I was packing away some of my sons stuff he left all around his room before he left for Afghanistan and there where several canteen covers and magazine pouches ( single and 3 pack ones ) and I know he had these issued to him brand new before he Left for Fort McCoy Wis. 2 months he left for overseas deployment and they are junk. I mean they are ripped up thread is all lose and coming apart. covered on the bottoms only with some dirt I know will not wash off. His A.C.U. over coat is falling apart and threads coming lose and the digital camo has faded out and looks like plan cloth. I think this new stuff is junk compared to what I had issued to me 25 years ago.

I still have some of my BDU's over 20 years old there a little ripped up but still wearable ( if only they still fit me )
Joe

Your talking about the uniforms I take it, there seems to be alot of issues with them in the durability issues.

The UCP (Universal Camouflage Pattern, ie the pattern on the Uniforms) is well, I'm surprise they didn't go with Multi-Cam instead of ACU.

Dimitri

Like Joe...I have DPCU (Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform) that are years old that are still in pretty good condition.

I think that the Army keeps revisiting the material used for the uniform as well as the different patterns for different environments, as well as playing with different additives for things like IR suppression. Its this that I think causes all the problems with uniforms because they also look at the dollar figure for the replacement and go with the cheapest option for the bean counters rather than the best option for the soldier.

Cheers, Vince

Did someone say milsurp ? I love milsurp . Clothes- I always am wearing milsurp . Its the only place I can get clothes for a 5'9'',125lb. frame like mine.

Military surplus huh? I think I have some of that...

Mike,

Thats a pretty old mil-surplus set up.

What type of rifle is that ??

Dimitri

Hey Pumpkin Man---My Great-Grandpa kicked your Great-Grandpa's butt at Shilo.

Lets see pictures with your hands held high for realism.

It must get old always being on the loosing end of reenactment civil war get togethers.

Just joking Pumpkin Man
Nice threads.

Eric

Dimitri, its a reproduction P1853 Enfield. Enfields were very common on both sides during the US Civil War. .577 caliber, 500 grain Minie' bullet over 60 grains of black powder, muzzle velocity around 950 ft/sec. Pretty accurate too.

Eric, ever read about the 1st Minnesota Volunteers at Gettysburg? "The Last Full Measure" by Richard Moe is a great book on the story. I started reenacting in '81 but haven't been active the last 5 years because of my job. During that time we portrayed the 11th NC, 49th NC, 86th Ill. and 21st Mass.

Quote::

The 82 percent casualty rate stands to this day as the largest loss by any surviving military unit in American history during any single engagement.

Neat Mike, learned something new when I looked that up.

Dimitri

My Granddad served in the Ohio Regiment.
He was at Bull Run also, but I didn't want to mention that, because I think that the Yanks were whipped in that one.

I wish that they had reenacting in Minnesota.
I could really get into that. I'm an American History and Civil War buff.
I'm going to pick up that book at the library next week Mike.
It sounds like a good one.
Thanks

Eric

Dimitri, look up the 26th NC at Gettysburg. 88% casualties during the three day battle.

Eric, reenacting is a lot of fun in addition to being pretty educational. I had ancestors in Co. E, 61st NC as well as the 10th NC Artillery. I think I had ancestors in Northern units too. I've found Mom's maiden name in MI units, where she was born.

Mike,

I think its safe to say that the American Civil War was a bloody war which shouldn't have ever happened.

Dimitri

It was destined to happen Dimitri.

The South had a way of life that the North [Correctly] wanted to take away.

It started in the 1840's, and gradually worked it's way to War.

The South was in a lose, lose, position, and were forced to go to War.

Man for Man, the South were much better fighters, but the North had industry.

It's funny now days, but I see it all of the time.
Southerners cherish our Flag and Principles, and love our Country, and it is the People from the Northeast, who spit on the Flag, and hate our Country, and everything that She stands for.
California doesn't count in my book, because I haven't recognized it as a State, ever since Ronald Reagan ended His Governorship there.

Go figure.

Eric

Well, I've gotten us totally off the subject here with an intended joke but...

One of the histories of the US Civil war that I’ve read was written in 1884 (if I remember right) by an ex-Union officer. He said that the war was fought over secession. Slavery wasn’t mentioned as a primary cause, although it was obviously a hot point.

The war was initially fought over the question of how much control the Federal govt. would be able to exert over the States. Taxes and economics. There is actually a pretty good explanation given in the movie “Gettysburg” by the Pickett character. He uses the analogy of a gentlemen’s club. The states joined the club (Union) voluntarily. After a while certain members of the club started trying to tell the others what to do and how to live. So some states decided to leave the club. I’m certainly not defending slavery but there was a lot more to it than that. Another favorite example of why the war was fought is the incident where a Union officer asked a captured Confederate soldier why they fought so hard. The soldier answered “Because YOU are down HERE!”

When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in Jan 1863 it didn’t free any slaves. It would be the equivalent of the US declaring today that all political prisoners in China “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free”. Slavery was legal in the US until the 13th Amendment passed in Dec. 1865. The proclamation did help prevent England from coming into the war on the Confederate side. Note that Union units threatened mutiny when the proclamation was released. The men had joined to suppress the “rebellion”, not to free slaves.

Sorry for the history lesson. This is something I’ve studied for quite a while and my personal Civil War library contains a couple hundred books. Like most history, I think it tends to be oversimplified as time passes. When that happens we lose the true lessons we could learn from it.