Bushcraft PLCE webbing
- Thread starter BushcraftBaird112
- Start date
Really not sure about this current MOLLE craze. It adds a huge amount of weight (try picking up the latest British issue molle vest and the old issue British assault vest- you will soon see what i mean)- the pouches themselves are much heavier, and the meters and meters of tape adds weight, with stitching all over everything you destroy any waterproof property the fabric ever had, and it just looks a bit messy in my opinion.
I suppose the key argument for it being that you can customise your kit for a particular application, but really, how often do you head into the woods for a weekends bushcraft which brings with it a desperate need to alter your load carriage set up?
Webbing's not bad for what it was intended for- i.e. carrying ammunition for very quick access, water for quick access, and 24hrs of rations plus cooking kit in case you are forced to ditch your main bergen/daysack and tab away from trouble. None of these points are relevant for the average bushcrafter i would have said, with the possible exception of rapid access to water (a problem which the invention of the camelback has solved).
I suppose the key argument for it being that you can customise your kit for a particular application, but really, how often do you head into the woods for a weekends bushcraft which brings with it a desperate need to alter your load carriage set up?
Webbing's not bad for what it was intended for- i.e. carrying ammunition for very quick access, water for quick access, and 24hrs of rations plus cooking kit in case you are forced to ditch your main bergen/daysack and tab away from trouble. None of these points are relevant for the average bushcrafter i would have said, with the possible exception of rapid access to water (a problem which the invention of the camelback has solved).
I often wear webbing with just two utility pouches for water and whatever, with everything else in the daysack as I hate camelbacks!
The ability to leave your main pack in camp whilst still carrying everything you might need for wooding or foraging (and without having to carry a spare daysack or use the horrible PLCE side-pouch daysack) is useful, IMHO. I don't want to have to empty my pack in camp, and I like to have my brew kit, FAK and a few other odds and sods on me when I go looking for firewood. Sure, if you're either day-tripping or doing proper through-hiking it's not really needed, but it comes in handy if you're setting up a base camp and then pottering around the surrounding area.
Actually, none of this is relevant to the soldier, planning assumptions are that the soldier will never jettison the daypack, as the most important gear is carried by that means for land operations (ammunitions, radios and specified patrol equipments).
Food and cooking gear is rarely if ever carried in webbing. The webbing is worn beneath armour, it is not viable to strip that off to retrieve equipment from rear pouches and food does not have to be urgently accessible - hence the importance of the daypack (which would not be jettisoned).
Traditional webbing gear may be redundant for the soldier but is ideal for the average bushcrafter, as gregorach has intimated.
sorry chap but you seem to be mistaken on a couple of points there, I always wear my webbing over my ba and don't know of anyone who would wear it the other way around, i have 24 hours worth of food/water and a cooker in a rear pouch, I have on ocasion left a patrolpack in a lay up with the intention to return to collect, but if this was not possible, i have enough in my webbing to get by. talking purely mil here not bushy.
Times are changing old bean! The blast belts are certainly not worn over armour, they are an integral part of the system (blast belt and cummerbund armour have replaced traditional webbing systems). More to the point, how do you fit 4.5 litres of water in your webbing pouches without utilising a daypack... (don't answer that one my friend, it is a rhetorical question...!!)
Yup fair point well made, stepping back into my box.
looking forward to getting aquainted with all the new kit soon.
looking forward to getting aquainted with all the new kit soon.
Webbing is still issued for active service- pouches with the PALS system (similar to MOLLE) and a vest which the pouches fit to. I know, because i have one. The pouches also fit to the current armour. They certainly don't fit under the armour! I for one would hate to strip of my armour in a middle of a contact every time i wanted to fit a fresh mag.
And yes, it depends what you do, but our SOPs are for everyone to have 24 hrs of rats in their webbing. Mission critical kit goes in a day sack, but there are times when you don't have your day sacks with you- think CTRs, sub surface OPs etc.
The standard infantry ops in Afghanistan aren't the only drills the military practice....
becuase in your earlier post you stated that you believed webbing was worn underneath armour.....
Which i find a perplexing suggestion!
Frequently, yes. Many areas don't have a lot of (or indeed, any) open, broad-leaved woodland, so getting firewood often involves a bit of a tramp from wherever you're camped to the nearest pine plantation.
Beneath, i.e. the harness worn underneath armour and the blast belt and pouches below the cummerbund.
This is exactly why current assumptions state the daypack will not be jettisoned: it contains critical equipment.
could you explain the cummerbund for me Harley?
scratch that got a mate to do it, cheers though.
scratch that got a mate to do it, cheers though.
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That’s mission critical kit, not SERE critical kit. There are some tasks when you simply can't take a day sack with you- it's left behind in an LUP etc. Should something go wrong, you can't be guaranteed to be reunited with it, hence why you still need to fight and survive on your webbing. Yes you might lose your optics, radio kit etc., and bang goes your mission.
You seem to be talking exclusively about mainstream operations in the likes of afghan- I’m not. The current issue Osprey Assault BA has pouches that fit directly to it. But it is also issued with a stand alone mesh vest that the pouches fix to. 'Traditional' PLCE belt kit is still issued, and by some, still preferred. After all, not every op requires body armour, especially more specialist roles.
Anyhow, we seem to be getting somewhat off topic here, and I’m tiring of arguing the toss about something i know directly about yet is entirely inconsequential!
I happy you clarified that LP I thought I was going mad! Iguess its the difference between using and researching, I've never researched the kit I'm given.
Slightly behind the curve there my friend, however as you say inconsequential to the thread and so lets leave it there! The pub is calling!
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