Load Bearing Bras
Ranger wearing his Load Bearing Equipment (LBE)
_______________
A recent Playtex bra commercial for wide support straps which would spread out the load and not dig into the shoulders made Ranger laugh. It appears that after almost 130 years of the military using web gear as a means of transferring a weight load onto the shoulders, Playtex has figured out how to appropriate the technology into an LBE bra._______________
One would think with the fascination that soldiers have for excess female cleavage that one of us would have applied the LBE concept to bras a long time ago.
"Saddle Up!" takes on a whole new meaning, now.
Labels: bras, load bearing equipment
posted by rangeragainstwar at 5:12 PM
9 Comments:
Er...uh..no comment on Playtex, but I'd swear I saw those Pine trees at Ft Benning Ga back in the day.
Yea o no?
Deryle
What, you mean you haven't taken a look at the "Load-Bearing Vest" (LBV) that replaced the old LBE? It's a straight-up bustier with front pockets for magazines. I used to call it my "combat corset" or the "Unmerry Widow".
It has all the disadvantages of the old LBE with the added disadvantage of adding another layer of heat-retaining nylon to your torso. Mind you, with everyone in flak vests now the thin layer of nylon hardly matters...
One thing I never got was the Army's inane fixation on putting your magazine pockets on your chest. It forced you to roll over to fish out a magazine when you were in the prone. When I was in the Sinai I noticed that the Israeli grunts - who had done a fair bit of fighting recently - had moved all their battle rattle around to the back; magazine pouches at the sides with canteens further back and the butt pack at the rear. Seemed to make sense to me, but when I talked about it w/ my 1SG he flat-out no'ed it; not SOP, and God forbid we changed the SOP...
Chief...
It was hard enough humping a 175 round and/or 65 lbs of powder as it was.
I can't recall whether we even had LBVs issued to us.
We reluctantly wore a flak jacket during the day but always at night.
And always if we traveled. Hell, I would aworn two of 'em if the heat got turned up.
Your fist Sergeant was full of shit.
But you knew that already.
I stayed in hot water from day one with a battalion commander in a unit I transferred into as he required his troops the wear their steel pots fastened all the time.
For some reason I took a pair of pliers to mine. No straps. I think I thought they looked silly fastened, like
WWII paratroopers or something Everytime he saw me he'd say "Sergeant Perryman, why aren't you in uniform?
I 'd always answer, I didn't know I wasn't, Colonel."
"Get in uniform Perryman" he'd always respond.
I 'd leave as if I was looking for a new helmet, knowing his chickenshit ass would be in a chopper back to cold milk and flush toilets at dusk.
He'd forget about it until he returned, which wasn't often
He got me later, but for something else entirely..
Anyhoo,
There it is,
Deryle
Yes, We didi have LBEs but we didn;t have to load them down on a firebase as you grunts did.
Made me glad my WWI Recon-type dad told me I didn't have to be a grunt cause "They make rank in the artillery"
D.
Deryle: In the later Eighties we got issued the post-RVN Kevlar vest; I was told it was better protection than the VN-era one and luckily never had to test that but I can tell you it was one bastard SOB; stiff (so you had a hard time doing anything but standing straight or lying down in it), heavy, and bulky. It was nearly impossible to march for any distance in it; you were whipped, dehydrated, and exhausted from fighting your rucksack (which tended to slide backwards off of it) within a couple of klicks.
Mind you, I hated to just drop the thing because of the protection and the statement-of-charges I knew I'd get dinged with.
I honestly have no idea how modern infantrymen do anything beyond a slow walk with all the battle rattle they carry; K-pot, Oakleys, radio, elbow-and-kneepads, vest, LBV, butt pack and mask carrier...seems like a hell of a load.
I should add that before we were tarted up with our combat corsets I had scrounged up a set of cotton web LBE suspenders in place of my issue nylon ones. The old web belt and suspenders were comfortable either alone or under the ruck straps; the nylon ones were stiff and tended to dig and rub your neck and shoulders raw, especially when you were sweating.
D,
I saw your initials in one of those trees.
Chief,
In SOG the one zeroes actually used ww2 BAR belts.
Paul Longgrear was mike force and not sSOG , but his famous picture he's wearing a cotton web ww2 BAR belt.
The stuff i'm wearing in this oct 68 pic is all cotton.
jim
Would it not be better to put the load down onto the hips? Closer to C of G and less strain on the spine.
AEL,
ARE you asking about the breasts or the combat load.
I can ans the soldier part of the question if that's what you're asking.
jim
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