How to Travel Light: Packing Tips for the Seasoned Reenactor.
Published: July 30, 2008
Author: Mike 'Squirrely' Ellis
Chapter 2
"The GI Way"
For starters, most reenactors carry some arrangement of the M1928 field pack, or the M1936 mussette bag and ’36 suspenders. Both of these items were issued and carried in vast quantities. Get rid of them. (Ok, not completely. Keep it for displays, or the next time you feel like throwing out your back. Neither of these packs need be brought to tactical events!)
“Why”, you ask? Infantry regularly left behind heavy items such as the field pack prior to going on an attack. They also neglected to wear them when fighting from a fixed position. If you must bring it to a field event, do what the GI’s did, and leave it under a tree somewhere before you try and take that village. Just remember; to the GI’s, all equipment was expendable. Is yours?
The Most Common Place for Gear During an Attack
By doing this, we naturally arrive at the next step: deciding what you want, what you need, and what you can stuff down your field jacket. There is a reason that front line troops rarely kept bulky souvenirs. Go through your pack, and ditch the following rarely-found items:
Shaving Brush
Shaving Soap
Shaving Mirror
Towels
Flashlight (including those 10 lb D cells stored within)
Mess Tin
G.I. Fork/Knife
That large, bulky, useless, Red-Cross made sewing kit (find yourself a needle, wrap some thread around it, and you’re good to go.)
E-tool and Cover
Perhaps there's something you don't need?
They may not sound like much, but the weight and bulk of these items is what makes you dance like an elephant in the field. Now that you’ve gotten rid of them, you really can ditch that pack.
Note how some retain the pack, some have already dropped it.
Another view.
The field pack.*Ok, not completely. Keep it for displays, or the next time you feel like throwing out your back. Neither of these packs need be brought to tactical events!
