Recently I posted a blog on lightweight shelter from the perspective of the soldier. This weekend I was reading some suggestions about covert/ tactical bivouacking. Of interest was a passage that said something along the lines of
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“The pegs are not to be hammered in. A hole is made with a bayonet and the pegs driven in with the head” (The head of the peg, presumably, not that of the soldier!)
An interesting idea, but some readers will now be recalling that recently I posted on how the bayonet should be one of the first things a soldier should get rid of.
Last night I put my SA-80 bayonet on the scales. The bayonet alone was 15 oz, about the same as my favourite 10” bladed kukri. The bayonet with scabbard was just over 1 lb 7 oz. This is the later pattern of scabbard without the useful wire cutter and woodsaw fittings. The blade is a sort of bowie-like shape so not sure how well it will poke peg holes in hard ground. The author of the about passage was probably talking about sword bayonets. The latter spike bayonet might be even more useful.
Obviously there is little point carrying a heavy bayonet just to make holes for pegs. The solution is to find yourself a suitably sized screwdriver. Sharpen the end if necessary and pack it with your pegs. The screwdriver can be used to make peg holes. The shank can be placed under the hook of some peg designs and the screwdriver used to pull up these pegs. The screwdriver can also be used as a peg, so you are able to carry one peg less.
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