Military Connections?

[Melonfish]

believe it or not the reason you even have that top pic is because a bunch of english airsofters from down south posted it on and airsoft forum and then someone posted it on Arrse. somehow it got to 4chan and well the rest is history.
i don't know the guys personally but have spoken to em on airsoft forums and they're good lads. tbh i commend him for a rather decent impression.
sorry just had to defend the chaps a bit cause they're airsofters and they didn't deserve the hype on that pic.

anyhoo military kit ftw. modern kit and some pieces of earlier kit are the biz. rugged and never falls apart. not much more you could ask for

 

[ex Member swampy99]

was not a dig just thought it was a very funny pic. I too know airsofters and have been playing paintball for about 18 years so have seen many many walts come and go. it just goes to show you what the yoof of today are like in there world of computer war games and the like. Some have said that they dress act and look the same as the real thing but do not want to do the real thing which is a shame as im sure there is as many airsofters/paintballers as real forces.

 

[Melonfish]

no i know your not having a personal dig mucka, i just feel the need to defend him is all

 

[BushcraftBaird112]

I think the military should be in relation with bushcraft because they provide heavy duty and long-lasting gear that is widely used by bushcrafters. And some feild craft techniques are also used in bushcraft. And besides olive drab goes great with the outdoors!

 

[Mikey P]

I think learning bushcraft can help if you are in the military, and being in the military can help you gain bushcraft experience.

i want to be a pilot, and learning bushcraft would help no end in the worst case scenario.

Ummmm... not really.

Opportunities for bushcraft and survival training are few and far between. SERE is fairly quick and unforgiving and it concentrates on the art of moving to extraction without being found and without dying.

There is, alas, little time available to carve a spoon when you are being hunted. I know that might sound a little facetious but be aware that SERE training is a little different.

There are some chances in the army for platoon/company level stuff but not too much. If you want to teach yourself, great - it will give you a bit of confidence and it can occasionally be useful.

 

[IJ55]

I am proud to say that I served my time with a good old county line Regiment (when we still had them ) when the guns were long and the pay was poor.

Those were the days my friends

2465.... Twodogs.

Mortar platoon? ohhh them nasty dropshorts again! and why was it that always, without fail, there was always one set of ear defenders short on a mortar shoot?

 

[IJ55]

was not a dig just thought it was a very funny pic. I too know airsofters and have been playing paintball for about 18 years so have seen many many walts come and go. it just goes to show you what the yoof of today are like in there world of computer war games and the like. Some have said that they dress act and look the same as the real thing but do not want to do the real thing which is a shame as im sure there is as many airsofters/paintballers as real forces.

Airsoft is a game. Airsoft kit is about adding a bit of spice to the scene, making it look war like, raise a bit of adrenalin. It is thus a safe way for people to enjoy some spare time.

Most airsofters idolise Special Forces units - why? because even if they did join the military, serving in SF would be a one in a thousand chance. playing SF with like minded friends is a given if you can afford the cash outlay.

Its like wearing a superman T-shirt. We all wanted to be superman, but never could. Does that make us who idolised Super man 'walts'? No, it just meant we had a dream.

Oh, and if you play airsoft anywhere near hereford, do not be suprised to see some of the neatest, quickest smoothest room clearence and entry skills you have ever seen. Yes, even 'they' have some people who like to dress up and play airsoft - and mostly they wear ACU cammo from America. Why? because its a game, its fun.

 

[Mikey P]

serving in SF would be a one in a thousand chance.

Actually less.

The reason many wear US ACUs is because that's what is worn on ops. It sounds like an odd thing to say but you can generally spot SF a mile off - real mix of uniform, boots and equipment that you wouldn't get away with on regular units. Also, until Afghan ops about 3 years ago, they were always the guys with the biggest sideburns/hairstyles and the flashiest Oakley sunglasses. Now stubble and big hair are 'de rigeur', it's more difficult to tell!

Yep, I see your point - if you're going to dress up like someone, you might as well make it the guys with the best kit. But, if you want to do it right, mix and match civvy hiking boots with US ACUs and UK smocks, random chest rigs with Sig pistols, and C7 carbines which look like they've been covered in glue and thrown into a gun shop, shemagh, and an Afghan style hat to top it all off.

I have to say, airsoft looks like a lot of fun but I don't really know a lot about it. Unfortunately, my missus would just see it as another of my money-spending schemes so I'll give it a miss for a while. Maybe one day.

 

[Mikey P]

why was it that always, without fail, there was always one set of ear defenders short on a mortar shoot?

That's why you are issued with two index fingers.

 

[Purdy Bear]

Iv never been in the Military myself, but my father, grandfathers, uncles etc were.

Id prefur just to have the equpment that works, and not look like I just came out the services.

Iv noticed already a great lack in the female area of equipment, they are pretty much all designed for men (ie weight, colour etc).

 

[Retired Member southey]

Nope just not designed for men , for soldiers ( if your referring to green/dpm kit) men and women for movement and ease of use, the original manikins used in the development of CS95 clothing were made with a non sex specific body style to try and make a fare comparison between the standard male/female body types, to offer the ease of manufacture and reduced cost so loved by the penny pincher's.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I loved being a soldier. I hated being in garrison, give me the field

 

[m.durston]

Iv noticed already a great lack in the female area of equipment, they are pretty much all designed for men (ie weight, colour etc).

i'd have to disagree with that one. many moons ago when i was a wee cadet a few of us got issued the new 90 pattern jackets with the chest zipped pockets.
a particularly buxom female 2nd leiutenant asked my mate what purpose the chest pockets were designed for.
'boobie feelers maam' he replied lol

 

[Nat]

Modern military kit is designed to be androgynous in that it would be difficult for the enemy to tell who is female and who is male, also to deter any unwanted attention by squaddies letching over the females (it still happens as some females wear clothing a bit tight!)

It's designed to be practical and it does it's job. If it's fashion women want then they should either get tailored gear or go to a fashion show

 

[Mikey P]

When I worked for NATO, it was interesting to see that some of the other nations (Italy and Eastern European countries especially) positively encouraged their women to wear fitted uniforms and a number of them were very 'glam' indeed!

Not quite the same emphasis on equality and diversity that we have in the UK...

 

[stretch3144]

When I worked for NATO, it was interesting to see that some of the other nations (Italy and Eastern European countries especially) positively encouraged their women to wear fitted uniforms and a number of them were very 'glam' indeed!

Not quite the same emphasis on equality and diversity that we have in the UK...

Do you think that'll catch on with the( W)RAF??!
That said, I'm sure most Waffs report straight to Stores after training for the wide a**e!!

 

[Silverclaws]

In reply to the OP, my bush craft interest came through scouting, the scouting of old and Eddie McGee's books whilst in the scouts. I was in the forces, but RAF had very little if anything to do with bush craft, so my interest was prior to that, and in the RAF, it was considered uncool to be a cabbage, leave that for the cabbage squadron, the regiment. My interest was furthered through doing battle re-enactment, the researching and learning of ancient skills for just general living, the stuff we now all take for granted in our consumerist society. My interests went on to myself going to college to pursue a change of career, into that of a metal smith, black smithing being a large part of that.

But as for ex cabbage gear, yes, I use it, purely because it does the job, is invariably cheap and I will not buy into the scam that is the outdoor specialist market.

 

[John Fenna]

I never was in the Forces (the RAF offered me a commission but would not let me bend aircraft as I had poor colour vision - so I said "no thanks) but I was a civvi instructor with the ACF (teaching survival and "campcraft") for a while....until they said I would have to take my beard off
Now, I have had my beardfor a while - last time I took it off completely was when I was 16 for my Biggin Hill visit, and even then I kept my 'tache which I had had for a while even then - so I said goodbye and stuck to teaching Sea Scouts the joys of the great outdoors!

Does any of that count as a "military connection?

 

[Mikey P]

Just think, John. If you'd persevered, you'd have been allowed to keep your beard for op tours in Afghan!

Ah, we spent many a day devising beard comparison systems...

 

[Hangman]

Ex RAF SAR Loadmaster (or Dope on a Rope), I finished 13 years ago when our Sqn was disbanded (I gather now it's back again, God bless the MoD). Father not too impressed as he was Ex Para and fought in the Radfan campaign in Aden, his was not a good experience of forces life and thought I could do better.

I joined as I was aircraft mad, did my aircrew survival cadre spent lots of time cold wet and miserable, for my last few months assisted one our survival instructors, very much enjoyed it. As a civvie I work in H&S and am a trained accident investigator.

Military or civvie kit? I tend to buy what works and is reasonable on price, funnily enough most o my kit is military, we were issued some of the first PLCE bergans for our medical kit and picked them up for the bottoms to fall out, I ended up buying a Karrimor Sabre 55, I still have it!

I help a friend who runs a bushcraft school and we see students with all the expensive gucci kit afraid to build a shelter or kneel down to light fires in case they get the kit dirty, with a £10 pair of dpm trousers it doesn't matter to me. One piece of military kit that I think is 'right' is the Norgee - I've a few and they just work.