Survivalists Combat Issue.

chelloveck, that was really quite well worded.

arliegh, neoprene drysuit.

ax, is there any GI more minimalist?

duane, it is said that time and tide wait for no man. Yet I have a 93 year old relative that swims a mile every day in the nursing home pool, when someone can guide him down to it so that he doesn't forget the way.

The crux of the biscuit, is that mere men outfitted with only such minimal gear survived the hazards of combat in WWII, Korea,Nam, and more. Not everyone is going to be able to replicate the physical prowess of those men, but it should be possible for most to replicate the education/training & therefore ingenuity to survive. (ie) As BTPost stated it would be tough going without foot wear, yet rubber feet are part of even this minimum issue. Either you cut away the excess rubber fin, or use part of the fin to make sandals. Survival starts with the mind. JMO.

So how does your emergency egress kit match-up with the Thru-Hiker"s Handbook?
We are talking minimal gear and maximum ingenuity. Can you trek from coast to coast, or stem to stern, during combat conditions?

 

NOt my minimal gear choices, but there are things you could do with it. Also wasted in AO. Almost nothing long or deep enough to require it, and I ain;t swimming in the rest. Haha.

 

I love to swim and dive ,both snorkel and air assisted (not scuba) .
Most of my swimming was in a lake and at times there was ice on the surface and i wore a double suit for the task .
The deeper you go the colder it gets, and the less you can see. a flashlight is almost useless and work has to be done blind.
I can't even imagine swimming in freezing salt water, even colder .
Conditions change constantly under water cloudy and dark to filled with weeds and stuff that gets tangled in every thing, fishing line is the worst. I never enter water with out a knife .
The idea of combat survivlism and dealing with crossing water , i would be more inclined toward escape, not attack .
And at that, you'd want your gear to be bobbing just below the surface, and using a snorkel, and compass so you can keep your head down.
That and you'd need water proof binoculars, or infrared to scan area your headed toward. What you see at one point, can change while in the water making your way ,and you could be in the water longer than expected, due to those changes. .

 

I've been considering one of those PVC or Aluminum bows for use when doing stuff in this vain, reduce the maintenance and care as it were. Any thoughts?

 

I believe the Buff Boy's have, still use a compass:

 

Analogue no less.

 

Keep It Simple Stupid, KISS principal. Old Government acronym.

 

Brokor, you bring up the dark side. That thriving & surviving in perpetuity. It's politely called foraging, or to the Victor goes the spoils, but a well trained combatant is taught to resupply outside the normal logistic line. The longer the time frame the harder the targets will become, eventually the only prey left for the wolves shall be other wolves.

 

Out here in the woods? there be monsters. And they are mine.

 

Totally untrue. I had two tours and never saw those items issued. I did borrow those items to dive in the South China sea.

 

That's strange, those were the only items I was issued when inserted into the South China Sea. Isn't it strange how tours to the same location can be so different.

 

Well I was in the military, not the Navy. We wore combat boots and had guns.

 

Making footwear from stuff is not that easy. I bought a couple of old purses at the thrift and tried to make sandals. Really easy in ones head but not so easy in reality. No problem making the soles but the issue was getting something to hold them to my feet. The flippers you posted one would think would be easy to make footwear out of but the insert part of the flipper only covers the front half of your foot. Somehow one needs to figure out how to protect their heels.

 

There is allot of extra material.

 

Yeah there is but how would one attach it to the existing in order to protect your feet. The items you showed in post one, do not leave much help. So looking at those flippers, I would think the flapper part would be the sole and the insert part will have to be rigged to hold it to your foot. @M118LR have you tried to make footwear out of these?

 

This was my Combat Footwear Motomom34. Once the Hostilities had ended, I was selected to take photographs based upon my experience and my small yet wide foot size. (Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but size 6 EEEE footprints with your Ho Chi Mann Sandals) Tailor a couple of Dunlap Tires into footwear to blend in with the indigenous population! There is another level of creativeness when your life depends upon it? Back then it wasn't a training exercise, you either did or didn't survive based upon how you rigged the materials at hand. Get Creative!!!!!!!