A friend gave me one of those web belt thingies...what are all these pouches for?

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davek

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A friend of mine gave me this...most of it anyway, and I was wondering if one or more of you military folk would clue me in as to what a couple of these pouches and what not are for holding.

The two in question are circled. Following pics are close ups.

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So what are they made for holding?

That smaller one with the plastic latch will barely fit two G3 magazines...but I wouldn't want to fumble with it in combat in such a capacity, so I think it's probably made for something else.

I have no freaking idea what that big pouch with all the stuff in it is for.

Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
 
The small pouch looks like a GI mag pouch for 20 round M-16 mags. It should hold two or three. It looks like the grenade straps on the side have been removed.

The larger pouch looks to me like a general butt pack. It may be more specialized than that, but looks like a general purpose pack to me.
 
That smaller one with the plastic latch will barely fit two G3 magazines.
Since the USA never issued the G3 rifle I would think its safe to say it isn't for their magazines. :uhoh: It's an M16 mag pouch, like Trebor said.
 
Yep M-16 mag pouch, holds 3 of them. The larger one is just a buttpack, slightly improved over the one I had on my LBE though
 
That's quite an eclectic piece of personal gear. A bit of this and a bit of that. Looks kind of "hasitly assembled" from available components.

Correct on the magazine pouch for M-16 magazines, although they were designed for holding three 30-rd magazines. The 20s would drop down in below the two divider straps inside and made the 20s hard as heck to get out in a tight. They would hang up every time. Lots of garrison troops cut out the straps if they were issued the 20s to alleviate the problem.

Ditto on the grenade straps being cut off.

The butt pack looks very similar to a medic first aid pack, but it lacks the holding area for hemostats, etc on the inside top. But with the top carry strap it looks very much like one.
 
The large pack is a Butt Pack, used for whatever crap you want with you after you ditch your ruck. (large backpack) In otherwords, your ruck has all the "non-essential " gear you would'nt want dragging you down in a firefight. So you stick whatever mission essential gear you might want with you in the butt pack.
 
Right side: M16 mag pouch minus grenade straps, for 3 30 round mags.

Left side: Twin .45 mag pouch.

Center: 3-day pack or "Butt pack"..... basically hasn't changed in design since about WW2. Usually got a couple MREs, Poncho, Poncho liner, spare batteries, etc in there.


Guys in Iraq are using "3-day Assault packs" for basicaly the same thing, but easier to get into quicker. They carry spare ammo, spare batteries, food, and there's usually a CamelBak for water attached or inside it. The bare minimums to shoot move and communicate for a day or two in a Mogadishu type situation, plus the crap on your web gear (flashlight, grenades, ammo, water, knife, gas mask if situation requires it, multitool, radio, etc).
 
Center: 3-day pack or "Butt pack"..... basically hasn't changed in design since about WW2
That's interesting. I have two butt-packs and have seen a hundred others, but I have never seen one with a divider and pockets inside. If that is an issue, general purpose butt-pack then there have definitely been some design changes.
 
That's not a standard buttpack, it's missing the bedroll straps on the bottom, they never had velcroed flaps, not to mention the dividers inside. They also did have a vinyl lining inside that this one does not. From the layout of the dividers on the inside, I'd guess it was some sort of medic's bag, maybe a 'go' bag of sorts. I was Supply in a Med. Bn. , and I don't recall seeing this specific layout in any of the Medic bags. It looks like it could possibly have been a standard buttpack that was modified for a specific use. It looks like it would be a good "thumper's" bag also, with individual slots for specialized rounds like WP, CS, or Buckshot, with the big areas for HE, or empties, or a couple of Claymores.
The small one are as said, .45 double mag. pouch, looks post-WWII, and an M16 3-30 rd. mag pouch with the frag holders cut off.
FWIW, I'd ditch the 'Y' suspenders, get some new repro 'H' suspenders, keep the M16 pouch, they make good 'beverage' holders, and get some two-quart canteen holders for M16 mags., you can fit 7 30 rounders in one.
Just curious: Do you have a Garand, or just the bayonet? ;)
 
:eek: :rolleyes: Duh! I suppose the first clue rattling around in this cold addled head would have been you tried G-3 mags in the pouch....That and the scabbard looks a bit different.. :)
 
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