herrickd@uunet.UU.NET (CONTR HERRICK, DAN) (01/27/91)
From: "CONTR HERRICK, DAN" <abvax!iccgcc.DNET!herrickd@uunet.UU.NET>
I'm told that Cresson Kearney has learned that ground troops in
the Gulf theater have not been issued the plastic bags for
protecting their rifles that were introduced near the end of
the Vietnam imbroglio.
If that is true (I respect my source but would like independent
confirmation - does anyone out there know?) we can keep a few
soldiers alive longer by making plastic bags and mailing them
to the troops.
Some of you will remember that Cresson Kearney is the author of
Nuclear War Survival Skills. He did the research for that book
at Oak Ridge. He has spent his entire career battling the
decisions of military bureaucrats.
Instructions for the M16 bag, much abbreviated:
Take a two foot by five foot piece of 2 mil polyethelene film
and use 3/4 inch Scotch Magic Tape to form it into a tube five feet
long. Overlap the seam half an inch and seal it on both sides with
the tape. Tape one end closed to make a bag. Rub the tape joints
to make them last.
Don't use 3 mil film - it is too strong to rip off quickly and
is difficult to tie shut at the end. 1 mil is usable, but 2 is better.
Enclose at least a dozen pleated sandwich bags (6.5 by 5.5 by 1
inch) to protect magazines from the sand.
Airmail these to some ground soldier you want to see come back.
One piece of CNN footage showed two men with rifles doing exercises,
one with a bag like this and one without. The bag was dark colored.
Was it official issue or was it gear from home?
dan herrick
POBox 1419
Mentor Ohio 44061
(216)974-9637