Load Bearing Gear

[kota1342000]

Heres one I keep bumping into. Its a little nit picky but sometimes detail is fun on the roleplaying side.

Anyone have info or good spots to get summaries of Soviet, Chinese, NATO and Warsaw Pact types of web gear? Im thinking time periods for 1990 to 1995 for version 2 and 2.2), and post 2010 (for version 3).

[Top-Break]

Now this is going to be interesting. . .

Soviet web gear is probably the most frustrating subject, in part because they apparently didn't spend too many rubles on the concept.

Most Soviet infantry during the period were issued a belt, a 3 or 4 mag pouch, gas mask bag (with mask), and web braces, if lucky. Everything else was expected to be carried aboard the APC. Chest webbing, either Chicom or Russian copies, were particularly common in Afghanistan. Some troops would make their own out of rifle slings and belt pouches.

http://www.red-alliance.net/forum/index.php

This site has tons of Soviet/Pact information

http://ra.spetsnaz.su/wiki/Main_Page

This is their Wiki page, with even more goodies.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Top-Break

http://ra.spetsnaz.su/wiki/Main_Page

This is their Wiki page, with even more goodies.

Are you sure you spelled the address right? It sounds juicy, but when I click on the link, I get a generic domain for sale page. You tease...

[Top-Break]

http://ra.spetsnaz.su/wiki/Main_Page

Not trying to tease, try it now . . .

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Top-Break

http://ra.spetsnaz.su/wiki/Main_Page

Not trying to tease, try it now . . .

Okey-doke. Damn page took forever to load and I have a 20 Mbps connection, but it looks good...

[B.T.]

The load-out for the normal (West-) German Infantryman in the 80ies was:

Koppel (Belt) with 2 2-cell mag-pouches (made of green plastic) for the G3, a folding E-tool (As far as I can see this is the same item as the US used.).

Maskentasche (= protective mask carrier), that was made from some kind of rubber, with the mask (which was obvious, wasn't it?), a personal decontaminaton kit, and a poncho (intended to be NBC-protective wear)

kleine Kampftasche (about the size of a butt-pack and when worn it was placed at the same location) with messtin set, cleaning kit for small weapons and a small stove for Esbit, to warm your meal. On the outside of the kl. Kampftasche a waterbottle had to be strapped on. It was similar in design to the old US waterbottle, but it was stowed in two metal "cups". Only one of them was actually a cup, the other half was just for transportation.

Belt and beltkit were supposed to be hold by the so called "Koppeltragehilfe" (Belt supporting device. "Hilfe" actually means help. One of those funny military names, that have nothing to do with reality!). This item was sooo ridiculous. It was a y-formed, flimsy peace of crap with to metal "hooks" on the front and one on the back. These "hooks" were so wide, that you really had to keep an eye on them. The belt usually slipped out of them and you could easily loose them.
Before this item had been fielded, the Bundeswehr used a design, that was very similar to the old Wehrmacht belt suspenders (the late war type made from canvas!), these were really good an practical and all our NCOs tried to keep theirs. These were to be fastened with 5 hooks, that had to be slipped over the belt.

Rucksack with shelter-half, shaving kit, parka, toilet things, 1 or 2 towels, a set of underwear. When the kl. Kampftasche was not on the belt, it was usually stowed in the Ruck. Sometimes we had to have a 2nd pair of boots with us, but that was not the norm.
On several occasions, but not normally, a sleeping bag was to be attached to the ruck.

The ruck, properly equipped, had a weight of 7 kg.

All the items were made out of gray-green canvas. The Koppel had a beltbuckle made of brass. These were originally painted olive, but all of the color had been scrapped off (on all beltbuckles I've ever seen). The carrier of the E-tool was a relatively light green plastic carrier.

MGunners were equipped with a small pouch for spares, this was made of black leather. Pistol holsters for the P1 were from black leather, also. Several items as optics for "Snipers", leichte Panzerfaust, the Carl Gustav and similar, were usually made from artificial leather, normally in olive-green. Mag-pouches for the Uzi were of the 3-cell type and were sand-colored (more or less).
Some units were equipped with an older model E-tool. It was a copy from the Wehrmacht-E-tool.

The whole outfit changed, when the new Flecktarn-uniform was fielded, although a lot of the older items were still in use alongside newer items.