i may be out of touch, but do troops really have to buy their own gear? it seems like a lot of this is common sense and should be provided. what's the deal?

Nope. All essential gear is provided and then some. I'm just gathering a list of additional things that would really come in handy for the situation.

Pork products.  Pork Rinds, ect. and offer them up to any Iraqi prisoners you see.

Seriously though.  Did you have a small Bible on your list?

Yup.

[b]NON-Lubricated[/b] rubbers work great for a whole bunch of things. They tear easy and are hard to keep on though.

Tabasco and powdered drink mix (not koolaid needs to be sweetened - tastes like crap w/o a lb of sugar) esp if you think you're going to be using water tabs. Saw an awful lot of 1 ltr Evian last time. Maybe you'll luck out.

Ziploc bags. Keeps what ya want in - in, what ya want out (sand)- out. Whatever you bust wont be all over your kit either.[Edit - I missed it originally]

Makes your flashlight a LED or get a krill-light- 50 hours on 1 or 2 AA's and no bulbs to worry. Make sure everything runs on the same batteries (AA) if at all possible - extra batteries

I'll second these: Desitin, Imodium, Second Skin. Add Benadryl, more for sleep than antihistimine.

Imagine your not going to know what you're short of until you get situated. Line up some reliable shipping buddies who wont mind fronting you until you get home. Take more than you think you'll need, you'll need it or you can swap it for the things you'll invariably forget.

Bulldog - Atropine - knock that shit off

Luck
Alac

This is not warm and sunny!

[img]http://www.msnusers.com/_Secure/0QwAAALcSb2ao*Q5ALVOQJ!lG0IOs42QkZR1n7LdW9sYFoh5e9rtT95Oz*VokLA!u!kmXRpECIanLRyWtBYZvqAO!NZkzdIBwSDEQ5pNT82M/Picture-001.jpg?dc=4675396739780172234[/img]

Hmmm...  must make picture larger...  I'll work on it.


fixed it...    yay,  my first picture.

Lots of reading material.  Probably won't be able to get cable.

Shamefull  BTT!!

Tylenol Cold tablets, Impossible to get ordinary cold medicine...you dont want that crappy psuedo-ephedrine red pill crap.

A lighter pack is always better so dont take too much but lots of Clean socks and skivvies are good tho.