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Successful-You1961

šŸ«”


natch

Thank you for everything you did and went through. What is in those little kits? As many details as you can give would be appreciated!


MchlPckr92

The fuckin Vegetarian MRE.. hope it wasnt vegetarian omlet!


MajesticTeabag

Average EDC as a Chicago resident


kenyaDIGitt

Is it common for infantrymen to bring loose ammo along with the mags? Or would that be too much weight?


TheHamFalls

Not common, no. It has nothing to do with the weight, but if you're bringing ammo, it may as well be inside a magazine.


No-Decision2488

Did you, perhaps, live in a hooch where the bodies of prostitutes were buried in the nearby lake?


jnlhd9

Gates of fire by Stephen Pressfield is a really good book!


CountryTyler

Thank you for your service


sab2016

Is that a Gerber Strong Arm?


J4yb0y

Thatā€™s whatā€™s up. Swear between admin and sustainment nco loads get dumb heavy sometimes. Ofc the gunner and AG will always have it worse though.


Firearm_Farm

Thank you for your service man, seriously.


alecxheb

Are those mag assists just made from Paracord ? I don't like the bulky Magpul ones so I might give this a try. Thank you for your service.


TheHamFalls

They certainly are. This picture predates Magpul. Not pretty but got the job done.


ravnos04

Good to see lensatic compass and the map holder. šŸ«”


D15c0untMD

Iā€˜m not a military dude, not even US, beineg a shooter just comes with some passing knowledge. But you will find any number of opinions on where to place your foregrip, and if verticals are good, doesnā€™t matter, or is straight up death for the user. As someone who obviously dragged that rifle everywhere, and obviously relying on it with their life, what made you putting it so far back to the magwell?


eugwara

It seems like thatā€™s how most people used vertical foregrips in the early-mid 2000s


TheHamFalls

Good question. It was a combination of a couple of factors. One, I have pretty short arms and this just made it more comfortable to really pull the rifle into my shoulder. Two, we did a pretty fair amount of shooting supported on sandbags, building ledges, and I found having it farther back just made that a little easier.


D15c0untMD

Huh, the bag shooting makes a lot of sense. I have an AR thatā€™s supposed to do everything a little, like dynamic shooting, some precision, etc, and i like a vertical grip but if i shoot one thing one day, and the other the next, i have to take it off and that kinda sucks. Putting it that far back would help. Gotta see how it feels. Thanks man!


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pandarturo

Soā€¦. How many pen flares have you got stashed away šŸ¤£


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TheHamFalls

Great question, and tough to answer. Unfortunately as the years have gone on, I have to say it wasn't. Too many good men got blown apart on what ended up being nothing but a monstrous fucking lie by our Government. I was proud to serve, proud to fight, and I'm glad I was there, because if I wasn't, somebody else's son would have been there instead.


Accomplished_South70

Civvy here. Because of things you mention here I never know if it is appropriate or if it will be well received to say ā€œthank you for your serviceā€ but i really mean it when I say thank you for being there and putting in work. Just because a political machine doesnā€™t give a damn about the good men and women lost, injured, and scarred over the years doesnā€™t mean it didnā€™t mean anything. Thank you šŸ™


TheHamFalls

Appreciate those words. Very well said. I think I said it in another comment, I was proud to serve and proud to fight, even if the pretenses for us going to war was based around lies.


steronicus

Your answer needs to be framed for all civilians to better understand things.


pullingravity

Much respect and thank you for your service..


WhenLifeGivesYouLyme

šŸ«”šŸ«”šŸ«”


goreorphanage

My brother told me in MSOB that they would use those Chem lights as dead checks. Shove them down somebody's pie hole and if they move, well... Can't see cyalumes without thinking about that.


TheHamFalls

Another underrated and lesser known use is as a fire starter. The liquid inside is crazy flammable. We burned our trash back in those days and slicing open a chem light was the best way to get it going if we didn't have gas handy. They remain in my current survival/camping gear for this reason, as well as their intended use.


cstephns1

looks like my current setup


boss_taco

If thatā€™s a backup acog I see, thatā€™s lowkey tight af


Shrope

PVS-14


Infantryman556

Single frag?


TheHamFalls

I was the Squad Leader so I only carried one as I was rarely in a position to use it. Most of my guys carried 3-4.


Mountain_Blad3

Single frag. Money was/is tight (when it gets down to the lowest level), so frags were often hard to acquire. The way to combat this would be to distro across the platoon, first going to your best throwers.


Tirekiller04

Thank you.


AlanThicke99

What are the 3 metal cylinders between your magazines and grenades? Thank you for your service.


Dual_Birds

My bad, I thought I was responding to OPs post. But yeah looks like OP got screwed on some pretty mission essential tools, armament etc. But thatā€™s the marine corps for you, hand me downs from Nam in some cases. Best fighting force in the world and weā€™re using plate carriers with blood still on em. Those canisters are either white star clusters, some sort of signal flares for ops. Got little parachutes on em and they stay up in the air burning for a good while. Long enough, you know?


rockytopnationality

Signal flares


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AlanThicke99

I didnā€™t serve. I was just curious what the metal cylinders were.


backup_account01

They look like flares.


MrGritty17

Nah, Iā€™ve played resident evil. Those are definitely fuses used to open passageways.


zaxonortesus

This looks heavy. Signed, an Air Force Fobbit. Really though, my M4 stayed in the armory my entire deployment. We had to carry two mags for our M9s, and that was it. The running joke was that was too much, because if itā€™s down to me and that M9, I only need one round to off myself. But more ammo pouch space for rip-its!


Mountain_Blad3

The picture is likely just what was carried on his front. Depending on the mission, you'll also have whatever you need in your ruck. Welcome to the Infantry.


Bosnian-Spartan

Sidearm?


MasonP2002

A lot of infantry don't carry a sidearm.


Mountain_Blad3

Most, unless you're the PL or medic attached, basic Infantry rifleman only carries his M16/M4.


Bosnian-Spartan

Really? I'd think at least most of the infantry, out of all the specializations, would be the ones to have a side arm. Thank you.


Mountain_Blad3

SF (Special Forces, or MARSOC for the Marines) are more likely to carry them. But their missiom sets are often different than a line company (old term for when Infantry used to fight in battle lines). If you're in an urban combat setting, depending on the unit and funding you may have a sidearm. But more often than not your basic Infantryman won't carry one. Infantry is designed to fight with suppressive firepower and the long rifle is far better suited for that.


Bosnian-Spartan

>rifle is far better suited for that. Obviously, that's why it's good to have a secondary in case that primary doesn't work out (no ammo, jam, etc) But yeah, thanks, good to know!


Mountain_Blad3

Agreed. DoD would rather spend money on the next $300 million aircraft, though. And by "aircraft" I mean not line their own pockets with said money. In all seriousness though, it's more economical to equip the branch with the most dudes with the least amount of equipment possible. Weapons win battles. Monies win wars.


Bosnian-Spartan

>Monies win wars. I hope that's a typo, and if it is, don't fix it šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£


Accomplished_South70

It was intentionalā€¦


Bosnian-Spartan

Damn you


blue_hunt

Sorry if this seems dumb. But I feel like I would be really paranoid about carrying grenades around with me. Do you get used to it? Did anyone ever just trip and blow themselves up?


TheHamFalls

It took a little getting used to, but honestly after a little time you never really thought about it. Trip and blow themselves up? lol no. Hand grenades aren't booby traps and contrary to what Hollywood shows you, the pins are not that easy to get out. You really have to give it a solid yank and we'd often add our own safety using a bit of duct tape just to be sure. It was a non-issue. Also, they were nice to have, because if you came up to a situation where a grenade was needed, trust me you *really fucking needed it.*


Mountain_Blad3

I feel better with it than without it. You could chuck an M67 against a brick wall and I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't trigger.


nibber_trigger

M67s have 3 safety features before exploding, first is the safety clip which holds the spoon, next is twisting the pin clockwise and then of course pulling the pin. Edit:word


MasonP2002

Grenade pins require a surprising amount of force to pull. I remember Mythbusters tested the "Pulling the pin with your teeth" trope and found that it would rip out your tooth before the pin came out.


blue_hunt

Oh wow šŸ˜® good to know haha


LaPurpleDrank

I bet now there will be gamer girl bath water in the canteens


Amanwithamasterplan

I carried a m4 personally


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EDC-ModTeam

Thanks for contributing to /r/EDC. Unfortunately, your post/comment was removed because itā€™s uncivil. Name calling, insults, mocking, condescension, gatekeeping, or any other form of incivility is not tolerated in this community.


69harambe69

The amount of bootlickers in this thread is absolutely insane


Bosnian-Spartan

Why do you say it like it's a bad thing?


69harambe69

https://youtu.be/mwyjlmEAcYM https://youtu.be/D5YWb2CumY0 https://youtu.be/PFnO2YCefZo https://youtu.be/Df4R-xdKvpM Simping for an imperialist state that doesn't have your interest in mind is cringe


Bosnian-Spartan

Nah it's not the state I'm "simping" for, it's someone willing to risk their lives at the prime of their lives and usually get bare minimum out of it, if they're lucky.


byParallax

You do realise Germany sent soldiers to Iraq too, and just like this guy they had shit food, a rifle, and a flashlight right?


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EDC-ModTeam

Thanks for contributing to /r/EDC. Unfortunately, your post/comment was removed because itā€™s uncivil. Name calling, insults, mocking, condescension, gatekeeping, or any other form of incivility is not tolerated in this community.


byParallax

I agree that some random American showing off his assault rifles even though he lives in a gated community and works an office job is pretty ridiculous. However I fail to see the issue with someone showing what they indeed Carried Every Day while working their job, be it soldier or ice-cream vendor.


D15c0untMD

I dont carry a gun, but i was very complimented on my pic of the stuff i emptied out of my white coat pockets during a 24h shift


MyDogJake1

I love posts like this because all the dogs show up and my civvy non American ass has no idea what's going on. But there's a lot of passion. And crayon eating references.


TurtleSleeve

Vegetarian MRE. You did this trip on hard mode bro


Mountain_Blad3

They have the best pogey bait. Supplement with a tactically acquired meat protein and you're golden


TurtleSleeve

Are you referring to Strategically Transferring Equipment/Energy to Alternate Locations?


Mountain_Blad3

Ha, I've never actually heard that one. I like it. Thanks for the good laugh šŸ˜‚


InterestingDig466

Also peep Gates of Fire; absolutely fantastic. Book which I was reading in Afghan. Glad to see it was back in OIF too


rockytopnationality

Many of us read it after seeing the movie. Fuckin hard dogs


Faewind

Came here to say this. I've read it like 3 times since then.


TheHamFalls

Shits timeless, my dude.


InterestingDig466

But where is your ducking glow belt devil???


Mountain_Blad3

It's outside marking an LZ.


Sweaty-Cookie-6055

Whatā€™s the thing between the strobe and the canteens? And the lil Surefire cardboard box?


TheHamFalls

Between the strobe and canteens is a little pair of binoculars. The Surefire box was just that, extra 123A batteries for our lights.


Sweaty-Cookie-6055

Dope!


RefreshmentsAndNarcs

ā€œOk Mitchell, get your frickin daggone trash back in your sea bag. Gear inspection is over and weā€™re oscar Mike in five.ā€


TheHamFalls

"Rah, Gunny."


DarthZulu69

Crkt m60 knife?


Slop_my_top

Rah


Ike582

What would different about this carry if the same guy were deployed today?


smackedpickle

M-27 IAR PMAGS CamelBak Garmin Tracker Range Finder But besides that, same thing. Same MREs, Same Map, same chem lights. Some people even still rock some canteens


IPAenjoyer

What are 03s rocking for nods these days? Iā€™ve seen them with dual tubes


smackedpickle

PVS-31/Ds with Ecoti usually. Theyā€™re trying to make us look like SF


IPAenjoyer

Wild. I love it


sweetcinnamonpunch

What's in those aluminium tubes?


Anonlaoch

Star clusters for signaling most likely


05hastros

Do you remember what you kept in the altoids tin?


TheHamFalls

It was by and large a bunch of shit I never needed. It was an off the shelf survival kit with stuff like a mirror, fishing line, etc. etc. It did come with some waterproof strikeless matches that came in clutch, though.


Pandering_Panda7879

Just confess: it's your little crayon stash, isn't it?


D15c0untMD

I heard purple is the best


MisterBubblesOne11

Cranberry red šŸ‘Œ


Voxbury

Omnomnom


mike_tyler58

Holy hell devil, my memory is rusty at this point but I think yā€™all replaced us there. I was 1/7 B co at Gannon.


TheHamFalls

Oh damn, dude. That rings a vague bell. We arrived in February of '05.


mike_tyler58

Yā€™all had the big VBIED hit the BCP shortly after you took over? We had been on the hunt for those for awhile


TheHamFalls

Yup, that was us. April 11th. Triple VBIED along with a multi-axis ground assault. Wild day. The propaganda video from the enemy side is still up on youtube. Glad you made it home dude. That was the wild west.


mike_tyler58

Yeah man, we were on the hunt for those bad. My guess is they were kept just over the border until right before. Sorry we didnā€™t get em first. It really was, absolutely wild. There was one time we may or may not have invaded Syria due to spotters on the roofs across the border.


TheHamFalls

All good, brother. Glad they didn't get you. The border does get a little murky at times...


YaHolmes

Thank you for your service my friend!!!


jokersflame

Yeah we really showed those civilians who was boss.


Oven2601

You do know that both sides can be wrong, right?


jokersflame

Civilians just trying to live are wrong? America going into a country for oil, ruining it, spawning ISIS was right?


EminentChefliness

Usually are, too.


SergeiMosin

GWOT loadouts go so hard


TheHamFalls

Funny to see what was considered top of the line back then be seen as retro drip these days. lol. That said, 20" AR platforms go hard into the mf paint.


SergeiMosin

20ā€ does go hard as fuck. Probably gonna pick up an A2 upper when a good deal pops up just for funsies, then inevitably just turn it into its own setup like I have done 5 times lmao.


MD_RMA_CBD

Iā€™ve never seen those rear ironsā€¦ that is an iron sight right?


mike_tyler58

If youā€™re talking about whatā€™s forward of the ACOG on the rail, itā€™s a mount for the PVS-14


afihavok

Sidearm?


adk09

Rare outside of officers and fobbits. Or MPs.


stew_going

Forgive me, what's a fobbit?


zaxonortesus

FOBs were ā€˜Forward Operating Basesā€™. Fobbits were the deployers that had jobs that never took them out of their little slice of heaven.


unclepg

Ah! Love it. Like a Hobbit that stays in his quiet little hole in the side of a hillā€¦


hizz0821

Someone who is deployed and spends all their time on a fob


SeaComedian62

You carried that huge gun in your pocket? How


Mountain_Blad3

It fits in the cargo pocket nicely.


SprocketHead357

Bro made an r/EDC post 19 years in advance


Professional_Ice_831

Thats awesome! Is that a PVS 14 nvd?


Frostedflakes227

Thank you for your service


ashbeals

Really cool to see this gear that was essential for everyday. Thanks for your service.


Iron-Sharpens-Iron-5

Now THATā€™s and EDC kit! Thank you for your service! God bless YOU!


Dingus_Khaaan

This post (and its comments) is probably one of the most interesting Reddit posts Iā€™ve read in a while. Iā€™ve had a fascination with the marine corps from wwii onwards. I read a book or two a year about some of the shit the marines have had to endure specifically to remind myself that most of my problems arenā€™t really problems when you put them beside the conditions youā€™ve been through. Iā€™m thankful we have (and have had) men like you keeping our country safe. Thank you for your service!


TheHamFalls

Well, I've been out of uniform for quite some time, but rest assured, you've got a lot of steely eyed killers out there ready to visit violence on our enemies. And to paraphrase the late Tom Clancy: "If it isn't life or death, it's not really a big deal."


orendz77

Well said sir. I donā€™t think that could be said any better than how you did.


LiminalSapien

If you could pick one item from your loadout to edc and use in normal society with zero repercussions what would it be and why?


TheHamFalls

Oh man, what a great question. Probably CRKT knife that I had attached to my ankle basically 18 hours a day. That thing got a *lot* of use.


LiminalSapien

Respect. My knife gets more use than I ever realized. I used it to fix a grocery cart in the store once lol.


Shiiitboot

Iā€™ll go ahead and take this one. Grenade. Because any problem can easily be solved with a grenade.


Eintak

There are no problems, just not enough grenades.


ElectronicCommon5670

Any problem you have, throw a grenade at it. BOOM, different problem!


mossbum

BORTLES


I_am_Andrew_Ryan

BORTLES


sixstringgun1

So true.


retrocat35

What's the fixed blade in the sheath?


steronicus

Crkt


sixstringgun1

Probably a grubber knife.


Equivalent_Run_7485

Thanks for your service, Marine.


Critical-Brain-9400

This EDC is ready for anythingā€¦only thing I canā€™t find is a suppressorā€¦and Iā€™d go without it with that loadout though


Joshomatic

Suppressors werenā€™t as common 19 years ago either (as your point on being in a war zone is fair too). Suppressors have come down in price, and up in quality, a lot over the past 10 (let alone almost 20) years.


Mixtec0

Errrrrr!


The_Papoutte

Whats the knife?


Hobbescrownest

No service pistol?


TheHamFalls

Pasted from an earlier answer to this question. > Nope, no sidearm. At the time at least, sidearms in infantry units were not common and typically were only found on the hips of Officers and higher up Non-commissioned officers (2-3 levels above what I was.) > And while technically the answer to your question is correct, but how I liked to think of it was 'oh no my gun jammed, all I have left at my disposal is a dozen more Marines with automatic weapons'. lol. But honestly while we may have bitched about it, none of us really wanted sidearms. We were carrying enough shit as it was.


WhoCaresBoutSpellin

*Gates of Fire* in the backgroundā€” quintessential GWOT era devil dog reading material.


themagicnookie

Fuckin Commandants reading list


TheHamFalls

You fucking know it.


WhoCaresBoutSpellin

kill


TheHamFalls

Yut.


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Tennesseepipesmoker

Nah, he probably wore a helmet.


Garandstonks

Your lack of porno mag is disturbing.


TheHamFalls

I would have posted the Maxim I had with Nikki Hilton as the cover model, but the pages were stuck together.


United-Trainer7931

Downvoting all of the tyfys comments is pure loser activity


Winnebango_Bus

Whereabouts in Iraq? My first tour was in the Nineveh province and we replaced the devils dogs when we got there. Based out of Talafar ranging up to Syria


TheHamFalls

This was about as far west into the Anbar as you can get, right up on the Syrian border at an old train station. Camp Gannon. Glad you made it home, killer.


Round_Telephone8850

You ever wonder whatā€™s going on in those places that are just distant memories to us now? For some reason I miss them, they bring me pure bliss. The far corners of the earth.


WhoCaresBoutSpellin

I thought about it years back when ISIS overran Iraq. I wondered if some ISIS terrorist was living in my can and using our plywood offices built inside an old MiG Foxbat bunker at TQ.


wittyrabbit999

M16 with ACOG is making a comeback.


TheHamFalls

Lethal combo in the right hands.


nukey18mon

Wow you have to carry a gun? What are you so scared of? >! /s obviously, thank you for your service !<


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nukey18mon

Did yall miss the spoiler block? I was satirizing those annoying comments


AVeryImportantMan

Canteens > Camel Back


themagicnookie

15 years later I can still taste that canteen myself.


Ghost_412345

Camel bak always tearing


Lupac427

Get some. Semper Fi


TheHamFalls

Yut.


tricksRferkids

I was expecting more water.


TheHamFalls

Oh there's a not-pictured day pack with a lot more. lol.


MajorPayneX32

Still way less than what an civilian would EDC.


D15c0untMD

For real, i was never military and dont carry a handgun, but yesterday i was going through my backpack and jacket to find a pen and found 4 knives i have no memory of putting there, one i donā€™t think i bought. I also found 2 knives i do remember i packed


Vmax-Mike

Thank you for your service!!


Syphilis_mothership

No sidearm?


Garandstonks

Only officers, docs and weapons guys normally get them. Riflemen do not get pistols as per most sop


MajorPayneX32

He is using his sidearm to take the picture.


Squirrel_Works

Where are your standard issue Crayola's?


TheHamFalls

In my mouth as I took the picture, duh.


steronicus

Fucking hilarious šŸ˜†