Soldier's Load Checklist.

Over the past couple of years I have looked at the soldier’s load several times. Today’s blog attempts to bring many of these ideas together as a single checklist.

The list below does not include weapons, armour or other protective clothing. Nor have I included radios or other specialist items. The later may be subject to a future article. In passing, I will note that body armour becomes counter-productive if its weight limits activity to such an extent the soldier becomes more likely to be hit. Similarly there is little point in carrying such a weight of water that your water consumption increases. Munition loads must also not be excessive. In an urban environment shelter can easily be found, so there is little point in carrying a tent. Packs should be cached whenever possible. Ideally the soldier will be able to operate for a day or so with just the “body” items suggested below.

Body.

·       Space blanket, trouser pocket. Can also be used as a waterproof and for signalling.

·       Combat utility knife, worn on weak side pectoral.

·       Swiss Army Knife. Avoid multi-tools that weigh more than a few ounces.

·       First aid kit, trouser pocket. Kit for minor injuries and aliments.  

·       Fire kit, trouser pocket. Pair of lighters and some tinder in a tube or bag.

·       Fishing and snare kit, trouser pocket.

·       Battle trauma kit, belt pouch. For major injuries. Complete kit must fit inside one two-litre pouch.

·       Water bottle(s) or bladder, belt pouch. Two litres of drinking water carried on the person. Either a single bladder or two one-litre bottles.

·       Water purification tablets. A small supply carried in either a pocket or a pouch.

·       Compass. Some personnel will need sighting compasses. The average rifleman will find a wrist compass adequate to most of his needs.

·       Fish line, 30 metres. Numerous uses, this is in addition to any line in the fishing kit.

·       Toggle rope. Exact form to be discussed in this article.

·       Flashlight with filter. This is in addition to weapon-mounted systems. Can be used for signalling. Probably carried in misc. pouch.

·       Pencil and notebook. In waterproof plastic bag.

·       Small mirror. Lightweight and unbreakable. This can be used for signalling. Mounted on a lightweight telescopic handle this may be used to look around obstacles or search under vehicles.

·       Zip ties. Numerous uses, including securing suspects and prisoners. A small number may be attached to a belt with elastic and passed behind a pouch. Additional ties can be carried in a pocket or pouch or in the pack.

·       Camouflage face paint. A small stick or piece of burnt cork to be carried in a pocket or in the misc. pouch.

·       Minimal weapon cleaning kit.

·       Small bottle of insect repellent.

·       Small bottle of sun cream.

·       Plastic whistle (brown or olive) and Photon light on neck chain.

·       Additional field dressings.

Patrol Pack.

·       Groundsheet/ All-Weather blanket or kipmat. One man carries a kipmat, the other a groundsheet.

·       Blanket/ poncho liner and/or lightweight sleeping bag with liner. Either or both may be carried depending on conditions.

·       Pair of sandbags. Used to cover boots if sleeping in boots. Numerous other uses.

·       Pegs (with screwdriver). Pegs of a design suited to the type of terrain anticipated. Screwdriver used to make holes for pegs

·       Pole sections and guy ropes.

·       Spare socks. One pair of spare insoles.

·       Foot powder.

·       Wash Kit. Mesh bag with

o  Half bar of unscented soap or small tube of liquid soap.

o  Child’s toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste.

o  One disposable razor.

o  Deodorant/ antiperspirant stick (unscented).

o  Plastic comb.

·       Bandana, to serve as towel.

·       Metal canteen cup, spork and canteen cup stove.

·       Brew kit.

·       Paracord, about 10 metres.

·       Reserve insect repellent. A larger bottle, to top up that carried on the body.

·       Reserve sun cream. A larger bottle, to top up that carried on the body.

·       Repair kit. Needles, safety pins, whetstone, invisible thread, pack/ pouch buckles, buttons, superglue, electrical tape wrapped around spare pencil.

·       Remainder of weapon cleaning kit.

·       Extra first aid items.

·       Extra water.

·       Extra water purification tablets.

·       Extra fire items.

·       Toilet paper. In waterproof bag.

·       Duct tape.

·       Bivibag (optional). Carried by man with groundsheet.

·       Hammock (optional). Terrain dependent.
 

 ·       Lightweight section of camouflaged net. (optional).
 

Movable items: Some items may be more comfortably carried with the pack but are transferred to the body if the pack is cached. These include:

·       Poncho.

·       Tool. This may be a spade or pick, a crowbar, brick hammer or small axe. A variety of tools would be carried by a unit and the exact load out varied with environment.

·       A few 4"-6" nails. Can be used for shelter construction or as emergency pegs. In an urban environment can be used to secure doors or windows or construct a ladder.
 

Clothing. What additional clothing carried will depend on mission duration and conditions. There is little point carrying clean underwear on a patrol intended to last just a few hours.

·       Accessories such as hats, scarves and gloves.

·       Spare jacket and trousers, depending on mission duration and climate. The soldier changes into his drier, cleaner clothes to sleep.

·       Underwear and socks.

Food. Food is supplied in forms that can be eaten without cooking, and preferably without utensils. A few items are carried on the soldier, the majority in the pack. Food can be heated with Zesto-therms so the canteen cup is the only cooking vessel carried.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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Quickly Polished Off.

Today’s blog is actually a follow up to two previous posts.

In The Great Locker Opening I mentioned that I intended to order another credit card kit and add the tools to the Serenity Plus kit. The new items arrived last night. In my review of the credit card kit I mentioned how nicely finished the items were. The new set was quite different. Not so shiny and with some very distinct burrs on some tools. On the other hand, the five-piece kit actually had six pieces, a duplicate snake being included. My cheap micrometer indicates the cruder picks are 0.2 mm thick while the better finished set are 0.1 mm.

If you read my previous article and the credit card set you received was not a nice as my first set, this is easily and quickly solved.

The burrs were quickly removed with a few swipes of a needle file. 600 grit abrasive paper is usually recommended for polishing picks but I didn’t have any. Given how rough the picks were I used 400 instead and then moved down to 800. This does not require a great deal of effort. About 30 seconds on each side of the pick should be adequate.

Most picks I have do not need polishing. I did recently apply some 800 paper to my Sparrow Worm, Warlock and Octo-rake. I think the two larger picks are designed with American locks in mind so could afford to lose a little bit of thickness. Likewise, the Worm is mainly used in narrow locks. The Worm had also got a bit discoloured so some light polishing cleaned it up.

The Great Locker Opening has an amusing footnote. The other day I noticed one of the lockers I had cleared had a new lock on it. Distinctive, since it was the same model of lock as that I had previously removed. Seems our squatter had got a two for one deal. A quick enquiry revealed the rightful tenant had not started using the locker yet. This may have been one of the quickest picks I have ever done. Not only did I know exactly the right turning tool and pick to use, but I even had the lock’s twin sister to practice on the night before.  

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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The Great Locker Opening!

Version 1.1

As regular readers will know, I have acquired a number of lock picking items over the last few months. What most will not know is this was with a particular goal in mind. 

Where I work people are assigned lockers. This is on the understanding that come September, they empty the lockers and remove any locks. Of course, as is the spirit of the age many of them take the stance that the rules intended for everybody do not apply to them personally. It is quite amazing some of the things people will leave in lockers and often never return for!

Usually we cut the locks off or break them, but this sometimes damages the lockers. Given my newly learned skills this year I intended to pick as many locks as possible. This would also increase my collection of padlocks to practice on.

For the last few months I have acquired lock picks, comb picks, master keys and several other items that might help with “the Great Locker Opening”.

Ironically, for the first time, most of the people have observed the rules and vacated their lockers. Only five remain locked. One has a keypad padlock. Three are very small padlocks and one is rather large.

I will deal with the “failures” first.  There is a technique for opening the keypad padlock. I was not able to get it to work in the limited time that I had so cut this one off. I was unable to open one of the small padlocks. The actual problem was the wide but very small key way. All of my turning tools proved to be too wide or too thing to engage. Those that would left no room to use a pick in. This was a very small padlock that was easily broken. It is a paradox that many of the hardest locks to pick are easiest to brute force.

The first success had an odd key way. Very narrow up at the pins but wide at the plug edge. Firstly I tried my usual “quick” openers. The bogota, the Octo-rake, the Warlock and the Worm. No luck! I tried one of my snakes and she popped open! I had brought my snakes for situations where the bogotas could not be used, so this vindicated that decision.

The second success also had a keyway much wider at the edge than the pins. It also resisted the bogota et al. I had a sudden inspiration that I should use a low jag. I selected the no.10 pick from my “Honest Wave” kit. The lock opened with a few seconds of rocking and jiggling. (Since then I have opened this padlock just by attempting to turn the plug with one of my longer Chinese turning tools. It also opens using my knife pick or by turning with a relatively thick pick such as my single hump bogota.)

This left the largest lock. At least there were no problems getting a turning tool in! I tried a variety of the usual picks but it resisted my seductions. For some reason I decided to try my half-snowman.

Many people dismiss ball picks as a gimmick. They will point out they do not do anything that more conventional picks cannot do. I don’t dispute this. My half-snowman was a novelty purchase, a bit of whimsy if you will. I actually could not find anyone selling a half-snowman so mine is actually a full-snowman with one side ground down.

I employed a technique known as “having a bit of a poke around”. You can imagine my surprise and delight when the lock popped open after a few seconds! (Since then I have opened this lock with other picks such as the Serenity bogota and the Sparrow Worm.)

I am quite happy with three out of four for my first “public” lock picking. The failure was more due to lack of a suitable tool than technique.

Several things were learnt her, some of which I will cover in later posts. The primary one is that I need a turning tool(s) that can deal with wide but small keyways. I have some ideas along these lines and will keep you informed.

Like any tool kit, a collection of lock picks tends to have a small number of tools that gets used for the majority of jobs. Interestingly, all three locks were opened by my “other” lock picks. I did not bring my credit card pick set with me for this, but might have tried the jag and the snake if I had. I have ordered a duplicate set and intend to add the tools to my Serenity Plus kit when they arrive.

It is quite surprising how often you drop turning tools! It can also be difficult to tell one from another when they are mixed together. Distinctively marking turning tools with paint, coloured tape or heat shrink may address both problems.

If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.
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