webkitlover

Sadly they know the price of some things, and how to overprice they were selling used S10 gasmasks with no pouch or extras, at over £60! Here is the pouch I bought. wow laggy, it's taking some time to upload, kids are still at home, I took a load of piccys of my kit today but will have to wait for free wifi to load them up!

Hi I managed to buy a mint condition SMG double magazine pouch, for £7. It is completly unmarked, no wear marks at all, apart from the still visible chalk manufacturing marks, the store refs are clearly visible: "M.W.&S. LTD. 1974 (arrow) CN 8465-99-136-1905". will post a piccy asap. (I bought it from an antiques shop just off the highstreet, in Sheringham, Norfolk. loads of other kit there quite alot from the 1940's period.

I do seem to remember that a utility pouch, I never got issued PLCE but i remember it was talked about, the right "utility ammo pouch" was an option (i think, this is going back some years) it was for CO's or mechanics, basically so they could carry some different issue kit or tools, more suited to their role. it would also allow a different way to carrying of smoke, flares.

i was at the auction last week, sadly nothing but agricultural stuff.

Ok I'm being a bit dim, I zoomed in on the store refs, the manufacture date appears to be 1990? difficult to tell but definately 1990's.

Hi yup, I copied the photos fron the net, not sure where, possibly e-bay or worthpoint? As you can see it's almost identical to the 58" poncho design. (it's missing the studs to fix onto the sleeping bag and the cgromets are not dulled brass. I believe is similar material to the PU coated Royal Marine kit, shame it wasn't a general army issue thing. I assume it's just a simple PU coating, in which case they could have done a sand or urban brick colour too, someone missed a big sales trick there!

I had the fruit pudding in a tin too, I remeber liking it a lot! it sort of looked like pale christmas cake(withour the icing), I don't know what it was called. I also had a tin same size as the normal ration tins which contained "boiled sweets and matches", I opened some time in the 90's just to see what was in it...no big surprise it was a handful of those standard ration sweets and a book of matches....never quite sure where the tin came from, it would seem to be more of a last ditch emergency thing you might find in a liferaft or jet. was "sweets and matches in a tin" a standard issue thing?

somehwere in an old book I have it mentions that the "commando sole" used by Marines with the small crosses of rubber were based on old climbing boots, that had metal crosses and studs, for grip. you could try aproaching a older British shoe/boot company that uses leather, like Clarks, or Brasher, they may be able to shed some light on it?

I might have to get some of those braces, i just looked down the pouch list and I have everything on it! I have my "SAS" pouches set up with a 58Yoke, which stops them slipping around the belt.

Don't forget to add some green string to the tiny metal holes on the inner flaps, to tie them shut. lol, now try to pack a weekends worth of kit in it! For the first few introduction weeks of TA training we were only allowed to used the large pack (no webbing or yoke at all). The techneque was to put the shoulder hooks on to the side spring clips, (literally hook them on) it's not what the bag was designed for and not comfortable but that's what we had. Then get all your spare clothes, waterproofs, 2 mess tins, ration box, Hexi cooker, torch, wash kit, poncho, tent pegs, bungees and water bottle, all in the main pouch, ideally in a bin bag to keep it dry. You can't get anything usefull in the pockets apart from hat and gloves.. Then put the 58" sleeping bag on the top (with the opening downward!), put your roll mat under the cross straps, tie it tight and you have a heavy very badly ballanced bag ready for some sore shoulders! now get your food out and start cooking in less than a minute....nope. lol

In the 1990's TA, I was issued a knife fork and spoon they had the MoD crowsfoot and a date, but they were nothing special, they didn't match, and looked like normal table cutlery. I only used them as a set for inspections at the Recruit Carde weeks, the rest of the time I used 1 desert spoon and kept it in the side pouch of the 58" Right ammo pouch, like everyone else! I was also issued a small green plastic cup and plate, I don't think I ever used them.

possibly off subject but I have come across an RAF (survival) reversible 58" poncho green/white, I wndered if it was from the same period?

oh such a shame, I've been trying to find any info on 72 webbing, I used to own the front pockets and yoke, never owend the rear pouch. Top tip! I've had to replace a few bits here and there, and done a few repos from scratch, my advice is get as many photos as you can then measure against your straps the best you can, it won't be perfect, but I'm sure you could make it convincing. I'd say the hardest part is getting the right colour strap bt GS is probably the best option. good luck.

Decades ago, a friend at scouts showed me his dads squaddie kit, I think he'd done a "Clear-up" tour of the Falklands after the conflict, but the kit was amazing it included several memento "Argee" pouches, which to be honest were all really low quality like a poor mans ALICE webbing. When we were looking through it he showed me a sort of mini coat-hanger shaped piece of wire I guess about 1" by2" (it may have been smaller, this was 25 years ago). He said his dad told him, it was issued in arctic conditions to help do up zips in cold weather, if you're wearing gloves. When I was in the TA I saw a lot of grenade rings, and split key rings on zips or paracord loops which served the same purpose. According to my friend the wire zip do-er-uppers were issued in ration packs, of all places. I've never heard nor seen anything like it since! and I can't find any ex-squaddies that even rememeber such a device. I've always been suspicious about it, as in extreme cold you really don't want to touch metal at all! and surely if such a hook exsisted you'd want it made of something less easily lost, or perhaps people did loose them that's why they were supposedly in rations? so, was there such an army issue zip hook?

I tried the apple and apricot?, flakes in the late 80's, I went camping with a friend and we used his Dads ex Falklands rations, or what was left of them I did however get to try the Tubes of Margerine, condensed milk and steak and kidney pud, i also remember a tiny white and blue pot of salt about 1" tall like half an AA battery, made completely from cardboard, with a plastic lid either end, one end was shaker the other you could refill it! brilliant idea!

Hi Enigma, You can get the old RAF 1950's manuals fairly easily on e-bay around £10, they are quite informative and include drawn pictures of old RAF kit, like "Muklaks" (rubber/canvas boots). as for the kit itself, most of it is totally functional, the silver ration box bottom left is still complete with food, I can't bring myself to open the food! It's quite interesting to see how clothing problems were adapted and some odd additions, for example even up untill recently the kits contained a seperate waterproof hood. The brown bag (top left) is only part of a bag, the top half, I never found the other half but it laces to the base of this one. lots of strange items, i love to play with!

I have also made an (almost complete) fake ration for display purposes, I have since made a packet of nuts&raisins and a packet of those boiled sweets! Yes it really is all fake! the Biscuits Brown were tricky to copy because of the green foil, so I made do with green wrapping paper, which is slightly sparkly! lol

Hi I have collected lots of info on rations including a few menus I'll post the, (they are copied from all over the place on the web): Plus instructions to make your own Oatmeal block! Menu sheet 70s to 80s.odt My GS rations copy of ration sheet.odt 1950's rations very similar to WW2 rations.odt An Arctic issue ration pack as issued in 1952.odt

cheers

Thats the same one I have, but with the different numbers mentioned. your's actually looks more like the 72" Buytl Laminate olive colour, mine is a darker green like the 58" poncho. I assume that's just a difference in available fabrics. cheers for that! Still weird for 72" to have 58 pattern "C" clips though, as 72" had no belt so nowhere to attatch it.

This is what the pouch I bought looks like. I just saw it on a set of "SAS" webbing (everyone was in the SAS ) , on "worthpoint". on there it describes my pouch as: "Small 72' nylon pouch - will hold a small set of folding bino's" 2 points: 1) Well I used to own a set of "72" webbing, and there is no "belt" of any sort that you could to attatch any 58 pattern pouch with C clips. 2) 72 pouches are "buytl laminate", they had a smooth texture like the Para or G.S. Bergen. The pouch I have is more like the old suit sight pouch or a tougher darker version of US ALICE material. I was wondering perhaps because it's nylon, and newer than 58" (designed for post 80's use) it might be a GPS or Altimeter pouch?

Aha! I have a mystery green Nylon pouch (looks like 58" style) the markings are:stamped in black: "C.W. 3 38566" (and a crows foot) so would I be correct in thinking "C.W." is "Clifford Williams & Son Ltd?

Before an eagle eyed collector points it out the helmet is fake, I made it out of a discarded motor-scooter helmet, it was just to complete a display for a public event I did. kids like to try on hats but the real thing is veeery expensive!

Would anyone be interested in the various bits of survival kit, tools, rations, pilots clothing etc? This photo is a couple of years old, I have some more bits now (some "Anit-G" trousers and a pilot life jacket) I have researched loads of things because I teach survival and much of RAF kit is aimed at survival in some way so if anyone wants to know more, I have a lot to share!

I'm soooo annoyed, I bought left, Right pouches and yoke of of 72" set for £15, in the late 80's I liked it because it was unusual. I was always looking for that rear pouch, I had to improvise with a US buttpouch or a single kidney pouch, neither really worked, .I gave the set free to a friend of mine a decade ago!