Air Force Chaps and Vests, SRU-19/P, SRU-20/P, & SRU-21/P

[RWW]

Let's start a new topic for Air Force Chaps and Vests to keep it separate from the Army vest topic.  While they are closely related, the Army had a fixed list of components and issued their vests as part of a complete survival kit, the Air Force base assembled its Chaps and Vests. The earliest information I have on these is a 22 October 1965 PACAF supplement to AFM 64- 4.  I also have a few pages from the 1968 TO 14S1-3-51 Base Assembly of Survival Kits manual.

 

This supplement lists the same mandatory components for both Chaps and Vests with the exception of the 5" Navy Type Knife (Jet Pilots Survival Knife.) The Chaps call for the 5" knife, the Vests do not. The 1968 Base Assembly of Survival Kits Manual (TO 14S1-3-51) lists the 5" knife as a component for both Chaps and Vests. The Base Assembly manual only lists 1 tourniquet rather than 2 like the supplement does.

1.  Radio

2.  Tropical Personal Aid Kit 2D/1 (This was the 1st name for the TAC kit)

3.  Mirror

4.  Strobe Light with Flash Guard

5.  Pen Flares

6.  Tourniquet - 2 each  

7.  Lensatic Compass

8.  Gill Net

9.  Water Storage Bag

10.  Zippo type lighter with 4 flints or 4 - M-2 Fire Starters (It was recommended that crew members carry a match box in the pencil pocket of the flight suit.)

 

I have only seen SRU-19/P Chaps and SRU-20/P vests made by Irving Air Chute Co. with the contract number of AF33(657)15402.  Irving also made an SRU-21/P vest with this same contract number.

 

I am only going to include one SRU-21/P snap pocket vest made by Irving Air Chute with the same contract number as the SRU-19/P Chaps and SRU-20/P Vest. There are numerous examples of Air Force SRU-21/P vests out there.  Let's see what you have, both nylon and aramid, snap pocket and Velcro closures, radio pocket variations, and holsters with two straps! 

 

Note that the leather holsters originally had a single strap holster.  These were modified by adding a second cross strap.  Later holsters came with two straps.

 

 

The SRU-19/P Chaps came in 2 sizes, Medium & Large.  They were worn suspended from a standard web belt (Pistol Belt) and adjustable for both height and leg size by a series of loops with a cord that could be tightened or loosened.  They had a separate pocket for the radio and TAC kit & mirror. The radio pocket is shown on the right side and the TAC kit pocket on the left. The left chap has a single strap holster attached with Velcro inside it.  The holster has slits in it so it can be removed and placed on a belt.  The radio pocket has channels so it can be worn either horizontally or vertically.  The TAC kit pocket has only a horizontal channel.

 

The PACAF supplement states the Chaps can be converted into a vest on the ground by removing them from the web belt and zipping the back leg portions together and by running one of the tourniquets from the side adjustment lines, through the belt loops of the chaps and then to the other side adjustment lines. Then zip the front leg portions together to form a vest. The Base Assembly manual has similar instructions referring to removing 1 of the tourniquets or using one of the side adjustment lines.

 

The 1968 Base Assembly manual states Chaps could be used by aircrews of A1E, O1E/F, B-52, KC-135, U-10B, T-28, RF/F4C, F-100, F-102, F-105, RB/B-57, RB-66 and RF-101 aircraft.

 

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                                                                                                                             Assembled on Web Belt

                                                                Sizing Adjustment

                                                                                                        Right Chap

                                                                                                      Left Chap

                                                                                                                       Holster

                                                                                  Slits in Holster 

                                                                                                                                         Radio Pocketside 

 

The SRU-20/P were only compatible only for wear over the integrated harness of the F/RF-4C aircraft in lieu of chaps with local commander approval. This vest has a top channel that the chest strap of an underarm life preserver was run through to support it.  It only came in one size and was adjustable by lacing in the center back of the vest. The label is in this back lacing area. The -20/P has a single strap holster sewn into the left side panel. The radio pocket is on the lower right panel and a TAC kit pocket with a pocketknife pocket on the side of it is on the lower left panel.

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                       Vest attached to an LPU-2/P Underarm Life Preserver

                                                                                                                   Adjustment Area and Vest Label

                                                                                                       Right Panel

                                                                                                                             Left Panel

 

 

 

According to the 1968 Base Assembly manual, The SRU-21/P was generally used in all other aircraft in which chaps are not used. They were available in two sizes, Medium and Large. The FSN for the medium vest is 8415-933-6231 and 8415-933-6232 for the large. In the first years of the vest, the pockets were closed with snap fasteners. This was changed to Velcro. The earliest Velcro closed pockets I have seen is 1970.  (I do not own this Irving vest.  I believe I grabbed the pictures off the internet years ago.)  Note the early single snap holster sewn onto the vest.  

 

Until the late 1980's the vest was made of nylon mesh and nylon pockets.  At that time the material was changed to a fire-resistant aramid material. The NSN for the medium aramid vest was 

8415-01-254-7601 and 8415-01-254-7602 for the large.  A few years later the Air Force added a small size vest with an NSN of 8415-01-322-1980

 

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[mohawkALSE]

Excellent pieces there Bob.  I think the 1969 contract 21P vest I have has one of the earlier holsters that had a strap added to it. I need to dig it out and take a look. 

 

I know this is more on the AF side of things here, but I recall a pic I have from a friend who was a Army Mohawk pilot displaying their SV-2 and Mesh Net survival vests in 1968, and the Army had a different set of contents some than what was later standardized in 1970.   Was sorta like a local SEA AO means of packing them, and might have been more USAF based of what they carried at the time in country.  I think I also showed you this pic, but its of a Mohawk crew where 1 guy is wearing the SRU-20 vest with the LPU-2.  Never saw another pic of one being used by the Army.  Back then it was kinda beg borrow and steal for ALSE stuff on the Army side of things. You either got stuff from the Navy or the Air Force.  This pic was Sept 1969,  225th Surveillance Aircraft Company "Phantom Hawks". 

[mohawkALSE]

This is the pic from the 245th Surveillance Aircraft Company in 1968.  Can see the interesting contents in these unofficial Army vests worn at the time.  Note that it has the single strap holster.  The RT-10 radio also appears to have the battery removed and carried separate.

[RWW]

The best way I have heard it said is Vietnam was the wild west for survival gear.  All the services were scrambling to come up with gear that worked and would be carried.  You will see a mixture of everything from "I am not carrying anything more than I absolutely have to!" to the other end of the spectrum, "If a little is good, a lot is even better!" Your picture looks like a mix of Navy and Air Force items, with a few Army ones thrown in.  Snake bite kit in the upper left with the US on it. Air Force TAC kit, the pen flares look like they are in a plastic bandoleer like the Navy used. MC-1 knife. Is that an IR filter for the strobe above it, or am I making an assumption because it is above the strobe and an FG-1B flash guard is below it? As for the battery, I bet that is an extra battery and the radio has one installed.  The MK-13's have plastic end caps. I am not sure the exact year they changed from paper to plastic, but it was around 1968. It is interesting that the mirror doesn't have a lanyard on it.  The spec called for a 4' length of white Type I cord with the ends tied in a square knot.

[RWW]

                                                                            These are the best pictures I have of early gear placement in Chaps and -21/P Vests.

 

Knowing what to look for, the right picture shows the tourniquet, or "TURNQUET" as the sign maker spelled it in the above pictures, being run through the loops of the chaps and tied to the adjusting laces. It looks like the adjusting laces on the right side were looped over buckle of the tourniquet and the other end of the tourniquet was tied to the laces on the left.

[Jpage]

17 hours ago, mohawkALSE said:

This is the pic from the 245th Surveillance Aircraft Company in 1968.  Can see the interesting contents in these unofficial Army vests worn at the time.  Note that it has the single strap holster.  The RT-10 radio also appears to have the battery removed and carried separate.

That appears to be a folding hook-knife without the automatic blade ?

[RWW]

That was my first thought too. Then I looked at an MC-1 and a folding hook blade.  The knife in Mohawk's photo looks like it has two pins through the body like the top MC-1 does rather than one like the folding hook blade.

[mohawkALSE]

I think I recall seeing a 1967 lot MK-13 that had the plastic caps but not 100 percent on that.  The 245th pic was either 68 or 69,  I know that was his tour time with them.  

 

In reference to the knife, I never noticed the look of it to possibly be the hook only type.  I do have a color pic of it showing the whole display with the Mesh Net vest, the PLD and the Army SV-2 vests and it isn't as close up as the black and white, but you can noticed there is a full blade shining in the color one.   Who actually made those single folding hook knives?  Any idea of the years they were made and used? 

[mohawkALSE]

This was a pic of their PE shop at Marble Mountain as well.   Can see the vests used were mainly the 21Ps.  Can see the single strap holsters and also some of the vests having bandoliers sewn on like some AF guys did as well.  Note the mix of helmets as well,  camo painted APH,  APH with reflective tape, older APH with the metal tracks,  total mixed bag of stuff.  1 of those revolvers might even be a Victory model as it looks like it has smooth wood grips like they had.

[Jpage]

My folding hook-blade is unmarked. The orange scales appear to match the Camillus MC-1, Schrade-Walden seemed to use a different texture.

[mohawkALSE]

17 minutes ago, Jpage said:

My folding hook-blade is unmarked. The orange scales appear to match the Camillus MC-1, Schrade-Walden seemed to use a different texture.

Same, mine is sterile as well, and I think every one of the single folding blade knives Ive seen is that same way.  Odd they had no marking at all.  Even the fixed blade hook/cutters have some form of marking on their blades.  The MC-1 does have a marking on the snap blade vs the manual folding hook so maybe thats why the hook only versions have no marking.

[Jpage]

Well, here's my SRU-20. It's mission-ready, would like to get the USAF operator's manual or T.O. For it. Anyone ever seen the small emergency antennae repair wire, shown in the pic ? USGI issue ? It was found in a Vietnam-era survival lot.

[72psb]

Nice S&W M-15 Combat Masterpiece. Surprised to see it with the target hammer and trigger set up. Do not know if they came that way. Might have been changed sometime in its life.

[Jpage]

3 minutes ago, 72psb said:

Nice S&W M-15 Combat Masterpiece. Surprised to see it with the target hammer and trigger set up. Do not know if they came that way. Might have been changed sometime in its life.

Legend has it that Gen. Curtis LeMay specified a TT and TH. Letters that way , iin any event......

[RWW]

Great Vest!  What is the item in the right panel photo with the red warning label?  The clip-on antenna is GI issue.  They were an emergency antenna in the event the antenna on the radio got broken. They are kind of hard to find. 

[Jpage]

That's a small pouch from an ejection seat parachute that I used for first-aid odds n ends. 

[RWW]

The Air Force did not have operator's manuals for their vests.  There is very little info I have seen on the -20/P in AF manuals.  They were a base assembled item and only the mandatory survival items were listed.  They weren't in use for long and by April 1971 they had been taken out of the manuals.

[Jpage]

13 minutes ago, RWW said:

The Air Force did not have operator's manuals for their vests.  There is very little info I have seen on the -20/P in AF manuals.  They were a base assembled item and only the mandatory survival items were listed.  They weren't in use for long and by April 1971 they had been taken out of the manuals.

Easy to understand why. Seems to be a poorly designed vest, not capable of carrying much gear. I fail to see why it was only used with the F-4 (officially) There are numerous pics of F-4 crews wearing 21's.

[mohawkALSE]

You suck!   That is a killer setup, even just the vest alone empty is a great find but having so many contents for it too is outstanding.  Those antennas are pretty cool, Id like to find one.  The only reason I know of them is the Museum of the USAF in Dayton has 1 or 2 in displays in the SEA section.

[Jpage]

1 hour ago, mohawkALSE said:

You suck!   That is a killer setup, even just the vest alone empty is a great find but having so many contents for it too is outstanding.  Those antennas are pretty cool, Id like to find one.  The only reason I know of them is the Museum of the USAF in Dayton has 1 or 2 in displays in the SEA section.

👍

[RWW]

The F-4 was the 1st Aircraft in the Air Force inventory, for all practical purposes, that used an integrated torso harness. I suspect that is why the -20/P was thought to be the answer. It freed up the shoulder area for risers and the chest for the harness chest strap.  It appears to me that the -19/P chaps were originally intended to be the primary survival gear carrier when them, the -20/P and -21/P came out. In the February 1968 TO 14S1-3-51 there is a whole list of aircraft chaps could be used in. (See Post 1) Sometime before April 1971 this was changed with the note: "The chaps will not be used in fighter ejection seat aircraft." Likely because of the G-suit. That didn't leave a lot chaps could be used with other than bombers and transports. The -20/P was also removed from the manuals by this time. I suspect this was because they found the -21/P worked just as well with a torso harness. The -21/P also seems like it would distribute the weight better than the -20/P.  The best way to put it is Vietnam was a trial-and-error period for a lot of survival gear. The -21/P proved to be the best overall answer and stood the test of time for the next 30+ years. 

[RWW]

Below is a photo of the mandatory components for the Chaps and Vests.  All the components are 1966 dated or earlier. Not much, but as the base assembly manual says: "Their purpose is to insure that mandatory minimum essential survival gear and escape and evasion items are carried by aircrews and are available in the event the aircrew is downed." Remember, fighter aircraft also has a seat survival kit that carried more gear. Shown are both M-2 fire starters and a zippo lighter. One or the other would have been carried. Below the mirror is padding this one was wrapped in.

An Air Force compass with have dispose of per T-O-00-110N-2 or AFTO 00-110N-2 on the rear while an Army one will have dispose of per AR 755-380

Strobes were stamped USAF rather than US

[Jpage]

Very informative !