about a quarter to my pack to dry in the sun during the day. Flies were a problem.
The bones and fragments were buried, and I urinated on the recovered earth area. And then I threw sand over the wet patches. The smell might attract dogs, but they did not feel threatened by the odour of man. Dogs might have barked at me from a distance, but their timidity outweighed their bravado.
Remember, the local population were more worried that the enemy would harass them if they investigated the intruders, so that worked to my advantage. The chickens were free range, and there were lots around near villages, so one here and there missing would not be noticed.
I also caught two huge frogs on two separate occasions, and ate those raw, leaving only the guts, and claws, which I again buried. Tastes like raw chicken?
Hope it is useful to at least one person in the future...
First off, I would like to thank Andrew at Outdoor Code for sending me the Ritter Survival Kit My existing mini kit will be replaced by this one, but with a few little additions.
Second,... Follow any advice given here at your own risk...
Having just received the Ritter Survival kit, I started to put my thoughts together about how a Kit like this would have made a difference to me when I was a soldier.
Soldiers and civilians have the same needs in surviving, but the former normally has the enemy to bump up the odds against a successful trip back home.
My military career was mostly in the South African Army, with a short stint in Rhodesia, when it was called by that name, but my Units and Places served in, will not be part of this thread No names, no dates, no pics
Allow for errors in my memory, remember, it is MY memory
If you do not believe or accept what I have to say here, go to another thread
I hope we can all learn something useful
Danzo in BB, requested that I share some of my experiences and profile my background from way back then, in an attempt to assist the serving soldiers of today.
Part of my service was to travel far, sometimes by air, sometimes by vehicle, and most times by foot, and two week patrols were the norm.
The things I did, and the things I participated in, are history now, and I am the sum of all the things I have experienced
It was another Time, another Place...
On one occasion, I had to separate from my buddies, and make my way back from the middle of Angola, to what is now called Namibia.
I will refer to this experience every now and then, as the Walk.
Whilst I had been given excellent survival training, the practical aspects of my Walk, have stayed with me, and always will.
A little background
Kit and Weaponry for Infantry Standard Issue
FN FAL 7.62 X 51mm NATO
7 x 20 round magazines, each loaded with 18 rounds, last three tracers
Spare box of 20
M26 hand grenades x 2
14 foot of green paracord
3 foot toggle rope, one end with toggle, and the other, a loop for the next ropes toggle to fit in.
Self bought SAK, of your choice
Clothes you are wearing
Bush jacket, wool jersey
1 x 60 mm mortar bomb
Rat-Pack rations for the time needed, but beyond a week would be heavy, so re-supply was by Buffel or Puma chopper
4 water bottles, two fire buckets
Webbing for ammo etc
20 litre canvas backpack
Two bomb bandages, one saline drip
Sleeping bag, ground sheet
Etc etc etc
We carried the above, sans the toggle rope, the webbing, and the pack, and one fire bucket
7.62mm FN FAL, or the RSA licenced version, the R1, were carried as primary weapon some of the time, but mostly AK47, AKM rifles were carried, as replenishing from the enemies no-longer needed ammo supply dump was possible. My particular R1 was accurised by our gunsmith, but the AK all-sorts were more indestructible in the elements. The FN range ability was further I prefer further, and I kept the rifle as clean as possible
Sometimes when my buddies would carry AK variants, I would still be doing the NATO thing, as one of us carried a FN MAG, belt fed, and greedy
We each carried at least 80 rounds in a linked belt, ready to be joined, for the MAG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_MAG
Chest webbing, carrying 6 Mags, two M26 hand grenades or White Phos
75 litre framed Backpack made by Three Spears, plus a Mini Pack that attacked at the top.
Extra was..total of 12 magazines, two spare boxes of Ball, one tracer
6 x M26, self bought 5Boker Bowie knife, 12 scalpel blades
One to two 60mm mortar bombs, 2 rifle grenades
10 days rations, 12 litres of water, 25 caffeine tablets, Chia seeds( hinger depressants)
Two saline drips, two Sosegon (morphine) ampoules, 8 bomb bandages, two sanitary towels, assorted sutures.
Tubing and needles for arm to arm transfusions, based on the higher blood pressure donor, filling the low blood pressure patient. The ( clean )tubing could also be used to suck up water from dryish river or lake beds.
We used fire ash for teeth hygiene, as toothpaste makes for minty fresh calling cards for the enemy to appreciate.
My own kit had extra paracord, 2 White phosphorous grenades, 4x telescopic sight on extra FN FAL dustcover mount, Band Aids, BIC disposable lighter, self bought 10x monocular, curry powder for turning maggot infested or long-dead meat into edible nosh, wool balaclava, and a Claymore with Clicker, and my Spoon .
Patrols start out with camo crème, and fresh clothes, clean water.
End with scavenged water, we resembled mobile pig sties, with engrained dirt camo.
Today as a civilian, if I was going overland where the custard might hit the fan, I would attempt to carry one saline drip, four bomb bandages, sutures, and a mini first aid kit, as well as Chia seeds for hunger depressing. The Ritter kit will now be added. The Fresnel lens would be extremely useful for lighting fires I have done just that, this morning
Here in NZ, the requirements are more for cold weather survival, and although the water is no longer safe to drink directly from ANY river or lake, I would drink even if I had no way of purifying it, whether by boiling or chemicals.
The Ritter kit is a good one, and the size and choice of contents is excellent value for money.
If I had had one of these in my Army days, the scalpel, wire, mirror, and duct tape would have been used often. I would insert needles and dental floss for clothes repairs, or large wound closing. Painkillers of some sort, even just two to four Panadol aspirin etc would help for toothache or headaches.
Where I served my time, there was little enough water, so I would ditch the fish hooks, but not the fishing line, as snares could be constructed.
A small locking folder, such as my Shrade, or indeed my new Daywalker designed Boker SubCom Magnum, could be elasticised to the outside, and I have added three alcohol swabs for cleaning wounds, for fire lighting damp wood.
BTW Daywalker is a member here, and I soon will be posting a review of that knife.
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/st...l.html?s=BO589
Although I own two ARC LSHs, I might buy and add a Fenix 1P with one spare AA cell. My boss recently bought two Fenixs , and I am mightily impressed with this value for money lighthouse
I will fit more SS wire, as NZ possums want to die, and are volunteering to be
snared
If you can get Chia seed, carry it
This is the one which sprouts and makes little stocking characters with green hair, and green beards, once you water them
Any space left in your Ritter kit, or Altoid tin should have Chia seed in.
Chia seeds are Natures little hunger depressants.
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/chia.html
Now .I must emphasise ..I do not agree with drugs to be carried by anyone who does not know how to use them, and especially without a Medical background.
I refuse to walk, or explore the outdoors with drug addicts, and the fact that I drink alcohol does not make me a hypocrite Do not go there
As Civvies, to be rescued after an ordeal, and have recreational drugs, or morphine that a Doc mate gave you, found in your kit the legal implications might make you return whence ye came, to continue the ordeal.
Leave your P, Ecstacy, Wacky Baccy, etc at home, people.
Right, my self righteous lecture is over on with the chat.
We, as soldiers, broke the law in regards to carrying and administering medicine and drugs, BUT no one I was with, ever abused the stuff we carried with us. Trust is meant to be ultimate, and addicts would soon be RTUed, after a little prison time, of course.
The Sosegon [( pentazocine) similar to morphine], I carried, once helped a mate spend his last hour alive, almost pain free, and on another occasion, some of my A-Neg blood ran in someone elses veins for a while.
BTW, I was the only A-Neg in my unit
We were trained to administer the aforementioned drugs, something I would never do now, even given access to morphine in an emergency situation today.
Martyn might tell you that the difference between relieving pain, and turning the lights off permanently, can be subtle. I am not a doctor. I could have killed someone. War is hell
Saline drips can be drunk if there is not enough water and dehydration is imminent. Some folk could not insert a needle correctly, and I would rather that they get the saline solution as soon as possible. Orally is acceptable.
Bomb bandages....a wad of cotton,and about 6 foot of strong gauze, were good for most wounds, and I even used one for a tourniquet, a method no one ever recommends any more, but the mate lived, the loss of left lower arm the price to pay.
I regard duct tape, SS wire, paracord, Band Aids/plasters, cotton wadding/sanitary towels, as essentials, and a compass an excellent addition.
RIGHT a summary, the long version which you might see later, but in a different form
The Walk
On a mission into Angola, with Luanda nearby, and on out way back to a RV, we were involved in enemy action. We were on the point of been overwhelmed, and we all decided to scatter 10 to one means it is time to make like a 747
When we bomb-shelled, I ran about 5 klicks in a South Westerly direction, and then hid in the shade of a fig tree. The fruit was not needed at this time, and so if I had been aware of what lay before me, I would have taken a dozen or three.
It was about 1420 hours
I rested and scanned the area for anyone at all, for about 20 minutes, whilst checking my body and kit for damage. I had lost my map bag, my compass, a stainless mirror, a saline bag, and a mini-bag containing four spare A53 VHF radio batteries. I did not have the A53, so it mattered not, but anyone finding the batteries could use them to detonate landmines...
http://www.kpjung.de/e_a53.htm
Worst of all, I lost my SAK, which had been attached to a short length of paracord, and tied to one of my trouser loops, which now was torn. I still had my Boker on my waist belt, but it did not have a tin opener, and my lack of a sharpening stone of sorts, meant that I wanted the Bokers edge to last. I ended up using a small stone.
I then left my Backpack on the ground, and climbed the tree with my R1, my chest webbing, and my monocular. I stayed up in the branches, about 15 foot off the ground, and scanned the area for about 3 hours, with no sign of men or animals.
http://www.answers.com/topic/fn-fal
I had no radio, and no map, no compass .I had to make a decision
A Puma would be picking us up the next day at a RV point, which was 30 klicks SW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Puma
Whoever was not there at the RV, would be regarded as dead or a POW, and no extra search would be mounted bear in mind we were around 500kms into enemy territory. The UN had RSA under great pressure to cease cross border raids, and a singular Puma at night would be brushed off as one of the Angolan Hind choppers.
It would land, pick us up, and depart for the beers at our Base.
I had no idea who else was alive at this point, and I had found two new bullet holes in my pack frame and one round tear in my trouser leg, and apart from thorn scratches, and ripped uniform, I had no injuries at all.
I filled my trouser pockets, and thigh pouches with the remains of a days worth of Rat-pack food, all the food that we had left to eat on the way to the RV.
I filled my daypack with ammo, one saline drip bag, assorted useful kit, and first aid gear, and a face cloth I used for a sweat rag. One red, and one green pencil flare for the chopper at the RV. Red for go away, green for stay.
My framed pack, with grenades, mortars, Claymore etc and what was left, I buried at the base of that fig tree, about a foot down. I left my curry powder, matches, fire lighting gear, extra underwear and socks, trip wire, extra flares, red and green smoke grenades, a portion of the MAG belt etc. Heavy in..light out. I would probably be court-martialled for abandoning the kit, but speed was of essence. I was leaving around 15 kgs behind
Someday some goat-herding boy is going to prod the dirt a bit, and find the Pack
I sometimes wake up at night, and remember that I left it there, and hope the last two decades rain has deactivated the RDX explosive somehow.
My chest webbing held 6 mags, and I had six spare in my day pack.
All my mags were camo-ed, except for one, black in colour. I filled it with tracers only, 20 in all. I topped up all the other mags till they all held 20
BTW, we normally only loaded 18, so that the spring would not remain too compressed, and cause the last two or three cartridges to be slow in cycling, and jam.
At about 1800, I checked my kit for tautness and silence, and moved slowly through the knee high grass, in a crouch. I kept to the trees as much as I could, and I waited below each tree for about a minute, scanned the area, and then moved on.
The sun started to set at about 1810, and I knew that a stiff hike through the night would get to me to near where the chopper should be, so that I could at least hear, and then see it.
I would walk for about 50 metres, and then check around for about 20 seconds, and then move on. I used tree shapes in the darkness to keep a straight line.
By sunrise at about 500 hours, I was where I thought I should be..
I waited there till the late afternoon, and waited for some sort of aerial sound
But, as time crawled along no chopper, no plane, no yellow submarine
As the sun set, I knew that the custard was rising around my knees
I never did find out how far off I was
What to do?
Go South, young man, slowly, but surely, and hope that no one sees me, and if they do, pray that they are friendlies. And that you do not owe them money from the last poker game
I could not walk by day, and when it rained, I had to stay put, as footprints in wet mud stay that way, showing the enemy the path you took. In fact, of more than one occasion, when I got up to walk again, I could see my tracks from the previous stroll, in the setting suns light.
My painted rifle eventually had a thin film of rust on the exposed metal, but a little sand rubbed with my hand on the metal removed the rust. I had no oil, and I hoped there was enough for lubrication. I had shot off two mags during the bombshelling sprint, so the action was working well.
When I found burned wood anywhere, I rubbed the ash on the rifle, and on my exposed flesh. The smell also helped to camo me from those animals with a keen smell, such as do. Cow dung also worked well, but when dry, it made my skin taut and hurt a bit Anyone for a cow dung face pack?
Dried cow dung burns well, good heat, very little smoke that does not smell disturbing at all. But, of course, I could not light a fire during my stroll.As I was on the move, placing snares was out of the question.
I dozed during the day and I was always able to find shelter of some sort, always natural, such as trees, and twice, some type of depression in the ground, with low scrub around it. I slept lightly, due to the tension, and a butterfly landing on my knee, woke me up once I always lay down for the lowest silhouette, on my stomach. My head turned to one side, and ear resting on my clenched fist, so that I would be able to hear vibration through the ground. A heard of cows about 100 meres away, make a fair amount of noise
My rifle was always cocked, and I did not clean it once, as I was afraid that I might be surprised during the task. The safety was always off, and when I dozed/slept, my hand was off the trigger and grip.
When I moved, it was at night, and initially I dragged a small mopani branch behind me to hide my prints, so it took about 6 hours to move 5 klicks. After about 4 days, I started to move quicker at night, as my night awareness, and vision, seemed to have been boosted somehow. I seldom used any broom t after that.
I must have walked around 30 to 35 klicks a night on occasion, and I only stopped walking fast, when it became obvious to my nose first, and my ears soon after, that I was near human life. Some nights, I only walked only about 5-6 klicks. I drank as I walked, and a Camelback system would have been excellent.
Walking by night has its hazards, especially in unknown terrain. We had been flown...The ground conditions can change, trees can spring out at you, man made fences can trap you:- and confuse and exaggerate the already enhanced Fear.
Remember, I could not use a light of any sort, and I did not always have the stars to see and be guided by. The Southern Cross is a Friend of mine, and always will be The moon can be your enemy, and the when it was fullish, I was only to aware of my shape of night.
Falling rain can also confuse your sense of direction, especially when it is slanted by a wind. Your muscles in the thighs and calves tire quickly when cat-footing it.
Some villages have no light at all, and on a moonless night, you could walk up to a Makalani palm fence, and almost kick it. They are held up most of the time with fronds, but sometimes with wire, and the rattle will set dogs off.
But, the darkness meant that you could sneak up on animals, if you so desired to kill and eat them. A gun shot was out of the question, so the Boker could be used to slit the throat of a cow, or goat, or even a dog, if it did not hear you. I would have eaten a dog, if the opportunity had ever arisen.
Over the 29 days of Fun-Fun-Fun, I managed to kill 4 chickens, by creeping up to the victim, lunging forward, and grabbing it by the neck, and then smashing the body to the ground, snapping the neck in the process. I then held the body while it thrashed a little. The blood also acted at camo.
Once I was far enough away from the populated area, I then dug a hole with my spoon, and plucked the chicken. I ate it raw, and only left the head, legs and guts behind. Cutting up the carcass, eating most of it raw, and tying about a quarter to my pack to dry in the sun during the day. Flies were a problem.
The bones and fragments were buried, and I urinated on the recovered earth area. And then I threw sand over the wet patches. The smell might attract dogs, but they did not feel threatened by the odour of man. Dogs might have barked at me from a distance, but their timidity outweighed their bravado.
Remember, the local population were more worried that the enemy would harass them if they investigated the intruders, so that worked to my advantage. The chickens were free range, and there were lots around near villages, so one here and there missing would not be noticed.
I also caught two huge frogs on two separate occasions, and ate those raw, leaving only the guts, and claws, which I again buried. Tastes like raw chicken?
