Surplus Military cold weather & equipment

[launditch1]

I forgot i had these..1953 dated 'Trousers inner' .They are very thick wool, smooth on the outside and fluffy on the inside.They come with a lovely itchy wool gusset too!Remember hairy mary shirts?Same stuff.
This type of thing would have been i use in the later stages of the Korean war when we started to supply our troops with half decent cold weather gear, before that the Americans issued us with their stuff.
I do have some more related gear like the complete M51 clothing system..arctic canteen and cup..ww2 overwhites..early 'parka middle'..ect.





Im still kicking myself that i didnt buy a load of British ww2 snow gear from a junk shop..there was crampons, ice picks, snow shoes, hats, gloves...Of course it was all gone when i went back for it!

[Twodogs]

Nice one mate ,,, get the rest up ,


man thay look itchy ,,

[Andy BB]

...actually, the woolen wristlets are very comfortable. Maybe I'm just not allergic to scratchy wool!

(Ah - you're talking about the itchy gusset on the trousers.................)

[santaman2000]

I forgot i had these..1953 dated 'Trousers inner' .They are very thick wool, smooth on the outside and fluffy on the inside.They come with a lovely itchy wool gusset too!Remember hairy mary shirts?Same stuff.
This type of thing would have been i use in the later stages of the Korean war when we started to supply our troops with half decent cold weather gear, before that the Americans issued us with their stuff...

You were lucky then if you got US gear that was actually good. The US was woefully unprepared for the Korean War. None of our gear or weapons had been updated since the end of WWII. We sent an Army trained and equipped for occupation rather than combat. WWII bazookas had little effect on modern (at the time) Soviet tanks and all our troops suffered greatly from the Korean climate (think of "The Frozen Chosin")

Fortunately the North Koreans and Chicoms were generally as poorly equipped (although better armed) although we didn't learn for decades that they were near starvation (at least the Chicoms)

[andybysea]

Santaman,when you say the north koreans and Chicoms were better armed are you talking small arms? i thought they used mostly soviet ww2 weapons, like the Mosin Nagant,and the ppsh 41,degtyarev dp,etc etc and the Sabre was better aircraft than the mig,from what ive read, i used to work with a guy who was in the Black watch in Korea,and one of his many stories was about how he and his mates would ''liberate'' U.S. food store's as they were well under rationed at some point's, but the fun was cut short when a order was put out that those responsible or caught would be shot!

[Twodogs]

Bit of History thrown in as well ,,, love it ,

Twodogs

[santaman2000]

Santaman,when you say the north koreans and Chicoms were better armed are you talking small arms? i thought they used mostly soviet ww2 weapons, like the Mosin Nagant,and the ppsh 41,degtyarev dp,etc etc and the Sabre was better aircraft than the mig,from what ive read, i used to work with a guy who was in the Black watch in Korea,and one of his many stories was about how he and his mates would ''liberate'' U.S. food store's as they were well under rationed at some point's, but the fun was cut short when a order was put out that those responsible or caught would be shot!

I'm referring mostly to armor when I mention arms. As to small arms, the NK & Chicoms already had Soviet and Chicom SKS (a late WWII Soviet assault rifle) as well; although I'm not sure how prevelent they were. That was was what prompted the US to develop the M14 and later the M16. As far as I know food wasn't a problem on our side but as I said, we learned decades later that due to a famine in VChina the communist side was near starvation.

As you say we were well ahead of them in aviation although woefully short of bombs (after the Nuke was dropped conventional bomb production ceased as they were believed obsolete) and the guns we were putting on the aircraft (50 cal) weren't really adequate for dogfighting in jets whereas IIRC the Comunists had already made the switch to larger caliber cannons on their aircraft.

[andybysea]

Yep get you on the cannon in the mig, saw a good prog regarding these air battles over korea(all cgi) but well made with vet account's think its called ''Dogfights'',the food account was from a Brit perspective, this country alway's seems to start things on a shoestring budget. ps Sorry for the off topic wander.

[Twodogs]

Today we have a true classic bit of Military cold weather equipment .


Swedish Army issue Optimus 111 stove runs on Kero preheat with meths or preheating paste ,

Used as a section stove for all the cooking and melting needs .





Loads of user instructions,



And an Swedish Army ownership badge ,





This is a good touch to stop knackered troops losing bits , a chain on the control wheel and a self tapping screw though the flame ring .



Shown with the Swedish Army issue kettle out of the ten man cook kit ,



Well worth hunting down the 111 is a true classic ,



Twodogs

[Andy BB]

Ooh - interesting point about the self-tapper! I'll have to check mine to see if it has one.

[Twodogs]

Winter is comming on so it time to add any Military cold weather gear you have to this thread

Here we have a Colman peak one stove from the 1980s that was issued to AMF troops for Norway for snow melting and rehidrating the Arctic rations of the day ,





It was issued with this cook kit ,



Twodogs

[sasquatch]

I love the fact that you find all this stuff then post it Cliff! You're responsible for a lot of kit envy!

[Twodogs]

Sorry mate

Heres a Swedish Army Jagerkok used by Swedish troops up north instead of the normal Swedish army cook set this one dated 1964,







It was issued with a one litre fual bottle on a individual basis and was filled with the five litre fual can and a special adapter to aid safe filling ,






Come on folks post up your military cold weather gear the more obscure the better , arctic packs , sledes ,, get um up

Twodogs

[bigroomboy]

That last one looks to be the one the current clas ohlson spirit stove is based on.

[Twodogs]

Yep its very similer but the olsens a lot thiner

[jimbo75]

Excellent thread cliff! Keep it coming...

[MartinK9]

After seeing Cliff's ones I sourced some:










Roll on winter 2014.