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The Green Machine...do the warts ever come off?

Oh happy day today... a parcel I've been waiting for arrived this morning, my joy was unbounded. Well, it was until I got it unwrapped.

Now, let's start at the beginning...... I have a dear old faithful Pattern 58 sleeping bag but the zip has died in that unpleasant way zips tend to. A visit to the local chain of seamstresses resulted in the information that a yard and a half long zips do not exist in Spain. Oh well, get a new one off the interweb then. Would you believe it, just when I want one it seems someone has cornered the world market on Pattern 58 fartsacks. A compromise was needed and I settled for an MoD Arctic bag. While I was at it, I thought, **** might as well get a Bergen in as well. Basic fecking sack was all I was after, and in advance of the following, yes, I can read, I can see pictures.....



Well, joy of joys, the Artic fartsack indeed appears to be able to withstand Kelvinesque temperatures, but such things indeed come at a price.....it weighs about 200 kilos. If that were not enough, whereas my 58 will roll into a tidy little self-enclosing bundle, this fecking heavyweight rolls into ....a return visit to seamstresses to have velcro straps attached is anticipated.

On now to the Bergen...I was anticipating an approx 120 litre number...rugged bag, quite alot of useful pockets nothing fancy. What I got was a ******* labarynth of pointless straps surrounding something which was clearly designed for a specific bit of kit and is otherwise fecking useless...trying to get the Arctic bag alone into the ******* thing nearly gave me another heart attack. I am a bit of a tight ****, nothing on Kirkz mind, ;), so I'll just grin and bear that one.

The point of the thread? Army kit....does it ever do what it says on the label ?
 
Oh happy day today... a parcel I've been waiting for arrived this morning, my joy was unbounded. Well, it was until I got it unwrapped.

Now, let's start at the beginning...... I have a dear old faithful Pattern 58 sleeping bag but the zip has died in that unpleasant way zips tend to. A visit to the local chain of seamstresses resulted in the information that a yard and a half long zips do not exist in Spain. Oh well, get a new one off the interweb then. Would you believe it, just when I want one it seems someone has cornered the world market on Pattern 58 fartsacks. A compromise was needed and I settled for an MoD Arctic bag. While I was at it, I thought, **** might as well get a Bergen in as well. Basic fecking sack was all I was after, and in advance of the following, yes, I can read, I can see pictures.....



Well, joy of joys, the Artic fartsack indeed appears to be able to withstand Kelvinesque temperatures, but such things indeed come at a price.....it weighs about 200 kilos. If that were not enough, whereas my 58 will roll into a tidy little self-enclosing bundle, this fecking heavyweight rolls into ....a return visit to seamstresses to have velcro straps attached is anticipated.

On now to the Bergen...I was anticipating an approx 120 litre number...rugged bag, quite alot of useful pockets nothing fancy. What I got was a ******* labarynth of pointless straps surrounding something which was clearly designed for a specific bit of kit and is otherwise fecking useless...trying to get the Arctic bag alone into the ******* thing nearly gave me another heart attack. I am a bit of a tight ****, nothing on Kirkz mind, ;), so I'll just grin and bear that one.

The point of the thread? Army kit....does it ever do what it says on the label ?


Do you not remember things marked "man portable"?

One size fits all?
 
The point of the thread? Army kit....does it ever do what it says on the label ?

Ammunition still works well?

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I still have my 58 maggot - an ultra rare 'Long' one. It's OK, but they were always a ball-ache to launder and things have moved on considerably from the day they were introduced. It's now relegated to 'only if I really have to'. What are the new issue GS maggots like? They've surely got to be an improvement?
 
1. They always stank.
2. Those crappy sleeping bag liners were made out of non-breathable nylon, so that you could be sweaty and cold.
3. You were always fully dressed when kipping - maybe take boots and puttees off.
4. Your rifle was in there with you, and your boots if you had taken them off.
5. your body weight compressed the filling underneath, so that there was very little warmth if you were kipping on the ground. Eventually this was solved with closed cell Karrimats.
6. Nothing beat kipping in loose straw.
7. Those camp beds with the four springy push-in W shape legs were crap too. They tipped up when you rolled over. The legs fell out when they were being carried - how many times have you tried kipping on a camp bed with only three legs where there should have been four ?
 
1. They always stank.
2. Those crappy sleeping bag liners were made out of non-breathable nylon, so that you could be sweaty and cold.
3. You were always fully dressed when kipping - maybe take boots and puttees off.
4. Your rifle was in there with you, and your boots if you had taken them off.
5. your body weight compressed the filling underneath, so that there was very little warmth if you were kipping on the ground. Eventually this was solved with closed cell Karrimats.
6. Nothing beat kipping in loose straw.
7. Those camp beds with the four springy push-in W shape legs were crap too. They tipped up when you rolled over. The legs fell out when they were being carried - how many times have you tried kipping on a camp bed with only three legs where there should have been four ?
6. Nothing beat kipping in loose straw.
Correction...
Nothing beat kipping on the warm back decks of a Chieftain or Challenger, gun rear, slightly elevated, tarpaulin over gun.
 
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