Packing for Basic [MERGED]

[PMedMoe]

There's a personal locker space of about 1" X 1" to keep private items that you don't wish to display during an inspection.

I hope you meant feet and not inches!  ;D

 

[Celticgirl]

I hope you meant feet and not inches!  ;D

hahaha!  Started drinking early today. Yes, I definitely meant feet. 1' X 1'  ;D

 

[aesop081]

Everyone talks about having a shadow kit

Yeah i see evreyone talk about it, but heres my question :

I showed up in St-Jean with nothing. I didnt have a shadow/ghost kit ( i hate those terms, they are of the non-heterosexual persuasion) so how the heck did i manage to pass basic ?

Folks have to relax a bit, cease over-thinking everything. Please trust me that it will make your BMQ experience easier if you dont stress for 2 months before going. I didnt have half the information you folks get from the internet these days and still managed to pass and still be here 17 years later.

Bring whats on the list they give you, you will figure out the rest as you go........

 

[Tempestshade]

Thank you CDN Aviator.
Not having a ghost kit was what I planned from the beginning, I have no intentions of cheating the system at all. I was just questioning as I have been informed that space is limited for each individual and cannot see how people would have room for it.

Thank you for the response and I hope that everyone here listens to you.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Look, there is no such thing in basic as a new cheat or shortcut.  If there is a way to cheat, it's already been tried, most likely by the very course staff you're trying to put one over on.  If you get away with it, it's because they let you, not because you're as devious as a VC booby trap expert.  Just do as you're told, how hard is this to grasp?

 

[aesop081]

I have no intentions of cheating the system at all.

Its not a question of "cheating" the system or not. Its a question of new people on here panicing about stuff they dont even know if they will need or not. I guarantee you that after a week or 2, you will decide if you need something like that or not. Instead of wasting 2 months on here going on about shit you dont know about......take a deep breath and enjoy the last days of total freedom you have. Thousands of Canadians just like you folks managed to complete basic training before you and they did it without knowing too much about what they got into.

I was just questioning

Why are you questioning anything ? have you been to BMQ ?

I have been informed that space is limited for each individual and cannot see how people would have room for it.

Yes space is limited. You were informed correctly. But have you been there ? have you seen what space is available ? If you have not been there, how can you say people dont have the space ?

Thank you for the response and I hope that everyone here listens to you.

The only real prep anyone going to BMQ needs to do is to get in the best physical shape they can. That will get you through the PT test at the start and will make sure that at the end of each day, you have the energy to do what is needed to be done for the next. Everything else, you will be taught there and you will figure out all the little stuff as you go.

i understand the need for information. You all want to know as much as you can. The problem is that alot of that information means nothing to you. You dont know how to put it into perspective. Sometimes, alot of information is too much.

 

[Tempestshade]

Ahh, sorry for not being clear enough. By saying that I do not wish to cheat the system I mean that I want to take away as much as I can, and if I am going to use a ghost kit in order to not have to clean my kit it takes away from what they are trying to teach me.

But as you stated there is a need for information in everyone. I ask questions not so that I know exactly how everything will go, unlike some who live by what they are told, but as a general overview of how events may unfold, and perhaps be prepared for certain events.

Yet again, thank you for the response.

 

[jacksparrow]

There's a personal locker space of about 1" X 1" to keep private items that you don't wish to display during an inspection. Although it is unlocked for inspection (all your locks must be on your desk), our DS never opened those little cubbies to look at what is inside. Just don't forget to lock it when you go out.

Mine was not the padlock type, it just had a key to lock it. I always locked it for inspection and never got asked to open it, even during the captain and commandant's inspection.

I had everything in that box from cold, headache tablets, my wallet, cellphone, ghost kit, snacks et al  ;D

I am not condoning this to the newbies though. Like I said my first few inspections were impressive and they just thought am not a person to worry about.

 

[romeokilo]

Mine was not the padlock type, it just had a key to lock it. I always locked it for inspection and never got asked to open it, even during the captain and commandant's inspection.
I am not condoning this to the newbies though. Like I said my first few inspections were impressive and they just thought am not a person to worry about.

But had they asked you, you would have been knee deep in bull dung. And yes, by saying that you are basically telling people, "Hey umm, I cheated mmmkay, and never got caught. But mmm, don't do it mmkay."

There's a personal locker space of about 1" X 1" to keep private items that you don't wish to display during an inspection. Although it is unlocked for inspection (all your locks must be on your desk), our DS never opened those little cubbies to look at what is inside. Just don't forget to lock it when you go out.

I'm convinced that the instructors like it when candidates have a shadow kit for inspections because it makes life easier both for us and for them.

hey can charge you. Hygiene is serious business in basic training. A shadow kit is an absolute must. Trust me on this.

At the end of it, I was eating 2 and 3 desserts some meals just to get some fat on my body. It didn't work.

You have what is it now, six million posts on this website? And you never even finished BMOQ. And you decided that instead of learning the values of discipline, it was a far better option to cheat and lie your way to being an officer. I am actually glad you didn't make it. I do not want you as a fellow officer, because I can never trust you to not lie/cheat or slime your way around.

And while I am here, I noted that you said you could not keep up with the training and your weight loss, and decided to eat extra desserts to stay above water. Think about that again: they have all kinds of meals with nutritional value, and you (as an officer candidate, who is supposed to make smart decisions in the field) chose desserts over full courses. Of course it's not going to work.

-------------------------

Fellas, don't cheat okay? You are going into the CF hopefully wanting this to be your #&#&@^ career! If they are paying you to iron your clothes and keep your room clean and everything in it clean, why wouldn't you? Believe me, the best militaries in the world have always been the most disciplined. Don't lie, don't cheat, just do what they say.

 

[chris_log]

Fellas, don't cheat okay? You are going into the CF hopefully wanting this to be your #&#&@^ career! If they are paying you to iron your clothes and keep your room clean and everything in it clean, why wouldn't you? Believe me, the best militaries in the world have always been the most disciplined. Don't lie, don't cheat, just do what they say.

So you never had an 'inspection' hygene kit? Or cut corners to pass inspection? Phhh.

I did and I'm no less of an officer (or soldier) for doing it. The staff know the candidates do it, and the candidates know they can get away with it. It's all part of 'the game' you play during BMQ/BMOQ. I'm glad I'm done with all that BS now.

 

[Gunner98]

Piper,

Cutting corners can become a deadly obsession - for you and your trenchmates.  You will never be done with the BS because you will either be leading or following throughout your career, no one gets to ride for free.

 

[chris_log]

Piper,

Cutting corners can become a deadly obsession - for you and your trenchmates.  You will never be done with the BS because you will either be leading or following throughout your career, no one gets to ride for free.

Just because I kept a second can of shaving cream (as once you spray, it will leak) and a second bar of soap (to prevent to almost magical ability for a short and curly to appear on inspection) during BMOQ doesn't mean that I'll start cutting corners when it comes to something that actually matters. Like I said before, keeping an extra shaving kit for inspection isn't a sign that a member is going to get someone killed later on (if it was, then instructors wouldn't quietly allow it like many do now).

And by BS I meant standing by your bunks inspections and all that other BS you go through during you initial phases of training. There's plenty of other BS to go around later (and don't I know it, already, sigh).

I am confident in my abilities as both a follower and a leader, dspite having secretly kept an extra bar of soap and shaving cream during my time in St Jean. I take issue with the attitudes of some posters (the one I quoted) that making your life easier on inspections somehow makes you unsuitable for service in the CF, it doesn't. I'd rather serve with someone who knows how to make theirs (and everyone else's) life easier then someone with an anal-retentive goodie-two-shoes attitude (that I doubt said poster follows anyways). 

 

[romeokilo]

And by BS I meant standing by your bunks inspections and all that other BS you go through during you initial phases of training.

BS? You mean discipline? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there a reason we call this basic training? Basic because the CF has to be able to trust you to do this, in order to depend on you to do anything requiring a higher level of competence.

I take issue with the attitudes of some posters (the one I quoted) that making your life easier on inspections somehow makes you unsuitable for service in the CF, it doesn't. I'd rather serve with someone who knows how to make theirs (and everyone else's) life easier then someone with an anal-retentive goodie-two-shoes attitude (that I doubt said poster follows anyways).

Please, do explain who else's life (other than your own) did you make easier by having a secret shadow/ghost inspection kit?

I read your posts, and you seem to be someone with some experience, so I wont cross my lane.

BMQ/BMOQ is basic training. It should not be a climb to Mount Everest. People panic far too much over basic training.

Also, anal-retentive, goody-two-shoes, BINGO! How did you know? 

 

[SupersonicMax]

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying!

 

[Nfld Sapper]

And by BS I meant standing by your bunks inspections and all that other BS you go through during you initial phases of training. There's plenty of other BS to go around later (and don't I know it, already, sigh).

You don't get out much do you?

Those inspections don't end with BMQ/BMOQ.

 

[Celticgirl]

You have what is it now, six million posts on this website? And you never even finished BMOQ. And you decided that instead of learning the values of discipline, it was a far better option to cheat and lie your way to being an officer. I am actually glad you didn't make it. I do not want you as a fellow officer, because I can never trust you to not lie/cheat or slime your way around.

Nice.  :

And while I am here, I noted that you said you could not keep up with the training and your weight loss, and decided to eat extra desserts to stay above water. Think about that again: they have all kinds of meals with nutritional value, and you (as an officer candidate, who is supposed to make smart decisions in the field) chose desserts over full courses. Of course it's not going to work.

I don't know where I said I chose desserts over full courses. I ate very nutritionally, actually. Salads with every meal. Lots of whole grains and fruit.

Go ahead and make more assumptions here about me and my potential as a leader, though. With every word you type, you give insight to others about your own.

Have a good day.


Edit: I just did some reading of my own and see that you haven't yet done a single day of BMOQ yet yourself. Interesting.  ;D

 

[George Wallace]

And while I am here, I noted that you said you could not keep up with the training and your weight loss, and decided to eat extra desserts to stay above water. Think about that again: they have all kinds of meals with nutritional value, and you (as an officer candidate, who is supposed to make smart decisions in the field) chose desserts over full courses. Of course it's not going to work.

I don't know where I said I chose desserts over full courses. I ate very nutritionally, actually. Salads with every meal. Lots of whole grains and fruit.
Go ahead and make more assumptions here about me and my potential as a leader, though. With every word you type, you give insight to others about your own.

Have a good day.

Hate to be the party pooper, but I think you just proved his point about your diet. 

You can't put on weight with salads, grains and fruits.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

I don't know where I said I chose desserts over full courses. I ate very nutritionally, actually. Salads with every meal. Lots of whole grains and fruit.
Go ahead and make more assumptions here about me and my potential as a leader, though. With every word you type, you give insight to others about your own.

Have a good day.


Hate to be the party pooper, but I think you just proved his point about your diet. 

You can't put on weight with salads, grains and fruits.

Not to disagree with you George, Celtic failed to tell us what her main meals where. She only stated that in addition to the main meal she took salads, whole grains, and fruit.

This is how I read it.

 

[Celticgirl]

I don't know where I said I chose desserts over full courses. I ate very nutritionally, actually. Salads with every meal. Lots of whole grains and fruit.
Go ahead and make more assumptions here about me and my potential as a leader, though. With every word you type, you give insight to others about your own.

Have a good day.


Hate to be the party pooper, but I think you just proved his point about your diet. 

You can't put on weight with salads, grains and fruits.

"Salads *with* every meal."

Oh, for heaven's sake, I give up. Some folks are just going to put their own spin on something to suit their purpose. Have at 'er...I'm off to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day...

 

[George Wallace]

Not to disagree with you George, Celtic failed to tell us what her main meals where. She only stated that in addition to the main meal she took salads, whole grains, and fruit.

This is how I read it.

I suppose you could be correct.  How many times, though, have you seen that to be a person's only diet in the mess?  They are there.  Celticgirl has responded, but still leaves us in the dark.  Did she eat anything that would have added weight, or did she stick to the "Diet"?