Non-issued kit on courses

[acehimself]

I'm doing my SQ/BIQ this summer and I was wondering whether or not I would be able to bring up anything other than issued kit.  Lots of other troops have told me that it would be a good idea to have a camelbak for for the summer and also knee pads would be a good investment for section attacks.  I was wondering if anyone else has experience with this kind of issue and knows whether or not this would be permissable or would I get yelled at for bringing stuff that I wasn't issued.

Thanks

 

[Farmboy]

Camelbaks will be allowed along with anthing that stays hidden. Just don't wear the Camelbak for inspection.

Stuff like the knee pads won't be a problem if they are worn under your uniform.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Theres no right or wrong answer for you.
In theory there IS supposed to be a standard in which some things are allowed and some aren't.  In practice it will all depend on your course staff. Some staff will let you use extra kit, some will say no. Some will use it right in front of you and tell you your not allowed to until your trained.
You have to decide wether you will take the extra kit. You might be allowed to use it OR you might not and you'll have to take up valuable personal space trying to store all the kit you can't use. If you DON'T take the kit with you and you find out you'll be allowed to use it you will kick yourself in the ass and either
a. complain all summer
b. Have someone from home mail it or pick it up yourself when you go on leave or
c. pay twice as much as you bought it for at the cannex or off someone

This is actually a situation you'll be faced with the rest of your career.
Should you bring a certain piece of kit or not. Is it worth the extra weight and space it will take up. Can you live with out it. etc..

 

[Pte.Nomercy]

I'm in the same boat as you, I'm doing the same courses this summer. Being in for 3 years I obviously have allot of different extra stuff that I bought and kit I customized.

If your course is at Meaford, which is really known for its cock, then don't be surprised if they start yelling at you for not having your kit labeled at certain way. It also depends on the course staff, some are okay with things like knee pads or camel packs as they believe that if it makes you train better, then use it.

I for one had to get issued another ruck sack by my master corporal because the one I have is rigged up to an Alice pack frame, which is non-issued. So I'll bringing two rucks up with me, one will be hidden in one of my duffle bags until the exercise in Pet this summer.

I suggest that you suck it up and go for a few days without things like knee pads, unless told otherwise but don't personally ask, the last thing you want is for your instructor thinking you're an individual or whatever who wants to exercise  LCF ( Look Cool Factor.)

 

[gi jew]

I am pretty sure if your doing training where knee pads benefit you, then you would be allowd to use it. If worse comes to worse just put it under your uniform.
I am bringing knee pads and a camel to my courses this summer. Just make sure they're black or green. or even better relish.

 

[highground]

Usually if it's hidden, and no one can see it, your OK. If your camelbak it one from a bike store and has all kinds of funky color, use a personal cam cover and cam up so you don't see any of that.  Do the same for the knee pads.  Also what was said above don't ware anything not issue for inspection.
Have a good summer! :soldier:

 

[acehimself]

I got the modular hydration pack in CADPAT off of canadian peacekeeper.com so i think colour won't be an issue.  I'm thinking I'll bring it along, no harm in that, and i'll just play it cool and see how things go and if i get to use it great and if not, not the end of the world, I guess I could drink out of a Canteen if absolutely necessary lol.  But thanks for your input guys.

 

[Phillman]

I'm not sure about knee pads, but from my experience, camelbaks are usually accepted because it is an easy way to keep you hydrated. I wore one last summer in Wainwright and had no problems with course staff.

 

[tacsit]

If you want to strip off all the skin around your knees feel free to wear your kneepads under your combat pants.

 

[excoelis]

HeeHeeHee.......The voice of reason and experience raises it's ugly head.

The man's completely right troops.   I've had more than enough opportunity to wear kneepads for sustained periods in austere circumstances.   If you wear them all the time, particularly when on the move, you will experience more pain than you would without using them at all.   They will rub the skin right off the back of your knees and cause excruciating pain from the constant pressure on your patella.   You need to push them down to your ankles and rotate the pad to the outside so that the elastic velcro tabs are running backward on the inside of the ankle (to prevent them getting snagged on every bush, grass stalk, etc...).

So this creates a bit of a quandary, no?

If you are allowed to wear them visibly........follow this advice..........or learn the hard way........completely up to you.

If not allowed - As tacsit pointed out so succinctly - for fuck sakes don't try to hide them under your pants.

Believe it or not your knees get conditioned to patrolling without the damn things.   I spent the better part of the pathfinder course only using them for extreme circumstances.   That equates to constant kneeling with FFO, wpns, and 120 - 140lb Ruck on your back.   Kept them around my ankles or in my ruck most of the time.

Having said that, I used them extensively on 6B course, for the day after day of dismounted section/platoon attacks.   They are also very handy for OBUA.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Excoelis,
Humour somebody who's been gone for a long time. Are we talking " kneepads" as in a nickname for some issued piece of kit for your knees or are we talking just plain kneepads? I don't recall such a thing.
Bruce

 

[excoelis]

These are the first iteration.  A few years ago, after buying them for myself, I staffed a paper and got the CO to buy a few hundred sets of these and elbow pads(which no-one really uses).  I saw some cheap old bastards on 6B course using everything from volleyball to rug-layers kneepads when they saw the Lightfighters with the high-speed ones ;D

In A-stan,near the end of the tour, they issued big gawd awful cadpat kneepads.  Make your knees sweat way too much.

 

[Farmboy]

Good heads up on the knee pads.  ;D

 

[excoelis]

Yeah, well it didn't take much convincing.  It basically comes down to this:

Longevity:  You can pay 50 bucks a man now or thousands of dollars a year for his military pension.  Plus you will lose return on your investment after training the shit out of him and losing him early to career-ending injury.

Survivability:  Anyone ever pepper-potted on rough, uneven, or rocky terrain?  My guess is if you have, you can't honestly say you where doing it in quick, short, erratic, and unpredictable bounds, with your mind completely in the 'close with and destroy the enemy' mindset.  It ends up looking like a fire in a nursing home ;D  All anyone can think about is where is the best piece of ground to take their next bound.  They get there and they aren't exactly diving into a fire posn.  Of course the two-way range would solve some of that mentality - but the bad habits would be ingrained.  Operant conditioning gone bad.

 

[scm77]

What's the problem with wearing them on the outside?

 

[tacsit]

excoelis has hit the nail on the head gentlemen. When you're doing ruck marches wear them around your ankles with the caps on the outside of your shins. Do not wear them while ruck marching. Same reason why you loosen the straps of a drop leg holster while ruck marching. Put your kneepads on if you're going on a short patrol, or in the ORV before you initiate an attack, or when assaulting in an OBUA setting, etc. They're not meant to be worn 100% of the time. If you want some relief, slice open the top of the extra patch of material over each knee, take some thin foam padding, cut it to fit, slide it in there, and sew the top back up. That should offer a little more protection from the rocks and such and not be noticable at all. I've ordered 2 sets of OPS uniforms in CADPAT TW from Drop Zone Tactical, and the pants and shirts come with velcro closed slots for such discrete padding. Definitely helps. I will say this, if you're going to buy kneepads, buy the Alta kneepads with the buckle closure. I used to own the Hatch kneepads and they'd always slip down my legs. I hated it and it was a nuisance. If you don't like the black colour, swing by Canadian Tire and pick up a can of OD krylon spray paint, that's what I did for my Hatch pads. Improvise, modify, adapt, overcome. Keep those words in mind.

Btw,  excoelis, what do you mean fire in a nursing home? I always thought it looked like a bunch of boys running away from a priest  .