If you served in the military, did you ever have a piece of gear that just drove you nuts?  Something you would have gladly flung as far away as possible if it hadn't been Uncle Sam's property?

I learned to [b]hate[/b] the gas mask carrier.  That POS was a pain to strap on and it never seemed to stay in place.  It flopped around as you walked and banged you in the knee if you ran.  And, of course, it would come un-snapped and dump the gas mask on the deck for no reason at all, so the only way to avoid losing the gas mask was to tie the carrier shut with something like a piece of parachute cord.  Then, when you wound up downwind of a CS grenade, you couldn't get the darn thing open fast enough to do any good.

Gosh but I hated that thing...

M249 SAW bipod.

MOPP gear, god damn MOPP gear...  most miserable four hours of my life!  I would gladly volunteer to go back through basic and tour the gas house on a monthly basis rather than hump it in that crap again.  I just couldn't stand the constant slimy feeling on my face from sweating with no ventilation.

If it was for the period of 1992-2000, I would have to say that POS called a Commander in Chief...

HELMET!!!!!!!!

My medic bag(not the small one) in the infantry...There was no way to strap it to the rucksack where it would stay in place easily...So, it was just easier to hang it over the shoulder, then switch it to the other shoulder...then switch it to the other shoulder...etc..etc... The RTO's could slip the radio in their pack...but I felt sorry for the M-60 humpers

I guess I'm an old guy now...what's MOPP gear?

Pro-mask, it really bit running with that thing, or carrying a prc-77 radio, damn never worked for squat if there was any terrain, or any part of an M252 I81mm mortar system.

Lightfighter..out.

Theres alot of gear I use that I hate, heres the list
1) PASGT vest, flak jacket.
2) Chem gear- especailly when I have to shoot with that damn mask on.
3) The old web gear
4) the M-60 machine gun
5) anything associated with the M-29A1 81mm mortar. I still grit my teeth when I think of the tube.
6) The Air Force issue eyeglasses I was issued in basic. Ugly brown fuckers.
7) The old MRE's in the brown pouches

 Heres the gear I like,
 My Ranger body armor, my MOLLE ruck, tac vest, M-16A2, M-9, M-249.
 For the most part I like alot of the gearwere issued. Some of its good some of it sucks.

Morter base plate, 81 mm I think.  In force Recon plt. we had to carry one on our runs.  We would pass the damm thing around from man to man.
Simper Fi
Bill

hated the helmet
stationed in the desert...hated the flak jacket
what was a matter with the M-60?  (aside from it weighing 24lbs?)
went through 3 m-16s in basic
Dr. DOOM - (anyone who's ever been to Ft Irwin can vouch fer this one...its a rucksack that shoots out something like 30 canisters of CS...heluva thing to be downwind of...)
ill second that MILES gear...

Mission Oriented Protective Posture

Its actually a description of what level of chemical protection gear you are wearing OVER your uniform, MOPP4 being the highest with pants, jacket, mask, gloves, boots, and all the pieces of detector tape.  Seals you up pretty good and is hot as a son of a bitch!

MOPP STANDS FOR "MISSION ORIENTED PROTECTIVE POSTURE" That's a chemical suit, gas mask, rubber boots ,rubber gloves, and of course they only mak you wear it when it's a 100 degrees.

And I hate the damn helmet along with MILES GEAR.

MOPP gear.

"Gamma Goats"--biggest POS ever, and I mean EVER, fielded by the US Army.

Any second lieutenant.

Kevlar helmet=instant headache

Kevlar Helmet...I felt like I was Darth Vader when I talked because my voice would echo inside the POS...and I second the MOPP Gear....the charcoal crap would get everyplace leaving a nice black film....yuck...not to mention how hot it was...maybe I should not complain about it...it could have saved my life....but I still hated them both,

medcop [heavy]

Oh...I almost forgot my medic bag...yes it was my choice to be a medic...but that extra poundage on road marches sucked!

(edited to add medic bag)

MOPP $heet! But I'm sure it has been greatly improved in recent years!  Nerk, nerk, nerk!

DaMan

I have to agree that the PASGT Helmet is indeed a POS. When I arrived at 1CD, we still had the Steel Pot, and then had to trade 'em for that GD K-pot. It did work well as a hammer for driving in stakes for the camo net, though.

Two things I hated:
1) the head harness for the AN-PVS 7s
and
2) MILES gear.

Both the steel pot and the fritz.
old LBE`s
standard issue boots
female E-4 cooks
prc77 had half the range and 10 times the weight of a decent Motorola.

Boot camp issue boxer shorts.

Wool socks - cushion sole, O.D. green.

Combat boots-The old kind and the Speed lace type are equally pieces of shit.

The tri fold E-tool

The Shelter half.

The original Woodland camouflage utilities(BDU's for you Army types). The kind with the big butterfly 70's looking collar.

The cell foam sleeping pad. A poor substitute for the old rubber bitch.

MRE's, all types period. No comparison to C-rations and they sucked too.

Oh hell, basically everything I was ever issued by the USMC or the National Guard. Oh Christ! Don't even get me started on Army uniforms.

Wish I had a  surplus Gamma Goat to play around in the mountains here...where can u find one? I remember they turned over easy on sharp curves if the driver was going too fast

The only positive experience we ever had with a Gamma Goat was when a Chieftain Mk V t-boned one at Graf. The only good GG is a flat GG.

The three little pieces of TP you got in your MRE that "was supposed to be enough". [:E]

Although I was proud to wear it at the time, I hated the D.I. hat. That round brown bastard is HOT and I never did get one that fit right. But all things considered I think that is pretty minor. If you look at the rest of the worlds armed forces and see what they have, and think about how many body types our stuff has to fit, I think we are pretty well equipped.

What the hay do you guys have against the standard "leg" boot?

DaMan

DRAFT NOTICE

DaMan...the standard boot was (in 1974) cheap and not waterproof.. I never went to Germany..that boot must have been rough there in wet, and cold temps..I heard that the guys can now use Danner types that have Gore-Tex and insulation...

Yes, MILES gear sucked the big one...not that it was heavy, just cumbersome.
As heavy as the M60 mg was, it was worth it!

Now I may be baised, but the Dragon Weapon System was a pain in the @ss, especially if carrying the thermal sight.
I'd like to meet the engineering team that determined it was "man portable".
One round, thermal sight, extra batteries, spare coolant bottles, had to be near 65-70 lbs....in addition to the basic load.

Oh, well, I guess that which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Paul

The way the Army kept changing issue uniform items. When I came in, the fatigue uniform was the old cotton, starch 'em type. Then they went to permant press, then about 18 months before I got out, the BDU. Same with Khaki's, then perm. press, then the green shirt. From winter and light weight Class A greens to one weight. From overcoat and raincoat to black raincoat. Saucer cap to only cunt cap...all on $6.25 a month uniform allowance.
Then you had the field gear. Tanking in fatigues is hell. Then in the 11th ACR we got issued 2 sets each summer and winter mechanics coveralls for field duty. Pretty much useless since you had to wear the damn Brit Nuke suit (Chemical) until the OD American suit came out. Then there is the old OD flak jacket in winter in Germany in a tank over a M51 parka, nuke suit, coveralls, and all the underwear you could find. Kinda hard to move around the TC's cupola of an M60A3 in all that crap. The steel pot, we had the WWII neck strap until about '81 when we got the improved chin strap. The old one was good for bathing is about all. Vietnam type cover, the chin strap buckled in the back so it wouldn't break your neck if a round went off nearby, and they did courtsey of the damn gunbunnys and TACFIRE which was under development. Then you had C rat's. Ham and Motherfuckers..yummmm (ham and lima beans)All those troxine bars you see in surplus ads, well there are so many 'cause I never got to use one in the 7 years I was in, and I averaged over 200 days a year in the field, so I ate a shitpot load of C's. The old cotton H suspenders, always too short for my 6'4". Non RISE M60 tanks, pain in the ass to pull a power pack. We went from active IR sights to passive, to thermal sights. Shooting HEP with a M60A1, a dream with the M60A3. Crapped out sleeping bags with no zipper. Trying to keep a rubber mattress from being shredded on a damn tank. Second lieutenants, trained hundreds of them at the armor school, had to put up with more of them as a platoon sergeant, nothing more deadly on the battle field than one with a compass and a map...Green eggs from a mermite can, Squadron runs, PT in combat boots, thrown track, the list is endless, God, how I miss it all...

Mopp gear
Helmet
M2 .50  that SOB was heavy, and there was no way to carry it that wasen't painful- fun to shoot though

LMAO!

'cruit notebook at Great Lakes. Stupid piece of shit.

Dont forget that it wasy charcoal lined. [:)] the rubber gloves sucked too. felt like i was on a farm dispensing pesticide or somethin'

MOPPed up lib

The pancho smelled like some unearthly skunk-type thing, you'd never forget that stink.

The boots broke in your feet more than vice-versa.  This is circa 1977, I don't know if things have improved since then.

The shelter half was damn near useless.

You know this stuff was made by the lowest bidder.

i did'nt like the old style pistol belts with the metal hooks. when you rolled over from a prone positions, they almost always came undone.

the kevlar helmets were'nt bad if you used a suitable cushion, but the chin straps were a bit chaffy. at least on my chin since its kinda long. i remember running down a field on more than one occasion only to be blinded time and time again by my own helmet bouncing around on my oddly shaped noggin.

the boots issued (Ranger rejects) were quite uncomfortable as well. espicially on those 100 mile road marches. too bad cushioned soles were not standard issue. i remember having a blister so huge and painfull that it was like walking with a small pebble under my right heel. i walked and ran for miles without making contact to the ground with my right heel. my drill sergeants were not pleased with my complaint of severe foot pain. "builds character" [:D] they said. needless to say i ended up in the TMC thanks to it, much to the chagrin of my DS. right after i got "kicked" out of boot camp i had to go to a doctor for an infected foot. could'nt walk right for several weeks. i agree that it is partly my fault for not treating my "wound" with more skill, but it was the first time i had ever encountered such a problem. unfortunately in basic. it is part of the reason i "left" the Army. if you say that i was beeing a sissy i could'nt really disagree with you.

non-7th div. lib (the bayonet division)

...[:\] actually; come to think of it, to do what i did with only half of my right foot is kind of remarkable...

M-60 spare barrel bag. That heavy, awkward POS beat the crap outta me everytime we did IMT drills or assaults. Assistant 60 gunner is the worst squad level job beside RTO IMHO.

The Dragon
The ITV
Chin straps on the k-pot
heck, the K-pot, can't even cook a rabbit in the thing when the dumb ass first shirt can't read a map.
H harnnes web gear
The M249
alarts on Sat. evening ( we had four sober drivers and 13 M113s)
Infantry majors that have no idea that linked 7.62 can be delinked and used in sniper rifles for VIPs to shoot.
VIPs
MILES gear
it can go on, 20 years in the infantry, and a lot of things come up, and ya I miss it all too.
SFC (ret) Rew E. Williams

The WWII era .38 caliber revolver I was issued by the Army. It was listed on the property books as being worth $10 ( and this was only 9 years ago). I made sure I got a rifle every time we went to the field.

Latley, for me, the Australian GP boot. For those of you who know, I am sure you understand. For those of you do don't know, one word. Cripplers! The babyshit brown, frog green, or tan ones, not the new Redbacks (which I do NOT have), I wear the US desert panama sole boots.

On subs, it would have to be the EAB masks.  Emergency air breathing masks.  

These were essentially gas masks with a 8 ft hose that plugged into the ship's low pressure air supply, in manifolds throught the ship.  We had to don them in fire drills, radiological emergency drills, and as I remember through the fog of time, whenever we were not in the shower.    

You had to take note of where these damned red manifolds were located everywhere from stem to stern.  They had no self contained air supply, so you had to take a deep breath and hold it when going up or down ladders.  Try that in a real emergency carrying a buddy or DC equipment without sneaking a breath.

In a drill once, we fastened a guy in a stretcher from neck to foot and placed a mask on him.  The guy on the stretcher team hooked up the victims mask to his own, daisy chain style.  The only problem was that it did not snap in fully and the guy was going into convulsions trying to get air before anyone noticed.  New rule:  during DRILLS, a stretcher case had to have one arm free.

Shadow what recon unit were you in?

1st and 2nd LT's(and junior CAPT's)!! [smoke]

I forgot about the kevlar pot...  That thing made my [b]hair[/b] hurt, which I didn't think was possible!