View Full Version : How Much Weight Soldiers Carry
This is a great read for civilians that have no clue how much a infantry man carries or what a Paratroop jumps with.
http://www.core77.com/posts/41704/
Throw in a PRC-70, BB-542, DMDG and that fucking hand-cranked generator with the other shit that was mandatory (goddamn MOPP-suit w/mask)...
I would've jumped into "HELL" for some relief!:D
Crazy how much junk you end up having to carry.
I could hump a thousand pounds in my youth!
At least it felt like that.
Another thing...how come team equipment was just divvied out by how many guys were on the team....never a consideration of size/weight? Life just ain't fair :)
I always appreciate hearing people in the elevators at my office in the morning talking about how heavy it is when they have to carry their briefcase AND their laptops all at ONCE...oh the misery.:cool::boohoo
I use to carry more weight than that in my cargo pockets.....
Throw in a PRC-70, BB-542, DMDG and that fucking hand-cranked generator with the other shit that was mandatory (goddamn MOPP-suit w/mask)...
I would've jumped into "HELL" for some relief!:D
Ok old man...now you're really dating yourself with that one...lol
But now they have "more lightweight equip" to carry...same same, never changes... :eek:
ya just run out of room for all the new "lightweight" stuff...lol..which, ends up being very heavy....
100 Lbs of lightweight shit is still 100 lbs of shit.
Marlboro
10-18-2015, 14:48
I love how they use an M4 and not a SAW on the video..
I love how they use an M4 and not a SAW on the video..
Plus they forgot to add all the bullshit you have to put on your M-4 now.
JoeEcho45
10-18-2015, 23:28
During my last three active years with the research support element, an engineer would show us the latest widget and proudly proclaim that it "only" weighed x number of ounces. My response, having humped a commo ruck or two, was "Ounces make pounds and pounds make pain." They almost never took us up on the offer to put all of our stuff on and then add their wonder gizmo.
x SF med
10-19-2015, 06:21
I love how they use an M4 and not a SAW on the video..
The Pig was worse than the SAW, trust me... add in the 60mm mortar, rounds, med bag, C-Rats instead of MREs... We all looked and moved like Yertle the Turtle.
During my last three active years with the research support element, an engineer would show us the latest widget and proudly proclaim that it "only" weighed x number of ounces. My response, having humped a commo ruck or two, was "Ounces make pounds and pounds make pain." They almost never took us up on the offer to put all of our stuff on and then add their wonder gizmo.
Atop of Pikes Peak Mountain, Colorado Springs, Natick Labs had (or Has) a research lab there. Same crap was said to them too.
I brought up I bought my own 3.5, $500 plus sleeping bag that goes down to -35 degrees because your light weight sleeping bag was 10lbs!! It sucks too.
Nothing has changed
Golf1echo
10-21-2015, 10:16
I recall a lesson learned in Design Process, it regarded a problem with a solar panel on a satellite. When the panel deployed in space it would keep going and they needed to slow and restrain that movement so it would not rip off the mounts....they spent millions and could not come up with a solution that met the weight criteria allotted them. Eventually they formed a venture group made up from members from outside the space and design disciplines, not long after the question was asked why a restraint why not make something already there a bumper?
It is difficult when developing something not to continually add to it, the trick sometimes is to work in the void. When end users are involved in the design process they sort out their priorities pretty quickly. To many of you here weight and compress-ability (size) rise to the top in order for a piece to be relevant given that function is at the top of the list.
Ounces really do make pounds so important strategies are how to use the gear you have together in ways they function greater than when used individually, skill sets are an equal component of how your equipment is used and what equipment you do use....and experience tends to drive what is actually employed.
Today many of the senior instructors have a good interest in light weight and ultra-light weight techniques, combined with experience and user developed pieces some weights can be reduced which is good as long as other weight does not replace it.
Just some thoughts...
x SF med
10-22-2015, 10:03
Um, poncho liners inside of sleeping bags... extra insulation, who woulda thunk it actually works? Oh yeah, the guys who figured out a poncho liner was lighter and smaller than an extra sleeping bag:eek::rolleyes:
Not surprised by the article. During a recent operation, the lightest guy was 279. Most averaged 290-300. This was for a couple of hours. No one was carrying a sustainment load.