Military Connections?

[jonny2mad]

Never been in the military thought about it but listened to the advice of my old dad who cheated his age to get into world war two .

His advice was basically wars a game of big business and when you join the military you can get a idiot for a officer that can get you killed and apart from killing him there isnt much you can do about it .

My first job was in the arms industry where I saw people selling weapons to all sides and that basically war is just big business , I have lots of friends who have been in the military have lots of respect for military people .

I use some ex military kit I have two bergans one green one dpm, their my favourite rucksack as their very big and well made and I think stronger than civilian rucksacks.

I didnt really want to get the camo bergen and I dont have any other camo but I needed to have a big rucksack in a hurry and had lost my other bergen and I went to a car boot and a former soldier was selling their old kit and I asked did they have a bergan for sale and I bought it for £20 .

so now the bergen that saw service in iraq as been spending the summer working fire lookout towers in pop festivals its like a retired on holiday bergen :0)

apart from that I sometimes wear army lightweight trousers as they dry really quick and are hardwearing and are great trousers , their cheap from carboots and make good work trousers .

 

[Nat]

Served here. I think there is a cross over. It made me think about the outdoors more than not and it's helped me in picking my kit since i took up the outdoors again.
When i was in i had more self-bought decent kit than the crap we were issued with so i try to keep away from ex-military kit as much as possible, except for my bergen.

 

[sallyinwales]

I went to a school that was very big on its cadet force and seemed to think sending teenage girls off for three or four weeks every summer with the Navy was a good idea. Still, apart from being a good way to learn bad habits I did get some wonderful opportunities to sail round the western islands in Scotland, get good at knots and do a lot of the elements of basic training, some of which have indeed proved useful over the years.
However, I'm also an archaeologist and one of the things I like doing if I'm out and about is trying things from a histroical perspective, so I will happily mix palaeolithic, medieval and twentieth century technology in my camping gear and feel very happy about it.
Ex military gear can be extremely useful, so can a good thick woolly jumper or a pair of handmade leather shoes you can feel the ground through. It all has a place depending on what the individual wants from their outdoors life.

 

[polecat paul]

I served for 10 years with 7 para RHA and attended numerous survival courses around the globe , i have also just finished the Bushcraft instructors course with John Ryder and Plumpton.......as regards to wearing issued kit i tend nto steer to the civvy market but for anyone who is on a tight budget it's good strong stuff

 

[Boon]

spent 15 yrs in the mob (1986-2001), enjoyed every min of it. i have a mixture of both civvi and military kit. i like my bergan (havnt found a civvi one that is as tough that i can afford), gortex jacket and bivvi bag. also carry black water bottle but compliment it with new crusader mug. civvi boots are in my opinion much better than those issued to the guys/girls but they are getting better. I think that my service experiances helped me to become who i am so it stands to reason that my bushcrafting has benifited from my time with the forces.


Boon

 

[stardust]

I'm from a completely non-military background, am what some might call a hippie, and have no intention of ever being in the military or having anything to do with it.

I do, however, wear alot of army surplus clothing, as I've found it is the only clothing that manages to survive my lifestyle with out falling apart. Most clothes only last me a short while, as I live outdoors for most the year.

I'm outside for alot of the winter aswell, and the army thermals are wikkid!

 

[spamel]

Army thermals are an important part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume, coupled with the issue sleeping bag. They also come in handy at christmas for dressing up as an elf!

 

[h2o]

this thread seems to have been hijacked by politics

 

[Timinwales]

Army thermals are an important part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume, coupled with the issue sleeping bag. They also come in handy at christmas for dressing up as an elf!

Done both of those Spam,...and the dreaded blind slug obstical course,...ooh and yes I spent 22 years in,.. some really good times and some that sucked I try and avoid DPM when ever possible though.
Spent time on mountaineering courses and expeds, jungle and artic courses and fair play alot of the things we were shown were common sense, even more though were hard earned facts from the experience of others.
Granted the military has contributed to bushcraft/suvival training but an awful lot of the infomation passed on to servicemen and women comes from somwhere else first (local population in many instances) nessecity being the mother of invention. Service personnel are though a wider audience and a really good way to make sure good skills/useful tecniques travel, after all how cool is setting up a bivvi for the first time with folk who have never been out in a tent let alone a tarp?.
When alls said and done though I really do'nt belive I would have enjoyed any of it half as much (many folk do'nt) if I had'nt had a love of the outdoors to begin with. Then again I've always suffered from latent hyperhippiness.
Tim

 

[303Brit]

Spent 18 years with the Army.The Army took me to the Artic,Jungle,Mountain regions and Desert,and i got to see some remote areas of this world.
During that time we did a lot of survival training where i learnt most of my basic survival skills.
When i left still wanted to enjoy the outdoors but keeping to the basics,Bushcraft was a good way of using the skills i had learned
I am not a great fan of equipment that is too high tec and like to keep to reliable basics.
I still use some items of my military kit though steer away from DPM,i still use many small items of kit from the military since it tends to be robust.

 

[Deleted dude 7861]

Most, if not all of my kit consists of military stuff. Price is a huge factor, to be able to get a current issue arctic sleeping bag for around £20 it seems to make sense. I do worry sometimes about wearing and having so much DPM Even on day trips I have a viper belt with DPM water bottle carriers and the like, it's just so convenient and works for what I need. Often wonder what people think as I pass them in bright colours up in the mountains haha!

 

[sheepdogbob]

10 years in the Royal Engineers, 1976-86; When I were in Basic Training (Yawn), my Training N.C.O. beasted my section so badly that we had 7 left out 15-16 starters. (Yes, he did get disciplined for that!) I was told by an old sweat that it took 3 years experiance to be a Sapper, (to get the right attitude) and he was right. The problem is that Rommel and Napoleon were right!

 

[william#]

eh ?
so what now ?

 

[irishlostboy]

thankfully i have never served, although most of the people i climb/kayak with are former and current armed forces. both British and Irish. the brit kayakers are usually more proficiant on the water, but the irish ranger lads are just... scary, at times. lol
i use army kit when its suitable for outer wear. its cheap and sturdy and its less in-your-face, colour-wise. i dont like bright colours up the mountains (they are inescapable on the whitewater) except for emergencies. they are an eyesore. all my "comfort" kit is civilian though. my thermals, sleeping bag, thermarest etc. but thats kept well out of site whenever possible.
for me, i have no problem wearing or using army kit. so long as i dont look "army" or even worse, "army-barmy" (a great term. reminds me of my brother) i try and keep the DPM stuff for when i am in the boonys.

 

[big_swede]

Sure, the service time made me more hardy, and I picked up a couple of tricks here and there. But on the whole, I would have learned a whole lot more, if I would have spent my service time just practising outdoor living. Most of the skilled we practiced and honed aren't usable in any kind of wilderness living anyway, setting booby traps and patroling and fighting (simulated combat that is) with a minimi or gpmg is good fun, but seriously, do I have any need for it? No. (might need to say that I was with the green beret boys )

 

[drewdunnrespect]

have neve served so far but am thinking about joining up also the kit is mint

 

[ScarletPimpernel]

I served in the TA, RAF and RAuxAF. I work for an MOD contractor now. I loved it, and would go back in a moment; indeed I've tried, but Swiss Des doesn't want to have to increase my pension. Still, I can deploy with my current job, and get an allowance for kit - I can get what I like, as long as it's tan!

My service taught me a lot; I'm not always sure that I realised (at the time) when it would be useful.

 

[SimonM]

also the kit is mint

It is a lot better than it used to be. Anyone that remembers 58 Patt webbing will vouch for that, but I wouldn't say it was mint!

Simon

 

[spamel]

It is a lot better than it used to be. Anyone that remembers 58 Patt webbing will vouch for that, but I wouldn't say it was mint!

Simon

I dunno, some of the kit is mint like, ie. They're full of holes! I am now glas to be away from it all. I can look back and think about the time i did eenjoy and the last few years that I hated I am trying to forget about. It's a changing world, and the Forces is trying to change with it. IMO, it is turning the British Forces into a mockery as young recruits have rights and can red card instructors, etc. Most folk these days seem to be joining up for one thing only, the money. Unfortunately, money will keep getting thrown at the blokes in an attempt to keep them in. I got a letter from my old CO asking me to join back up and I would get a 6 grand tax free lump sum! And, if I was lucky, I could go back to my old unit that I was in before I left!

[sarcasm]Yeah, I'd have to be really bloody lucky to go back there, wouldn't I![/sarcasm]

 

[Sniper]

Spent 11 years in the army and I find their kit is designed and built for the woods, a lot of the civvy kit is cloned from military design and vice versa. Military training in survival and fieldcraft, shooting, observation are all taken from civilian trades such as camouflage for instance, it was learned from the stalking fraternity indeed the sniper ghillie suite was originally used by red deer stalkers. Marksmanship is a skill learned from the target shooting fraternity and much of the survival techniques came from indiginous peoples around the globe with the best bits compiled together from foresters, game keepers, farmers and the like. Just as many of the old skills are lost, "bushcrafters" if I can use that term, keep many of these skills and knowledge alive. Even now the simple art of fire making is a dying art to many people in this country where only a few years ago everyone and their granny knew how to lay and light one. In a few years time I can see only we bushcrafters having that knowledge and skill.