USMC Vietnam era gear

[Chief]

Greetings,

I am trying to put together a representative set of Vietnam era USMC gear that would have been commonly seen circa 1968. I am mostly concerned with equipment that would have been used with the M16 rifle. Can some of you experts sort this out for me? I know with USMC gear almost anything is possible but I would like to come close to what was usually used/issued. For example, is the gear depicted in the movie "Full Metal Jacket" correct?

regards,

Ralph

[msgt norway]

 

 

 

they also used the m56 gear

 

cheers ken

[Chief]

 

 

 

they also used the m56 gear

 

cheers ken

 

Thanks Ken, photos much appreciated. What is that pouch attached to the bottom of the magazine pouch on your left side?

regards,

Ralph

[doyler]

3 poket grenade pouch but often first aid items were carried in these

 

Ken may also have a set of p41 pattern load bearing suspensers attached to the belt but not see because of the vest.

 

RD

[craig_pickrall]

The pouch on the left side is for the M1950 Compass. Follow this link and look at post #6, 3rd photo down.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...&hl=compass

[Bob Hudson]

Click here to see Vietnam combat photos from our EPHEMERA section: http://tinyurl.com/namcombatphotos

[Justin]

Here's a m61 rig from my collection laid out to give you a better idea of the gear used and how it was commonly setup.

[Chief]

Here's a m61 rig from my collection laid out to give you a better idea of the gear used and how it was commonly setup.

Thanks for the picture link and Justin for the very nice photo of the M61 gear. The canteen covers have the old 1910 wire hangers, and the canteens are of the stainless variety? what i did notice on many of the pictures is that not too many of the men have helmet bands. Does anyone have any photos of Marines in and around Hue City 1968?

regards,

Ralph

[Justin]

Thanks for the picture link and Justin for the very nice photo of the M61 gear. The canteen covers have the old 1910 wire hangers, and the canteens are of the stainless variety? what i did notice on many of the pictures is that not too many of the men have helmet bands. Does anyone have any photos of Marines in and around Hue City 1968?

regards,

Ralph

 

Here's good footage of Hue,

 

Yes mine are the wire hanger type with ww2 canteens, although Hue footage you see a lot of m56 canteen covers and plastic canteens, Hue everyone always wore a m1955 flak from what I've seen, Marines weren't issued helmet bands (although I've seen footage of Army helmet bands on Marine helmets), so a lot of troops used inner tubes, or didn't have anything but a cover on their helmet.

[DiGilio]

Corbis.com has a pretty good archive including a good amount of Hue during Tet 68. Theres other websites like it and theres always books you can buy. Just look at a bunch of photos of marines in 1968 and you will get an idea of what was worn and used. There really isnt any generic setup.