FYI- History of U.S. military mess kits and gear.

[hunter63]

Found this and though I would pass it along.
Finally found the correct use for the Musette bag.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/mus...s/messkit.html

[ElevenBravo]

Thanks, that was cool!

[Rick]

That was a great find. You wonder how many millions of guys used that gear?

[hunter63]

I wonder about that my self.......
When we were kids....the local junk yard had a endless supply of canteens, cups, mess kits, and all sorts of canvas belts, bags and whatnots.

Guy would sell us all that stuff for pennies......or in some cases,.... trade for deposit pop bottles.
Still have some very well used pieces left.

I think it's remarkable that a lot of gear is being manufactured to old specs to keep up with 100 year old designed gear.

[Rick]

Same here. Nearly every father had a trunk full of gear, clothes and assorted items. There were more kids wearing GI green in the late 40's and early 50's than camo today in Walmart. I can remember being about 6 and holding onto a Thompson....with help.

[natertot]

Gee, thanks hunter and rick. keep rubbing in all the cool stuff us young guys (and gals) are deprived of! (Dang it! I'm almost thirty and still haven't held a real Thompson!)

[crashdive123]

Gee, thanks hunter and rick. keep rubbing in all the cool stuff us young guys (and gals) are deprived of! (Dang it! I'm almost thirty and still haven't held a real Thompson!)

Maybe if you ask him nice he'll let you.

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[hunter63]

Well we had a real (?) Thompson (not sure who made it)as a Ducks Unlimited prize one year.....They had a lot of operational problems at the time so DU exchanged them.
Very heavy for what it was......

Anyway like I said still a couple of pieces left...
LOL
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[Rick]

I've posted this before but when they liberated a town the MPs would round up all the weapons and put them in a pile. The GIs could take their pick and send them home. That was everything from ornately decorated SXS to military weapons. Theirs or course not ours.

Hunter - I always wondered if we had to put US on our gear did the enemy have to put THEM on theirs?

[hunter63]

That's a good question....I can see it these days simply because of where things are made (all over the world)..but does seem redundant, back then.

Did notice the manufactures listed for some of the gear....kinda confirms that a factory, is a factory....and can make different things if necessary....Thought that part was cool.

[Winnie]

Not sure about the rest of the world but Great Britain and the Commonwealth use the Broad Arrow mark to denote government property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

[hunter63]

Not sure about the rest of the world but Great Britain and the Commonwealth use the Broad Arrow mark to denote government property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

That's kinda cool.....thanks for that.

[Logarius]

Very cool. I have had various pieces of most of the post ww2 gear through scouts and my ill spent youth. Most of it is in a box at my parents house. It is amazing how basic kit seem to stay the same with all the other changes in tactical gear and weapons. Thanks for posting this one.

[pgvoutdoors]

Good info Hunter! The "Butt Pack" was my favorite piece of gear when I was in the Corps. Because of that I use the MountainSmith "Day" lumbar pack, with the optional shoulder harness, every time I'm out without a backpack. It's Bug Out capable.

MountainSmith.com: http://mountainsmith.com/index.php/day-tls.html

[kyratshooter]

One of the things we always noted when I was in the service was that there was a butt pack, a medium alice and a large alice, but no small alice.

Sometime during the late 1950s they seem to have decided that everyone would always be one meal away from the chow truck and deemed a day pack unnecessary. If they were more than one meal away they must be waaaay out there and need a pack with an 8 pound frame.

There was no means of transport for anything between the butt pack and the medium alice. No two day or three day pack back then.

And TPTB never asked if you had gear to carry three days rats before a mission was assigned. Many units had no alice gear other than the butt pack.

I believe the assault pack from the mollie system is probably the most used piece of gear at this point. At least that is what my boys always shot through airport carry on.

[karatediver]

Thanks for sharing this article. As an army field historian I found it very interesting and shared it with other historians that I know.

[Traditionalist]

I have 2 mess kits, on from Vietnam and a more flat mess kit from ww2. The ww2 one doesn't have a serving tray with 2 sections, it's one big section. Paid $3 for both of em 4 years ago.


Sent from up in an oak tree

[canid]

That was an enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.