My first assignment was as leader of a Vulcan SP air defense platoon in Germany. The heaters in my armored personnel carrier and in our platoon’s four Vulcans were very unreliable, not a good thing in German winters. I also disliked the steel pot helmet, and was happy to get the much more stable, but heavier, kevlar helmet that replaced it.
The best item of equipment in my opinion was a pair of those wonderful warm green wool boot socks. They lasted forever, or so it seemed.
Does it have to be just one?
Mine would be the LALPS in conjunction with the PVS4. And cherry on top? PVS4 is missing the M16 reticle and all I had was the M14-M60 one.
Issue steel toed boots. Could never find a pair that didn’t kill my feet and they were always cold in the winter.
The charcoal MOP suits and gas masks. Gah! Had to spend many 12 hour days suited up in that itchy uncomfortable thing with the wrists and ankles duct taped shut. The gas masks would cut into your skin and continually fogged up. On top of it all, we had also had to wear a steel helmet! After awhile I deliberately looked for ways to get killed during an exercise just to get out of that green gorilla suit.
Dufflebags. No matter how I tried, I could find no good way to carry one.
Government issue pens. They always skipped when you tried to write and inevitably leaked when you put it in the pocket of a brand new fatigue shirt.
Floor buffers. Enough said.
Government forms. They all suck
GQ time donning SCBA and gear in the Persian Gulf when it’s already 9 million degrees.
The Gumby suit and the chemical protection suit. They weren’t defective, they were just unpleasant to wear, especially in 110 degree weather.
Yeah, that L shaped flashlight was really awful, too, especially the plastic ones.
hey, that L shaped flashlight was probably the most reliable piece of gear I’ve ever seen. Troubleshooting was a breeze: batteries, bulb or whack it against something until it works. If you had to get hugely technical, you had to bend that little copper band behind the bulb assembly.
Outside of running one over with a vehicle, I’ve never seen one break.
PRC-77. There is a good reason they called it the “Prick 77”.
In no particular order.
Two man shelter halves.
PRC-77
MOPP gear.
2nd Generation black combat boots.
Stupid ass POS aluminum framed rucksacks.
2008-09 era MTV vest was uncomfortable and heavy as hell. With the Eagle PC being available, there was no excuse to issue that thing.
My helmet straps pulled my hair in the back. Dont know why, just always pissed me off.
The Pro-Mask.
Not that it wouldn’t possibly save my life one day, but I never found a good way carrying that sucker around as part of my battle rattle. I must have tried 30 different ways and still got blisters, and hot spots, and… Life is much better now that we’ve moved on from NBC training dominating everything we do.
Then there was the original PASGT. It was unbearable with the old MILES halo too.
Worst weapon system in the inventory.
Cutaway faceplates, baby! Snapped them on many a night. One tube focused to the horizon, and one tube focused on the instrument panel.
In retrospect, it’s kind of wonder we didn’t crash every single time we flew with them. 
AC
+1
Double down on that by replacing the SCBA with the OBA…
Such bitterness. You must be the guy that couldn’t even hold on for two or three complete revolutions. lol
AC
The notorious “poopy suit”.
Closely followed by flying in chem gear…
LOL FUCK this was the deciding factor for me when the opportunity came for me to switch services. Lets shut off the ventilation, over dress and sit here for 5 hours, :eek:. We never even did drill in my section of the ship, later I got moved to investigatory duties and then I had to run around.
M60 machine gun
the terrible ACU’s
Funny, I remember those days quite well, to include teaching NVG flight with cut away vehicle NVGs. That sucked dog balls… Thank God ANVIS6’s came along soon after.
Those fuckin gas masks/carriers ALWAYS bouncing around on your hip, in the way of fuckin everything.
Also, the early eighties MRE’s. They either gave me the most un-holy shits…or clabbered me up for a week. Would always shit green for days after. CANNOT bring myself to ever try any of the newer ones.
Mr. Vickers…as an ex M60 gunner who really loved the old gun, Ive read before your hatred of the gun, may I ask you to tell what all you dislike about it, and is there ANYTHING you do like about it?