The Good Kit/Tips Thread

Maoltuile · 11-04-2012 2:41pm

Morphéus wrote: »

ill confirm by email with one of the students now and get back to you, but yes that's what i've been told, here's a handout... Your mission is to pack these 2 square pegs into those 2 round holes. typical muppetry.

As I say, you've been told wrong.

Maoltuile · 11-04-2012 2:44pm

Poccington wrote: »

Did they really do that? That quite literally makes zero sense... "Pack your kit exactly as laid out in this handout, while using completely different kit!"

Those handouts are usually full of a packing list made by some head that hasn't put all that much thought into what actually gets used on the ground.

It's not what the RDFTA have been telling people, though. I got the same handout, and it's the new updated (from the old PLCE one) glossy PDF Standards handout for the IPLCS.

John_D80 · 21-04-2012 10:03am

Poccington wrote: »

For the PDF folk on here who are using the IPLCS, a word of warning.

Having spent much of this year out on the ground on a rather frequent basis, carrying silly amounts of kit.... I've learned one important thing.

GET RID OF THE ISSUED DAYSACK.

It's not fit for the job. It's ****e when worn with CBA. It's too narrow. The radio cradle isn't worth a ****.

Toss it and buy something else along the lines of Karrimor Predator, Camelbak Motherlode etc.

Couldn't disagree more mate, having also spent a silly amount of time on the ground recently. I think the issued daysack is the dogs. Even with CBA and especially when running. I have a camelbak motherlode but i hate wearing it with the Assault vest and CBA. Far too bulky.

Only gripe with the issued daysack is the constant unpacking and repacking when you inevitably need something that's at the bottom.

Murphys Law of Combat in relation to the issued daysack: Pack your wets at the top and it will never ever rain! EVER. Try it!!! :-)

Poccington · 22-04-2012 11:29am

John_D80 wrote: »

Couldn't disagree more mate, having also spent a silly amount of time on the ground recently. I think the issued daysack is the dogs. Even with CBA and especially when running. I have a camelbak motherlode but i hate wearing it with the Assault vest and CBA. Far too bulky.

Only gripe with the issued daysack is the constant unpacking and repacking when you inevitably need something that's at the bottom.

Murphys Law of Combat in relation to the issued daysack: Pack your wets at the top and it will never ever rain! EVER. Try it!!! :-)

Ah I dunno man, myself and pretty much all my platoon hate the bastard thing.

Once you start banging NVE, water, Toughbook, Camera, SINCGAR batteries, warm top, wets etc. the issued daysack just doesn't cut it. It's too narrow so you're constantly packing and unpacking, the radio cradle is crud, it's not built to be worn with CBA or else wasn't built with it in my mind, **** all padding or back support, buckles break far too easily, it can't take rocket pouches properly.... The list is endless for me :pac:

Delighted I bought the Predator pack.

John_D80 · 23-04-2012 9:59am

Poccington wrote: »

Ah I dunno man, myself and pretty much all my platoon hate the bastard thing.

Once you start banging NVE, water, Toughbook, Camera, SINCGAR batteries, warm top, wets etc. the issued daysack just doesn't cut it. It's too narrow so you're constantly packing and unpacking, the radio cradle is crud, it's not built to be worn with CBA or else wasn't built with it in my mind, **** all padding or back support, buckles break far too easily, it can't take rocket pouches properly.... The list is endless for me :pac:

Delighted I bought the Predator pack.

I honestly wouldn't wear anything else with the cba and assault vest. Fair point on the buckles though. They're not worth a ****. Totally agree with you there.

As for the rocket pouches, I agree there also to a point but there is a solution for anyone who doesn't wanna go shelling out the major sheckles for something gucci, I got the zips off an old green set and had them stitched onto the daysack. The business.

Horses for courses I reckon.

Poccington · 23-04-2012 6:01pm

John_D80 wrote: »

I honestly wouldn't wear anything else with the cba and assault vest. Fair point on the buckles though. They're not worth a ****. Totally agree with you there.

As for the rocket pouches, I agree there also to a point but there is a solution for anyone who doesn't wanna go shelling out the major sheckles for something gucci, I got the zips off an old green set and had them stitched onto the daysack. The business.

Horses for courses I reckon.

I've seen the zips thing done myself but alas, we were warned not to go defacing DF property. :pac:

Praetorian Saighdiuir · 23-04-2012 11:20pm

The day sack is seriously shiite! I dont know anyone who likes it.

userfriendly2 · 29-04-2012 3:25pm

benwavner wrote: »

The day sack is seriously shiite! I dont know anyone who likes it.

The daysack isnt the best to say the least but for run of the mill patrolling or a trip to the ranges it does the job, for all its shortfalls though i've always managed to fit everything needed but a few extra pockets would be nice:)

userfriendly2 · 29-04-2012 3:47pm

Just a quick one as I only noticed it myself a few weeks ago;

I went into the outdoor store lookin for a pair of the goretex socks as sum1 acquired mine somewhere along the way anyway as most of you will know the socks are an essential piece of kit especially when ur bogged down, anyway the ones I found were specifically for trekking and hiking, which was great as u dont wanna be going on a route march with the usual ones. I tried them and had no problems with my feet apart from the usual.

Definitely recommend them imo:)

RedWolfCQB · 11-08-2012 10:29pm

This thread is great. I have my medical in two weeks and hopefully will be successful. Anyway!

Just wondering which leatherman would be more appropriate for military life?

http://americanexports.ie/en/product/39/798/Leatherman_MUT_Black.htm# - obviously this is geared towards military and armed forces etc. but are the tools on this actually useful? I believe the styer has all you need in the butt stock for maintenance?

http://americanexports.ie/en/product/39/617/Leatherman_Super_Tool_300.htm - probably not as high quality as the one above but maybe the more tools it has makes it more useful?

but of course I haven't a clue! yet!

goldie fish · 12-08-2012 12:27am

RedWolfCQB wrote: »

This thread is great. I have my medical in two weeks and hopefully will be successful. Anyway!

Just wondering which leatherman would be more appropriate for military life?

http://americanexports.ie/en/product/39/798/Leatherman_MUT_Black.htm# - obviously this is geared towards military and armed forces etc. but are the tools on this actually useful? I believe the styer has all you need in the butt stock for maintenance?

http://americanexports.ie/en/product/39/617/Leatherman_Super_Tool_300.htm - probably not as high quality as the one above but maybe the more tools it has makes it more useful?

but of course I haven't a clue! yet!

You require neither of the above.

RedWolfCQB · 12-08-2012 12:33am

goldie fish wrote: »

You require neither of the above.

at the start of the thread they seem highly recommended?

goldie fish · 12-08-2012 12:37am

RedWolfCQB wrote: »

at the start of the thread they seem highly recommended?

For a trained soldier yes. For a recruit, no.

RedWolfCQB · 12-08-2012 12:41am

goldie fish wrote: »

For a trained soldier yes. For a recruit, no.

oh right thanks I wasn't planning buying one anytime soon, I'm just very curious on which one you would choose or is most commonly used. Would you ever use the bolt override tool?

goldie fish · 12-08-2012 10:09am

RedWolfCQB wrote: »

oh right thanks I wasn't planning buying one anytime soon, I'm just very curious on which one you would choose or is most commonly used. Would you ever use the bolt override tool?

No.

Wave is the most you'll need, it has very good pliers, and a very definite knife lock.

userfriendly2 · 12-08-2012 4:35pm

goldie fish wrote: »

No.

Wave is the most you'll need, it has very good pliers, and a very definite knife lock.

X2
Wave is grand, I've had mine nearly two years now and has NEVER let me down...EVER... the two times I used it haha:D

c-90 · 12-08-2012 5:23pm

styre doesnt have maintinance kit in butt stock, the army took the kits out.

goldie fish · 12-08-2012 9:47pm

userfriendly2 wrote: »

X2
Wave is grand, I've had mine nearly two years now and has NEVER let me down...EVER... the two times I used it haha:D

I have mine since 2001. Its the toolkit for the motorbike.

userfriendly2 · 01-09-2012 9:17pm

Anyone have any experience with garmin fortrex 401?? Now don't just google it and give me a review!!!
Anyone actually use it before either hiking/hillwalking or on the sly on a recce cse;-) haha
If not anyone reccomend anoda gps that does the trick?

concussion · 02-09-2012 1:50pm

It's excellent; very customisable, easy to use and has a huge amount of configurable data fields (speed, distance, elevation, distance to/from, time to/from, etc etc etc). You'll definately get 10 hours non-stop out of it and days of intermittant use. Backlight is orange and it will strap easily onto a Steyr.

Edit - I sent the following as a PM to another member who was thinking of buying one

It's a great bit of kit - small, light and battery friendly. (I reccommend Uniross Hybrio AAA's for it; rechargable batteries which retain their power over extended periods. I think 2500 mA/h are the highest rated). Good water- and dust-proofing as well as micro(mini?)-USB connection to computer for up/downloading data, routes etc. It appears rugged enough for the job and is quite intuitive to use.

The main "Trip Computer" is very user friendly and contains the 7 custom fields, in varying sizes as you scroll through. As an example, for nav I have it set as follows:

Page 1 - 4 x small fields: Stop time, Mov'n time, Tot Ascent, Trip Odometer

Page 2 - 2 x medium fields: Location (Irish Grid), Elevation

Page 3 - 1 x full screen field: Dist to next waypoint. For mil use, Lat/Long would be useful here or Speed for vehicular/mountainbike use

The strap plus extension mean you can have it on your wrist, upper arm, belt, rucksack straps or steering wheel if neccessary. For night use there is an on/off or 30-second-on orange backlight which illuminates the whole screen.

I still haven't figured out the best place to locate it while doing military stuff - it fits well on the bergan straps but you wouldn't want to leave it behind if you bug out. If you keep it on the webbing you end up putting the rucksack over it. Wrist, paracorded to smock pocket or on the rifle seem to be the best options. Storage isn't a problem though as its so damned small - about the size of a cereal bar folded in two so you can stuff it into any space.

It's a great bit of kit, for my hikes I just turn it on and leave it in the lid pocket of my pack. If things go to **** I have 4 spare batteries which should give me an extra 30 hours to figure out where I'm going

f

and

The compass can be set to display mils or degrees and you can choose it to point to True North, Grid North, Magnetic North or User Set so no problems there. I haven't used it for navigating yet as I've wanted to practice my compass as much as possible but I think it would be a pretty good backup. If you are following a preset route it's handy as a guide as it points your required direction at all times, or points to your next navpoint if you are following a series of waypoints. I have 'next distance' and 'bearing' as the preset fields, but others such as 'ETA' or 'final ETE' (time require to reach destination, based on average speed) could be handy as well.

I think it would be perfect for patrols, as long as you're aware of the light emissions. This, like most Garmins have what they call TracBack whereby you reset your track data, (either delete or save and clear) and head off on your patrol. When you get to the furthest point, say the CTR you can save your location as a waypoint and nav back as normal. If this isn't possible, just select TracBack and it will guide you back along the exact route you've taken. You can use either the compass and pointer or the map page to follow your route back to the start. It can get a bit complicated if you realise you're lost halfway back and try to activiated it as the Tracback will guide you to the CTR first - your current position is the endpoint, and it just guides you along your previous route. This can be overcome by going to the map page, finding the 'bread crumb' track you took in and heading straight for it, using a paper map to ensure you aren't going into a river or off a cliff. Once on the proper route, you should be able to tracback to start.

Another neat feature is the wireless comms. You can connect a bike cadence or (and??) a HR monitor for fitness training or you can be really gucchi and send route info to your scouts in the O group if they have the 401 also

swimfast · 03-10-2012 10:07pm

going into navy this month have to buy long sleeve white dri flo tshirts first of all what are these and were can i get them ?
i live in dublin so preferably somewere in town
would something like this do http://www.elverys.ie/Product/Adidas-Response-Long-Sleeve-Mens-Running-TShirt-WhiteBlue/214660/0000000638

amurph0 · 03-10-2012 11:08pm

swimfast wrote: »

going into navy this month have to buy long sleeve white dri flo tshirts first of all what are these and were can i get them ?
i live in dublin so preferably somewere in town
would something like this do http://www.elverys.ie/Product/Adidas-Response-Long-Sleeve-Mens-Running-TShirt-WhiteBlue/214660/0000000638

You can get them in any sports shop. Usually Canterbury or Under Armour brands.

If you're in Cork city you can get them in Maher Sports down by Smyths.

It would be a good idea to get Under Armour/Canterbury sports boxers as well for PT. (Wear them under your regular shorts obviously

)

swimfast · 03-10-2012 11:09pm

amurph0 wrote: »

You can get them in any sports shop. Usually Canterbury or Under Armour brands.

If you're in Cork city you can get them in Maher Sports down by Smyths.

oh so its just underarmor ye ? thought it was something fancy cheers

goldie fish · 04-10-2012 12:09am

It's dri-flo. Driflo is dri flo.

userfriendly2 · 04-10-2012 7:02am

swimfast wrote: »

going into navy this month have to buy long sleeve white dri flo tshirts first of all what are these and were can i get them ?
i live in dublin so preferably somewere in town
would something like this do http://www.elverys.ie/Product/Adidas-Response-Long-Sleeve-Mens-Running-TShirt-WhiteBlue/214660/0000000638

Dry flo is the fabric that wicks sweat away from the body and helps regulate body temperture- making them Ideal for PT's and other sports activities. It seems unfair that the specifically said dry flo as these are expensive - in my recruit training we just needed white t shirts - so i hit up penny's I remember getting them for 3 euro a pop and bought ten:-) I wouldnt say u'd have an issue getting normal t shirts but maybe send an email or call to see i this is ok after all some of the higher end dry flos can easily be 50 quid a pop:-O Congrata on getting the navy btw:-)

swimfast · 04-10-2012 10:16am

userfriendly2 wrote: »

swimfast wrote: »

going into navy this month have to buy long sleeve white dri flo tshirts first of all what are these and were can i get them ?
i live in dublin so preferably somewere in town
would something like this do http://www.elverys.ie/Product/Adidas-Response-Long-Sleeve-Mens-Running-TShirt-WhiteBlue/214660/0000000638

Dry flo is the fabric that wicks sweat away from the body and helps regulate body temperture- making them Ideal for PT's and other sports activities. It seems unfair that the specifically said dry flo as these are expensive - in my recruit training we just needed white t shirts - so i hit up penny's I remember getting them for 3 euro a pop and bought ten:-) I wouldnt say u'd have an issue getting normal t shirts but maybe send an email or call to see i this is ok after all some of the higher end dry flos can easily be 50 quid a pop:-O Congrata on getting the navy btw:-)

They have to be white long sleeve called said coolmax would.be acceptable also said dont get coton tho

amurph0 · 04-10-2012 9:58pm

A white long sleeve Canterbury will be about 20-25euro.

swimfast · 04-10-2012 11:55pm

amurph0 wrote: »

A white long sleeve Canterbury will be about 20-25euro.

Got them today they were 35

swimfast · 04-10-2012 11:55pm

amurph0 wrote: »

A white long sleeve Canterbury will be about 20-25euro.

Got them today they were 35

kowloon · 17-08-2014 9:35pm

I know this is a bit of a zombie thread, but it might be the right place to ask this without creating a new one:

Do any of the crowd in here who used canvas web gear have any tips for washing really dusty, musty kit? I have a bunch of stuff to wash and I don't want to do anything harsh to it that might cause it to shrink or wash off any stampings. What methods did you use to keep everything clean and serviceable?

Frosty McSnowballs · 17-08-2014 9:55pm

Can you pot a pic Kowloon?

Usually a deck scrub or wire brush would do the trick. If you put up a pic we may be able to give a better answer.

kowloon · 18-08-2014 4:16pm

I'll grab some pics, it's some 50's to 70's web gear that was used for filming, it's muddied up and dusty probably on purpose.

kowloon · 21-08-2014 10:58pm

Brush took off most of the heavy stuff, this would be representative of the type of material, some of it has leather tabs or plastic lining. There are oil stains on some bits but none of the photos show it.

mystic · 12-10-2015 12:56pm

A quick question for all experienced Defence Force personnel.........where's the best place to buy waterproof socks?. My son will be going to the Glen soon as part of his recruit training. Is any brand better than another......Sealskinz vs Dekshell, etc. Finally, what about the Army Bargains shop in Dublin? Thanks.

Niall1990 · 13-10-2015 10:56pm

Hello. I'm starting recruit training next week. And I'm wondering wat the story is if you get an injury or something. Does that mean tough ****e your out. Or can you take a day or two to rest and continue training or how does it work.

discus · 14-10-2015 12:15pm

You don't need to worry about it. Just get on with what they tell you. Any information you think that you know beforehand is pretty meaningless because it'll always just be a case by case basis.

Lorddrakul · 26-10-2021 10:36am

Are there any Irish military personnel, current or former who could answer a small question?

You know the 'broad arrow' used by the British military to mark assets, equipment and weaponry as being property of the British Army, is there an Irish equivalent?

Just curious.

Thanks

LD

kowloon · 03-11-2021 4:03pm

The older gear, at least, had the "FF in a circle" stamp, but I don't know if that was as comprehensive as the broad arrow.

The Good Kit/Tips Thread

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