I tried camping with Prepared Pathfinder’s load-out
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2024
- An American Soldier tries camping using British Army equipment.
Thanks for watching. Here are some links to Prepared Pathfinder’s channel, whose video series inspired this video:
youtube.com/@PreparedPathfind...
Part 1: • British Army Personal ...
Part 2 • British Army Personal ...
Part 3 • British Army Personal ...
Wow what a small world.
I was a Royal Welch Fusilier through the 90s.
And I remember the exchange you mentioned. I played the enemy and we really put your guys through their paces with our hit n run gorilla tactics.
We wore no insignia, had our own vehicles and supplies and simple orders. Harass them by any means we deemed necessary.
I have fond memories of one particular action.
It had been a very long hot day (yes we have hot weather in the UK) so we decided to hit them early evening when tiredness and complacency has started to set in.
Your guys had set themselves up for the evening in a large house on the edge of the training village.
So we sat in the hedgerow observing and planning for some time.
We decided on a top down assault, using ladders and going in through the upstairs windows.
Observing a distinct lack of guards, even in the guard towers, we decided to go for it.
Breaking into 2 teams carrying ladders we made a break for it across the open ground, making it to the edge of the building with no resistance.
I was the top man going in first so I held the top ladder rung whilst the guys hoisted the ladder up against the building just below the window sill I come face to face with the window almost perfectly.
Now these windows, for safety are just square openings with no frame or glass.
But I guess to keep out the elements and bugs, my particular window had been blocked up with empty 5.56 ammo cans. They fitted perfectly, maybe 3 or 4 cans wide and 6 to 8 cans high.
So there I am on this ladder, I pushed in 1 can on the top row, tossed in a Flashbang and quick as I can I started to rifle butt and kick the remaining cans into the room, jumped in and began firing my weapon whilst screaming all manner of vile obscenities. A moment later myself and the team hitting the adjacent rooms all let out a resounding CLEAR...
As you can imagine this is all happening in mere seconds.
But I remember pausing for a second when I realised I'd kicked all the metal ammo cans upon the poor lad fast asleep in his sleeping bag directly under the window. I also unknowingly stomped on his chest when I jumped in.
I still feel a twinge of guilt from time to time when I recall the look of shear terror on his face and the bleeding profusely head wound.
But we needed to clear the building so kept moving. Next room, Flashbang, neutralise occupatant room CLEAR etc...
Eventually we made it out into the village Square out front and called an end to our operation.
Whilst out front having a drink, a smoke and a bit of a debrief, discussing tactics. I notice the guy I'd rudely awakened now sporting a nice field dressing on his head.
So I went over to shake his hand and apologized. I asked what the hell were you thinking sleeping directly under the window.
By now most of your guys are convinced we are Special Forces as they'd never seen anything like what we pulled off. The guy I'd injured comes over and says "are you guys Special Forces or something?
With that I reached into an ammo pouch, pulled out a Snickers bar and placed it in his hand. With a tap on his shoulder and a wink I said "no mate, we're all the cooks" and I left it at that.
What a great time 😂
Excuse the wall of text.
@garth8979 It is a small world! I remember the 3RWF Fusiliers were very good at MOUT/FIBUA. I also remember that they would use Welsh-speaking radio operators to “encrypt” their communications by speaking Welsh in the clear, just like the Navajo code talkers in World War II.
@@countryshootin5361 Your right we did use Welsh speakers, battalion Comms was a nightmare haha.
As a Welshman I'm ashamed to admit I don't speak any Welsh. Even though my father and 2 siblings are all fluent bilingual, it just never clicked with me for some reason.
We trained hard in the FIBUA village, and in the extreme conditions on the mountain ranges, the Brecon Beacons can be brutal and there's a good reason why the SAS train there as well.
We were very well trained, motivated and professional.
So still to this day 20+ years after the unit was disbanded I can't fathom why they came to that decision. We were an extremely effective fighting force with over 400 years of history and many proud battle honours.
They were some of the best years of my life.
I volunteered to play enemy 3 years on the run, it was a good crack as we say 🤣.
We were always training together. It could be grueling at times, but afterwards we would always provide a truck full of beer and throw a good BBQ for everyone.
By the late 90s I'd trained everywhere from Kenya to the Artic Circle so was very surprised within 5 days of arriving to suffer a heat stroke during a blistering August in Virginia.
The care I received in the MASH was amazing.
Thanks for reminding me of some great times 👍
ACC, deadliest Regiment in the Army, no fecker has passes so far. Slop jocks!
I think you're talking out you arse mate. You have no idea or compatibility with British forces, either basic or special forces.
I'm calling you out on stolen valour, or Walting as we Brits call it. You're FOS!!! 😂
Nice little adventure. You can create a little extra room in the plow point shelter if you prop a stick up in the middle. I put my cup over the end of the stick to keep it from poking through. It will allow you to sit cross legged under cover and cook without the wind bugging you.
Being a West Virginia native I can second the beauty of our state. Great video.
A bit heavy but I use those nails as tent stakes. They will go into any surface except rock w/o bending. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the comments and recommendation mate, appreciate it! 🇺🇸🇬🇧👍
Thank you! It’s an honor to hear from you. Your channel has been an inspiration to me and has taught me a lot. My gear for this video might be a little dated compared to yours, but I tried to come close.
@@countryshootin5361 cheers mate, looks like you did a good job! I use one of those MOD knives too, great, solid bit of kit. 👍
Subscribed a few days ago, came across your various kit loadouts looking up some historical youtube vids. I dig the content and you sharing your experiences. With the British canteen there might be the metal cup to complete the canteen kit on Ebay available stateside. Current priorities prevent me from getting a complete one myself but they are cool. A tad pricey compared to good old fashioned G.I. style ones but good kit. Greeting from Idaho👍 🇺🇲
I have a stainless Crusader cup from BCB and love it, they're a bit bigger than USGI canteen cups but also work with GI pouches and canteens. They also have a version that has been defiled with a toxic, easily scratched Teflon coating that can't be placed directly in fire. I'd advise any prospective purchaser to go with stainless.
Look at Jay Jay's battle belt for the modern take on British battle belt.
We all bought a metal mug for our bottles. Snugpack Softie or Buffalo Pile was our mid-layer.
Petrol bombs was a problem in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, so cotton was best. First Norggie shirts were made of cotton. Marino wool are a better choice today.
Lastly, a DPM Windproof, be it the Arctic or SAS issue, was "ally" in the field. The gaberdine just dried faster. And Goretex was the biz, as were Danner boots.
Been a lot of changes since the 1980s..
Thanks for this information. I just found the BCB cooking set with Pattern 58 water bottle on Amazon. It comes with a metal cup and multi- fuel stove.
We all replaced the Multi-fuel stove with a gas canister stove once out of training. Now its as often as not a Jetboil type system. So long as it all fits into a water bottle pouch.
Biggest issue with metal mugs is burning your lips, let alone their hot bottoms. Take care.
British/Dutch/Australian mess tins are big enough to cook a full 24 hour calorie meal in. Though many have moved onto Jetboil or Titanium pot/cup. A cup alone isn't enough for a full meal.
Battle Belt should have at least enough to weather 24 hours, even if you have no ricksack.
All good fun, ATB@@Maryland_Kulak
had a mate who brought danners and went down with trench foot. Water got in when he went knee deep in a river and flooded them, he didnt realise you had to empty them and just thought they would just release the water through the goretex lining like it was sweat. We did laugh.... but to be fair, goretex was quite a new entity back then and people thought it was the saviour for wet feet, but we did laugh.😂
A bit like Sealskin socks then?
All boots have hole in them; its where you put your foot in.
Danner type, Goretex lined, are too hot in summer (only time I nearly came down with heat stroke was when wearing a pair on a 10 miler). They take three pairs of socks to dry out enough once immerced; but then again many boots just stay wet always. Really depended on your base camp rotation. For a winter boot I was a fan.
Again, how things have moved on. I still think too much kit is being taken, and everything is too reliant on vehicles. Note worthy is the battle field has got increasingly dangerous, and the EEF further and further. I have every confidence the next generation is more than up to the task; they will do it their way.@@joncawte6150
Great video, concerning your British army canteen the plastic cup goes on the top and a stainless steel or now aluminium BCB crusader cup slots on the bottom of the canteen both together covering the canteen.
Great video brother
Just a quick tip with regards the cut branches and worried about leaving sign for the enemy. If you rub some mud into the fresh cuts it'll take that " look at me " tell tell sign and make it look like it's been there a lot longer then it has. Might not fool a top class experienced tracker but will definitely fool an untrained eye.
Great video BTW
Atb Rob
Mac tightwad does the best video on the MOD survival knife, he was in the army for 20+ years I believe.
I was surprised that so much of his gear got snow on it. I have on numerous occassions set up a diamond shelter using my walking stick and my issue poncho to shelter under during snow storms. I’ve never had a problem getting my pack, armor, weapon and war belt under the poncho as well as having my sleeping bag completely protected. I confess that I'm average 5’8” tall so that may pay a part…
Next, given the environment in which you set up your Basha, I’m suprised that you didna pitch your Basha so that you could have used the sewn on webbing on the Basha and your swiss seat webbing [or the 550 cord stuffed in your Bergan somewhere] to raise the center of the Basha so it wasna directly down on your sleeping bag. I confess that in my day in the Corps we weren’t issued bivouac sacks so keeping my poncho off my sleeping bag was more important.
Next and interestingly as far as timing goes, I tried the Fire Dragon fuel yesterday to prepare half a package of Top Ramen soup along with some diced ham I had cut up ahead of time. Using the metal stove that comes with the British Army water bottle, plastic cup and metal pot kit, it took 2 Fire Dragon tabs to get the water hot enough to make the noodles edible. For tea or cocoa it would have been okay but for boiling water I can understand why the Brits like the jet boil aka Fastboil stove.
Nice Video!
I’ve got a ruck similar to yours, except mine is Dutch DPM. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for Sharing
USA love the plough point 😂
Plow point. Y’all must go through a lot of printer cartridges with those superfluous letters! Just kidding, cousin.
@chefinwood706 Well, it was so windy I had to use a plow point to keep from freezing and having the basha flap around.
A video on how to use a swiss seat would be cool!
@froginthewaves Okay. I’ll definitely do a rappelling/abseiling with the Swiss seat video.
Amazing
I really enjoy your videos. I appreciate the extra effort you put into gear and history. I do find it hard to search for your channel for some reason. Keep up the good work.
@Doug807 I’m sorry you can’t find the channel. TH-cam autocorrect “Country Shootin’” to “Country Shooting” and brings up other things. What search terms are you using?
As a former member of 3 RWF i remember training in Otterburn with a bunch of American guys small world for that you have my sub bro ATB Trev 👍
@NorthWalesBushcrafters I subscribed to your channel, too. I have enjoyed several of your videos. I’d like to visit the Brecon Beacons someday.
@@countryshootin5361 be great to have you over I’ll be happy to walk it with you it’s a lovely area 👍
West Virginia is beautiful. Almost heaven.
Morning..
Just sub.
Intresting video on Tom's belt kit. Always good to see other's thoughts and ideas on belt kit.
Don't forget to add 11kg for the radio, 6kg for two batteries. The kit might only be 20 kg but adding the radio and batteries is a killer.
The basha is based on the Aussie forces basha. Basically, lots of Brit squaddies were buying copies from Arktis, who were doing a DPM version instead of the aussie Auscam. For once the MOD actually looked and listened to the guys on the ground and adopted it and put it on general issue.
Yeah, it seems like everyone in the British Army gets issued one and is trained in how to set up a basha. All Soldiers, not just the SAS and infantry.
that's because all British soldiers are infantry, even God Squad have to live in the field at times, and in theory, nobody sleeps in the vehicles .
@@Maryland_Kulak
Hooch
Found your video today while at work on a conference call. Great video. I have a couple of bits I use while out camping. Had the bouncing bomb which had its best days seen so got the same bag as what you have here. Seems good but I'm yet to try 👍
It’s definitely more interesting than a conference call!
K, I subscribed.
Why not?
Your basha (in forces parlance, British Army Hotel Standard Accommodation 🙂) is upside down, or maybe you did that on purpose to show the grab handles? On the underside of the centre seam, there are also two hang down loops to take lights or a bug net.
I have a basha (they weigh about a kg (2.2lb), and I cut the stitching of the webbing handles to remove them as I don’t need them. It reduces the weight by about 100g (.22lb) and makes the basha easier to roll up and pack.
I also have 2 genuine USGI ponchos, woodland camo, (I used to use two heavier British Army ponchos) which I used to use for long distance backpacking. One as an extra waterproof over a lightweight jacket/windproof and for fair weather shelter, two studded together for a fully enclosed tent like shelter. They’ve survived gale force winds on open high ground.
I got the USGI ponchos when my 40 year old 58 pattern ones wore out. They weigh a lot less and they pack up smaller.
It’s very marginal, but I prefer those 2 ponchos, just, over the basha because I can wear one if the rain gets heavy, and it covers my backpack. I always carry at least one with me on a day hike.
It was upside down! Thanks for squaring me away.
So what I would say is put a whole lot more tension in that bashan. A bit of rain and you'd have a really bad night with all that slack flapping around.
British kit is great stuff but the 3 nail stove is a no go in my book. I would rather use the Dragon stove. It's more efficient use of fuel and leaves less signs of being there.
1st time seeing a Swiss Seat and I would like to see more as that nylon webbing could be used in multipurpose things?
The nylon webbing can also be used the drag casualties to safety.
fyi "Norge shirt" is made of cotton
Leaving that knife with crud on it is not advisable. Take care of your gear and your gear will take care of you.
1:13. Chops cedar branches to set up basha. 5:03. Has cedar crud on knife. Okay, Boomer.
Sorry to say it but your Swiss Army Knife isn't genuine it is only a cheap China copy a genuine SAK has Victorinox, Elsigner or Wenger written on the base of the main knife blade.