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Modern Arctic gear and uniforms


msgt norway
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msgt norway

hello again BEAR !!

the trousers you are wearing on the pictures with the beaver tail

parka what type are they?

and i realy like the pictures you post,you can see details and how

the gear was used in field thumbsup.gif

the snow shoes are they the magnesium one?

cheers from ken

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Ken,

M65 field trousers were issued to all infantry soldier around the world not just in Alaska. They were worn in field and training environments so the soldier did not destroy his fatigue trousers in training. They are almost identical in construction pattern as the green jungle trousers used in Vietnam. I'll dig out some photos and more info later.

Yes, the snowshoes are magnesium. At that particular time only the Airborne units had the magnesium snowshoes. The Regular infantry and artillery used different snowshoes as shown in the pictures.

When I returned to Alaska in 1985 all the units were issued magnesium snowshoes.

More later.

BEAR

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I see those M65 field trousers and the wool field shirts on a fairly regular basis but seldom pick them up because there is no call for them. However I may have some of the trousers laying around so if someone needs a pair for their Artic kit, let me know and I'll look for them.

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I have changed the title of this thread and moved it to another section so that more folks will be aware of it interesting info on Arctic gear.

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Guest danneskjold

There are "arctic white" MOLLE pouches in the NSN database...anyone know anything about this?

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Bear-

 

Thanks for the great pics! You've brought back some memories!

 

I participated in Jack Frost 1979 when I was with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division from Ft Lewis. I'll try to dig out some of my photos and post them.

 

I remember the ahkio harness as basically a loop of webbing attached to a rope. Us lower-48 types weren't proficient enough on the skis to even bother bringing them -except for the few skiers in the platoon that we used as scouts/point-men.

 

I remember the arctic canteen as being great at keeping the water from freezing - except the neck which was not insulated. That created a nice ice plug from the water sloshing up into the neck.

 

I gotta go try to find those photos.....

 

Steve

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craig_pickrall
Arctic canteen hmm, is that what this is?

 

thanks

 

Yes this is the Artic Canteen. You are missing the cup that goes with it.

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Yes this is the Artic Canteen. You are missing the cup that goes with it.

I have the cup, its really short right? I have 2 of them and a 2ed canteen, what are they worth?

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Are those white painted m1c helmet liners??? ermm.gif

 

Those are white painted swivel bail M1s with Airborne chinstraps and Airborne liners. After World War II the Army used 1 standard helmet and 2 liners(ground troop and Airborne). Any M1 could be converted to an Airborne configuation by attatching an Airborne chinstrap. Of course after the late 60s you also had to attach the the parachutist cushion pad ("brain blotter") to the liner.

BEAR

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msgt norway
I see those M65 field trousers and the wool field shirts on a fairly regular basis but seldom pick them up because there is no call for them. However I may have some of the trousers laying around so if someone needs a pair for their Artic kit, let me know and I'll look for them.

what size are the trousers?

if they are large regular or shortim interrested thumbsup.gif

still looking for the wool shirt,army or marine.

cheers ken.

 

btw cool link about arctic gear!!

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Greg Robinson
I see those M65 field trousers and the wool field shirts on a fairly regular basis but seldom pick them up because there is no call for them. However I may have some of the trousers laying around so if someone needs a pair for their Artic kit, let me know and I'll look for them.

 

Same here. A local Army store used to have stacks of the trousers and sometimes the M65 liners. PLus last time I looked they had some M65 parkas. And they've been known to have the M1951 field trousers and liners.

 

Greg

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Amazing!! I still have some of my issue gear from Alaska.

Here's a pair of my M65 field trousers and suspenders. The tie downs were stored inside the side pockets. They were used to tie down the floppy pant leg when you have stuff in your pockets to stop it from slapping the brush and making noise. In the other picture you'll see that the fatigue shirt is worn tucked in with the suspenders on the outside. If he was wearing a wool OG shirt then it would be worn over top of the suspenders and untucked.

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The other picture

This is "Doc" Hill. He spent two tours in Vietnam as a recon scout in the 101st Abn. Div. Long Range Reconnaisance Patrol (LRRP) detatchment. Got out of the Army for a few years then came back in as an Airborne medic. When we went to field he always carried two big bottles of rubbing alcohol. One filled with gin and the other vodka. He was kinda like our human St. Bernard dog with a container of spirits for lost travellers. Gotta cough...go see "Doc"!

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msgt norway

here are a few pictures of me in us woodland goretex.

mat14.jpg

 

mat3.jpg

 

mat5.jpg

 

mat13.jpg

 

enjoying a old stock mre in arctic sun,i didnt wear the white vapor barrier boots

since it was warm that day.

cheers from ken in norway

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Neat stuff Ken. The ECWCS gear didn't start being issued in Alaska until the late 80s so I never used it although I did have a Gortex parka my last two years there. The M65 field trouser changed in the mid 80s from the 50% Cotton/ 50% Nylon, Wind Resistant Sateen , Olive Green to a 50% Nylon/ 50%Cotton, Class 2, Woodland Camouflage. Still had the tie down straps I just didn't pull them out.

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Just in case you think the Army updates their gear all the time check out the date on these suspenders I was issued in 1985. They were made before I was born!

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Greg Robinson
Just in case you think the Army updates their gear all the time check out the date on these suspenders I was issued in 1985. They were made before I was born!

 

yeah...they must have made a zillion of them during the Korean War. All army surplus stores seem to always have at least one of those laying around. And I found a guy in north Georgia who had a case full of mint trouser suspenders for sale with Marine Corps contract numbers still tied up with string...never used and they also had 1952 dates.

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In the 70s we wore cold weather caps in garrison during the winter instead of the green fatigue cap. We were still allowed to wear the older cold weather caps from the 50s. Good thing too, the new cold weather cap totally sucked. I used an older cap as shown.

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The newer cap is shown below. It was a pain to roll correctly and was refferred to as the "buffalo chip".

The dark blue balaclava (later black) was almost universally used in the field.

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Good thing about Alaska in the early 70s was that they didn't really kick too much about our field caps as long as they were black, OD, dark green and looked somewhat military.

Here's a picture of my buddy Jim wearing his WWII "jeep" cap.

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When the 80s rolled around the winter garrison caps were just BDU caps. The first BDU caps were manufactured indentical to the old green "patrol" cap with earflaps. My nomenclature for most of these clothing items is usually soldier talk so I wouldn't know that the proper nomenclature for the "patrol" cap is the Cap, Field, Cotton, Wind Resistant Poplin, M-1951.

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