Small Pack Issue

[Craig B]

Gunners take note .

The headlamps that brihard mentioned are the best piece of kit for fuze setting at night . No more trying to hold a projectile with one hand while fumbling with the fuze setter and drooling all over your maglight . I picked up a Ray-O-Vac model at Walmart that has 2 red led's , 1 white led and 1 white normal bulb for about $20 . Uses 3 AAA batts .

Excellent buy .

Craig

 

[kyleg]

and the heating stuff for coffee is my one real allowance for snivvle kit. [...] I don't really carry anything that I don't consider useful. If there's anything you'd like to make a reccomenation on though, I certainly welcome it.

I haven't actually brought it on ex yet but I've got a mini, single-serving espresso machine (http://www.kitchenemporium.com/cgi-bin/kitchen/prod/16zzba270.html) (the smallest one in the pic) that I plan on keeping packed alongside my stove in my patrol pack. I can't wait to see the reaction I get when I brew myself a nice little espresso to mix with hot chocolate 8)

Cheers,
Pinky

 

[MOOO!]

Hey Pinky, make sure when you Go on Ex in Pet that you find my trench and bring me a cup.  Odd thing for the field but if you can get away with it, I say do it.

 

[kyleg]

Haha, sounds good, I'll PM you next time we're heading out there

 

[ROB14]

All I know is 38 Brigade wont get the SPS for a very very long time

 

[brihard]

Gunners take note .

The headlamps that brihard mentioned are the best piece of kit for fuze setting at night . No more trying to hold a projectile with one hand while fumbling with the fuze setter and drooling all over your maglight . I picked up a Ray-O-Vac model at Walmart that has 2 red led's , 1 white led and 1 white normal bulb for about $20 . Uses 3 AAA batts .

Excellent buy .

Craig

Yup, exact same piece of kit I've got. I took the light off the headband and the mount and rigged the headband underneath my helmet scrim, so I've basically got a helmet mounted light that I can screw on or take off with just ten seconds and my gerber. My unit's heavily into OBUA this year, so I expect it will come in handy. That being said, it's a PITA when we're doing force on force trainign with Simunitions, though so far I've only been enemy force for that, so I didn't want to be bringing notice to myself with light anyway.

That espresso machine is one of the more odd pieces of kit I've heard of being brought to the field, but hell, why not? As ong as you can pack it and hump it without sacrificing necessary kit, more power to ya.

 

[kyleg]

The espresso machine is quite small actually, about the same height as my fist and not as big around (and I have small hands ;D ). Once I actually take it out on ex and use it I'll decide whether or not it's worth it. What I DO need to find is a WhisperLite, as my Coleman stove is a little bulky for carrying around.

Cheers,
Pinky

 

[Da_man]

just got it... MUCH lighter than the rucksack when fully loaded.  Im lovin it.

 

[Pikache]

Got it issued. It is huge.

How is one suppose to carry 82 pattern ruck plus the small pack now?
And how rainproof is the small pack?

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I don't think your supposed to.

 

[NL_engineer]

In my tp, the wo wants us to take our ruck's on ex's, but we can also take our small packs.But in the new urban opps mind set, they are good because your ruck is in the 'camp' and your sps with you

Having a coffee maker on an ex is great, but if you have to carry it, it may not be that good. 8)

 

[Redeye]

Got it issued. It is huge.

How is one suppose to carry 82 pattern ruck plus the small pack now?
And how rainproof is the small pack?

To hook it to the ruck, loosen the main pack cover straps on the ruck, then use the compression straps on the side of the small pack to attach it.  Or, just lay it over top of the valise and carry it that way.

The pouches are fairly water-resistant.  I use one of the accessory packs to replace the buttpack and it seems to be pretty useful that way.  It'd be wise to keep everything in plastic still though.

 

[kyleg]

And how rainproof is the small pack?

It ain't. Sure, if you sneeze on it your snot won't drench your kit, but anything else will. For my IBTS it was sprinkling rain all day and all of our small packs got soaked through. They also leave a weird yellow stain when they get wet the first 2-3 times. Waterproof everything inside, just as you would with any other pack.

As for the espresso machine, I have yet to try it on ex. I'm thinking I'll just stick with the ration coffee in my canteen cup.

Cheers,
Pinky

 

[NATO Boy]

Got it issued. It is huge.

How is one suppose to carry 82 pattern ruck plus the small pack now?
And how rainproof is the small pack?

I thought about trying this:

Empty the main bag on the 82; put the Smallpack in there.

Attach the 5L and 7.5L pockets to the outside of the main bag; use your imagination where they can attach.

Use Valise as previously used.

Seems kinda jumbled, but at least you can carry both this way (and it kinda keeps kit separated and readily accessible.)

Probably not gonna do this on the Winter EXes though; the ruck itself is enough as is.

 

[Lerch]

OR you can attach it to the top of the rucksack as mentioned. That, to me, seems the most logical solution (you're not losing any space inside the main bag, and it won't interfere with movement since it's sitting right behind your head (not on the side of the bag where it may snag on something).

 

[Redeye]

hey also leave a weird yellow stain when they get wet the first 2-3 times.

Ah-hah - I was wondering what the hell was all over my stealth jacket, it looked almost like rust stains, I couldn't figure out what the hell it was.

 

[kyleg]

Yeah, I couln't figure out why the floor in the shack was all yellow, along with my combat scarf in the pack. At first I thought that the packet of lemon juice mix I had in there had somehow gotten opened and mixed with the rain water. lol

Last ex (not the range ex) I sandwiched my empty SPS between the valice and main bag on my ruck and it worked pretty well. There's no need to have it loaded before getting to the actual training grounds because it is used to carry kit on a patrol/assault and one (usually) has time to prepare one's kit before said patrol/assault. Carrying a full ruck and full assault pack is both redundant and hard(er) on the back. This is advice I've gotten on several occasions from guys much more experienced than me, and I had no trouble keeping up with those who had their SPS's pre-packed.

Cheers, and happy holidays,
Pinky

 

[armyvern]

OK I'll say it again for all you who are still trying to figure out how to carry both....

They are NOT meant to be used together at the same time.

A quote from the Clothe the Soldier Web-site:

"Concept of Use â “ The Small Pack System will be a basic issue to CF personnel conducting land operations. It will provide load carriage in operations where soldiers are required to wear fragmentation protection and carry combat supplies and sustainment items sufficient for up to 24 hours. In addition to the soldier's own carriage requirement, the Small Pack System will provide a means to carry the soldier's share of section/platoon weapons, amunition and mission-oriented stores."

Now for trips longer than 24hrs....that's what the rucksack is made for.

And when you finally get your new rucksack..here is the concept of Use for that:

"Concept of Use â “ The Rucksack will be a basic issue item to dismounted CF personnel conducting land operations. It will provide the primary load carriage means in operations where soldiers are required to carry combat supplies and sustainment items for greater than 24 hours and sufficient for up to 72 hours. Additionally, the rucksack has been designed to be worn over fragmentation protection if necessary. While it will be used in conjunction with the Small Pack System and either the TV or 82 pattern webbing the Rucksack cannot be worn at the same time as the Small Pack. It will have the capacity to store the items normally carried in the Small Pack system."

So when you deploy etc, you take both..that way when you go out on a patrol or 24 hr mission, you can wear your small pack vice the rucksack.

If you're going to the field for a weekend...your small pack will do just fine.

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/Chief_Land_Staff/Clothe_the_soldier/hab/2/273_e.asp

 

[kyleg]

If you're going to the field for a weekend...your small pack will do just fine.

Unless your CSM forgot to turn off his "Course Mode" switch  :

 

[armyvern]

Unless your CSM forgot to turn off his "Course Mode" switch   :

Perhaps then he should be referred to the project documents for these items by your Supply staff?

Sounds quite like an internal problem to me.