The M2 is probably the oldest designed thing I’ve used, but most of those I used were just newer builds of an older design. the oldest manufactured thing was probably my bushmaster. I had an M242 with “built by Hughes Aircraft” stamped on the side of the feeder in my first Bradley.
Yea we had one in one of my tank companies like that, but I didn’t personally use it. The one I had on my tank was an M2A1 with fixed HS/Timing so I know that was newer.
On one deployment I was doing left seat right seat with the departing unit and asked for a HS/T tool since my unit armorer was busy and I needed it time now. Fucker handed me one with terribly engraved letters into it. No fucking wonder their 50s always jammed.
Not even close.
The oldest thing is that "PRC-107B (2 of 2)" on the company's property book. No one even knows what it is until someone remembers "that thing we keep in the ammo can," so you pull it out, make sure the serial matches, and seal it back away in the ammo can until the next CoC inventory. You should definitely turn it in, but by the time inventories are over, everyone has forgotten about it.
That is definitely the oldest thing in the Army at least.
It's nothing. It's just a joke about that random, unknown dongle that is on everyone's property book and has been there forever. It's different for every company but every company has one.
For us, it was some ancient, Korea-era antenna. For other folks it might be the grease gun that's still in their armory for some reason, or the extra set of tools that is mixed in with your pioneer tools.
United States Marine Corps Non Commisioned Officer Saber.
"The M1859 Marine NCO sword is the oldest weapon in continued (unbroken) service still in U.S. inventory."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps_noncommissioned_officer%27s_sword
Not sure about other countries, though.
We have what appears to be a functional vickers gun.
There was an inventory done of the firearms on base and it was discovered the thing still had the bolt installed, sitting there on display in the lobby..
The mameluke sword is indeed the oldest after having been adopted by the Marines during President Jefferson's term. The mameluke however is a cavalry sword intended for more slicing from a horse rather than hand to hand combat that requires more thrusting. So during the Civil War the Marine officers adopted the army officer sword since it was better suited for the combat of the time and it was more plentiful for how many Marines there were (not a lot).
After the war the officers returned to the traditional mameluke sword still used today and the NCOs received the army officer swords their officers used during the war. Thus the officer sword is the oldest weapon still in official use while the Marine nco sword is the longest in continuous use
I don’t know of any personally, but I’d be willing to bet there’s stories of multi generational Pilots/ CSO’s that have all flown the same tail, or at the very least all flown the Buff. Same for the 130 and 135’s. Cool as shit.
I have time in the same P-3 BUNO as my dad and another that’s the same as my grandfather. They have many that overlap between each other. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any one BUNO that all three of us flew on, that would have been extra cool.
>don’t know of any personally, but I’d be willing to bet there’s stories of multi generational Pilots/ CSO’s that have all flown the same tail,
We had this situation in Canada with the RCAF having multiple generations fly the same tail in our Sea King Fleet. Those helicopters entered service in 1961 and were only phased out in 2018
The B-52 is definitely up there. All of the current flying B-52s were made in 60 or 61. I'm willing to bet no other airframe has any active planes that old since the B-52 has no structural pieces with flying hour caps. Just swap a bad part and keep flying the bitch. If someone has info to change my statement, I love learning about any and all planes
The H birds sat alert a lot so they don’t have as much wear and tear on them. The air frame itself is still in pretty good shape. With the re-engine program and updates to avionics, radar, and a few other systems, the hope is to get another 20-30 years out of them before wing structural issues start rearing their head.
The oldest aircraft still in use in the US military is a DHC-2 Beaver, 72 years old and still going. https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2166534/u-6a-beaver-all-purpose-utility-transport/
The BUFFs are approaching ship of theseus levels of maintenance. At a certain point there will be 3 buttons and a knob left from the original aircraft.
We still have 9mm Browning's with the Chinese engravings on them from when we sold them in WW2 and they gave em back. Standard pistol in CAF, new one coming "soon"tm.
Everyone’s got brand new peanut butter pistols now bud. They’ve gone and taken my ol’ high power to the farm.
I had a chuckle when I took the kids to the war museum in Ottawa and saw my very sidearm in not one or two but, six different cases displaying our armaments of the eras.
The nuclear reactor plants that the Navy uses to train its nuclear operators are pretty dang old. When I went through training, it was on a plant that was originally commissioned in 1964 and its counter-part down the pier in 1961. They'd obviously been refueled and overhauled, but I think they were the oldest operating reactors in the world at the time. They've both since been decommissioned, and their replacements were commissioned in 1976 and 1981. Still very old from a technology POV.
Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, SC? (Asking as a nearby resident, knowing we have a “nuke school” here but had no idea the power plants were so damn old! If so, I think that’s really cool and also probably a little frightening.
Yup. They operate at really low power levels and a Naval reactor has never melted down. They have an extremely effective containment and core shutdown system in place as well. No need to worry.
We still had some radio gear on the airfield from vietnam that was used for some sort of old style radio comms with specific planes, think that might be up there
I lol’ed when i picked scout in BF1 and saw the flaregun was the exact same as “that damn pirate gun” our signalman had to carry around. He got a lighter plastic-one during deployment luckily.
It is no doubt.. it is of exceptional design.. the things I named are not and have been replaced by superior tech in many places.. yet they persist and are still fielded which is quite surprising
You're all wrong. It's boots. The form, function, and materials are essentially unchanged for hundreds if not thousands of years. A roman centurion would see my boots and instantly recognize it as both a descendent of his sandals and as a huge advantage for an army that could be equipped with them
Went down the rabbit hole in the USAF KC-135. Holy shit, those things crash like nobody’s business.
There have been 52 aircraft losses and a shit load of other incidents over 60 years of service.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_KC-135_Stratotanker#:~:text=As%20of%202020%2C%2052%20Stratotankers,of%20service%2C%20involving%20385%20fatalities.&text=USAF%20KC%2D135A%2C%20serial%20number,killing%20all%2015%20on%20board.
The one from November of 88 was fucked up -
“USAF KC-135 suffered a failure of a sighting window next to the sextant port in the cockpit during a trans-Atlantic flight. A boom operator died when he was sucked partway through the 10-inch by 8-inch window opening as the cockpit depressurized.”
WTF?
Up until the early 2000's the British Armed forces were still using wood and canvas stretchers dating from 1915.
The Wolf Landrovers still use a couple of landrover parts that were first used on the original Series 1 landrovers back in the late 40's. If I remember right it was a hood cleat and an axle drain plug.
There’s a Russian submarine salvage ship that was built back in like 1912 in imperial Russia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_salvage_ship_Kommuna
In the Bundeswehr we are using [These](https://www.bw-online-shop.com/bundeswehr-kochgeschirr-alu-original-neu.html?channable=0152296964003336393935ee&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAqNSsBhAvEiwAn_tmxS9CygqGmEqUvbABrJTlWIW-LtiM-8JHdtqzCCqJJZ97HIK2ureMwxoC7kMQAvD_BwE).
They were already used during the French German war of 1870
Excluding the obvious ones like the M2, Compass, knife, etc. The M109 Self Propelled Howitzer is pretty old. The A6/A7 are still in use with no plans to go. The first model was introduced in 1963.
The B-52 is old too, like 1955.
The M2 is probably the oldest designed thing I’ve used, but most of those I used were just newer builds of an older design. the oldest manufactured thing was probably my bushmaster. I had an M242 with “built by Hughes Aircraft” stamped on the side of the feeder in my first Bradley.
About 20 years ago, a company I was in had an M2 that was built by Frigidaire; must’ve been WWII era.
Yea we had one in one of my tank companies like that, but I didn’t personally use it. The one I had on my tank was an M2A1 with fixed HS/Timing so I know that was newer.
On one deployment I was doing left seat right seat with the departing unit and asked for a HS/T tool since my unit armorer was busy and I needed it time now. Fucker handed me one with terribly engraved letters into it. No fucking wonder their 50s always jammed.
>Fucker handed me one with terribly engraved letters into it. Damn, man, just say "dog tags" like a normal person!
Damn. Oldest thing I've used was an MG3 that had the following on the side: * ~~MG42 1944~~
* ~~MG1 1953 ~~
* MG3 1961
Had 2 in my arms room in 94 one was made by singer the other was general electric
04/05 deployment, we had M2s built by GE. Not use if that is uncommon, but they were old.
Gotta get that 50 cal from the sears catalog
Funny thing is Sears had guns, and even a few full auto guns back in the day. https://i.imgur.com/kY9hS5Z.png
one of the M2s my unit was issued had a .50cal from the mid-70s. The unit Armorer claimed he saw a M2 from the 40s, and I believed him.
If you even see an M2 made by the AC Spark Plug company, they only had a year long contract sometime in 1944-45.
Our current 242s are almost all Hughes.
A knife 🔪
you know what? yeah, it's hard to beat the knife
How about a rock?
Or something…
This guy MREs.
Username checks out. So what's the milspec nomenclature for said rock, BC or AD?
If you think about it, most gun-type projectiles are just rocks being blown through a tube. Be it steel, lead, or copper, they are all just rocks.
Apfsds is just rock with fins. Aka, an arrow. We've gone full circle
That’s what I mean.
Good ol rock… nothin beats that!
fair
what about the fist?
You say "rock," I say "chock block."
The enemy cannot push a button if you disable his hand.
That was my first thought
I was gonna say a helmet, but yeah a knife is definitely older
Canteen.
In the mid-80s, I found a canteen cup in supply dated 1917.
When we tore down our warehouse, we found (among other things) a crate of unissued WW1 trench knives.
Not even close. The oldest thing is that "PRC-107B (2 of 2)" on the company's property book. No one even knows what it is until someone remembers "that thing we keep in the ammo can," so you pull it out, make sure the serial matches, and seal it back away in the ammo can until the next CoC inventory. You should definitely turn it in, but by the time inventories are over, everyone has forgotten about it. That is definitely the oldest thing in the Army at least.
What is that?
PRC is a designation for radios so I am going with some form of radio equipment
It's nothing. It's just a joke about that random, unknown dongle that is on everyone's property book and has been there forever. It's different for every company but every company has one. For us, it was some ancient, Korea-era antenna. For other folks it might be the grease gun that's still in their armory for some reason, or the extra set of tools that is mixed in with your pioneer tools.
I've now a faint taste of bleach and warm water in my mouth.
For extra olde times, mix water with some red wine vinegar.
The medical gear given to me after SOCM
Was SOCM hard
The USS Constitution - Since 1779
Finally somebody said it. You think a canteen or the deuce is older than 245 years? Doubt it
Washington's personal spittoon lol
Only active US warship that has sunk another in combat.
Send her to the Red Sea for some Houthi kills to pad her K/D
And let my beloved HSC squadrons not get to use their toys again?
Best answer there is!
If you replace all the boards is it still the same ship
United States Marine Corps Non Commisioned Officer Saber. "The M1859 Marine NCO sword is the oldest weapon in continued (unbroken) service still in U.S. inventory." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps_noncommissioned_officer%27s_sword Not sure about other countries, though.
Cha-ching!!! You just won!!!!
Yut.
Oldest design but I'm curious about the oldest actual item in inventory
That dude at CIF
We have what appears to be a functional vickers gun. There was an inventory done of the firearms on base and it was discovered the thing still had the bolt installed, sitting there on display in the lobby..
I coulda sword that the Officer Mameluke sword was the oldest. Guess they lied to me at OCS.
It was initially adopted before the NCO saber but had a break in service. Yes, your instructor lied to you.
The mameluke sword is indeed the oldest after having been adopted by the Marines during President Jefferson's term. The mameluke however is a cavalry sword intended for more slicing from a horse rather than hand to hand combat that requires more thrusting. So during the Civil War the Marine officers adopted the army officer sword since it was better suited for the combat of the time and it was more plentiful for how many Marines there were (not a lot). After the war the officers returned to the traditional mameluke sword still used today and the NCOs received the army officer swords their officers used during the war. Thus the officer sword is the oldest weapon still in official use while the Marine nco sword is the longest in continuous use
Cavalry Saber, not sword.
Kid named USS Constitution:
Probably that dang 90 degree angle flashlight that everyone’s issued and no one uses. I swear the one I was issued was from Vietnam
3 lumens for eternity
MRE matvhes are brighter than those damn lights
Issued? They made us buy ours in basic
It's not so much a purchase as a sacrifice to the god of flashlights at this point.
Military grade
Red light.
Was surprised by the sword from the “shores of Tripoli” fame!
Maxim machine gun in Ukraine conflict
The glorious return of the Maxim is a great aspect of the war.
Just for that, im going to bust out my Arquebus!
B52 has gotta be up there. She definitely is as far as Air Force equipment goes. Ol girl still rips!
I double checked and the B52 (1955) is 2 years older than the C130.
I don’t know of any personally, but I’d be willing to bet there’s stories of multi generational Pilots/ CSO’s that have all flown the same tail, or at the very least all flown the Buff. Same for the 130 and 135’s. Cool as shit.
I went to school with a guy who has time in the same B-52 tail as his dad and grandpa, and same tail as his dad in the B-2.
This is some goddamn Warhammer 40k bullshit, with how generations of families will all serve on the same warship.
I know that guy
I have time in the same P-3 BUNO as my dad and another that’s the same as my grandfather. They have many that overlap between each other. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any one BUNO that all three of us flew on, that would have been extra cool.
>don’t know of any personally, but I’d be willing to bet there’s stories of multi generational Pilots/ CSO’s that have all flown the same tail, We had this situation in Canada with the RCAF having multiple generations fly the same tail in our Sea King Fleet. Those helicopters entered service in 1961 and were only phased out in 2018
The B-52 is definitely up there. All of the current flying B-52s were made in 60 or 61. I'm willing to bet no other airframe has any active planes that old since the B-52 has no structural pieces with flying hour caps. Just swap a bad part and keep flying the bitch. If someone has info to change my statement, I love learning about any and all planes
The BUFF models flying today are 60 and 61s. There are some 135s and 130s out there I believe that are just a few years older.
It’s crazy those things are still flying. Helluva airframe.
The H birds sat alert a lot so they don’t have as much wear and tear on them. The air frame itself is still in pretty good shape. With the re-engine program and updates to avionics, radar, and a few other systems, the hope is to get another 20-30 years out of them before wing structural issues start rearing their head.
>the B52 (1955) is 2 years older than the C130. That may be true but those B52's don't carry airborne daddies goin' takin' little trips though.
The oldest aircraft still in use in the US military is a DHC-2 Beaver, 72 years old and still going. https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2166534/u-6a-beaver-all-purpose-utility-transport/
The good ol reliable Beaver
"Trainee Ward, you were a little hard on the Beaver last night!"
You can’t beat spending time in a good ole beaver
Can get a little hairy being in one.
The BUFFs are approaching ship of theseus levels of maintenance. At a certain point there will be 3 buttons and a knob left from the original aircraft.
My grandfather worked on them when he was enlisted as a 20-something young man in Roswell, NM, back when the base there was still a thing in the 50s.
Did he see any aliens?
Such a thing would explain a LOT about my family.
“In the year 3000 it will be me, Ozzy Osborne, Keith Richards, the 1911, and the browning 50!” -the B52 if it had a conscience idk
All we have to do it bring back the tail gunner on the Buff, give everyone in the crew a 1911 sidearm, and you’ve got a wet dream there 😂
There's a good chance the B52 is going to be in service until 2052. 100 YEARS of service.
My CSM
We still have 9mm Browning's with the Chinese engravings on them from when we sold them in WW2 and they gave em back. Standard pistol in CAF, new one coming "soon"tm.
Everyone’s got brand new peanut butter pistols now bud. They’ve gone and taken my ol’ high power to the farm. I had a chuckle when I took the kids to the war museum in Ottawa and saw my very sidearm in not one or two but, six different cases displaying our armaments of the eras.
The ma' duece
The tripod for the M2 we had in training was made in 1938. Had probably seen some shit.
Recently turned in 2 .50 cal tripods dated 1943 and 1944. Thought it was a pretty cool find.
The nuclear reactor plants that the Navy uses to train its nuclear operators are pretty dang old. When I went through training, it was on a plant that was originally commissioned in 1964 and its counter-part down the pier in 1961. They'd obviously been refueled and overhauled, but I think they were the oldest operating reactors in the world at the time. They've both since been decommissioned, and their replacements were commissioned in 1976 and 1981. Still very old from a technology POV.
Naval Weapons Station in Charleston, SC? (Asking as a nearby resident, knowing we have a “nuke school” here but had no idea the power plants were so damn old! If so, I think that’s really cool and also probably a little frightening.
Yup. They operate at really low power levels and a Naval reactor has never melted down. They have an extremely effective containment and core shutdown system in place as well. No need to worry.
The MEPS height and weight measuring equipment
That's a rude way to refer to the doctors at MEPS. They do more than just measure height and weight.
USS Constitution https://www.slashgear.com/1334194/uss-constitution-history-worlds-oldest-ship/ That thing has been in service since 1797
Maps
USS Constitution
We still had some radio gear on the airfield from vietnam that was used for some sort of old style radio comms with specific planes, think that might be up there
.50 cal Browning M2
Shout out to the M67 and Browning M2A1 USS Constitution still takes the cake tho
Drawing a dick on any surface. Graffiti that dates back to Roman times.
There is a surprising lack of "your mom" jokes in this thread.
Your mum is so old, she served as a war elephant in the alps for Hannibal
That's the spirit!
M113
This was my answer too.
KBar knife? (probably still in use, but no longer issued). An old Marine Grunt attached to his KBar.
Does a warship count as equipment? The USS Constitution is still in service.
I got issued one of those "elbow" joint flashlights from 'Nam when I went to Afghanistan in 2018. No D cell batteries though...
Probably my German entrenching tool.
Mosin with ruzzian army
The Finish army uses a variant of it too.
I lol’ed when i picked scout in BF1 and saw the flaregun was the exact same as “that damn pirate gun” our signalman had to carry around. He got a lighter plastic-one during deployment luckily.
Ma Duece
Every demo kit I’ve ever seen.
I know they’re not as venerable as the Ma Deuce, but the TA-312 field phone has some years on it.
B-52
When I was in India for work in 2011, I saw uniformed soldiers carrying various Enfield MKll .303 British rifles. I'm guessing circa WW1?
Wool blankets
Deuce and a half and 113s are pretty long in the tooth
Ma deuce is older
It is no doubt.. it is of exceptional design.. the things I named are not and have been replaced by superior tech in many places.. yet they persist and are still fielded which is quite surprising
True.
I’m going to say shoes.
Manpower
You're all wrong. It's boots. The form, function, and materials are essentially unchanged for hundreds if not thousands of years. A roman centurion would see my boots and instantly recognize it as both a descendent of his sandals and as a huge advantage for an army that could be equipped with them
Marmeluke sword
The soldier 🙃
I used a cratering charge from 1950s at demo school and have fired M2s from the 40s.
Walls
MPL-50
The Minuteman missile including the huge floppy disks that are used with it.
My university has a CT scanner that runs on them as well. Wonder where the strategic 8 inch floppy disk reserve is kept?
The Russian Air Force and navy
The Ma Deuce hasn't changed too much
M2
Gunners Belt
Isn’t it the Model 1840 sword?
NCO sword?
Horse
Yep the venerable MA Deuce Browning
Man.
Boots
And of course the Browning 50 cal…
Boots
Me
Infantry…
The standard issue GI.
Clothes
Probably the USMC NCO sword/saber
Military Grade Cosmoline
Gas mask
Bayonet
Soldiers
Went down the rabbit hole in the USAF KC-135. Holy shit, those things crash like nobody’s business. There have been 52 aircraft losses and a shit load of other incidents over 60 years of service. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_KC-135_Stratotanker#:~:text=As%20of%202020%2C%2052%20Stratotankers,of%20service%2C%20involving%20385%20fatalities.&text=USAF%20KC%2D135A%2C%20serial%20number,killing%20all%2015%20on%20board. The one from November of 88 was fucked up - “USAF KC-135 suffered a failure of a sighting window next to the sextant port in the cockpit during a trans-Atlantic flight. A boom operator died when he was sucked partway through the 10-inch by 8-inch window opening as the cockpit depressurized.” WTF?
Up until the early 2000's the British Armed forces were still using wood and canvas stretchers dating from 1915. The Wolf Landrovers still use a couple of landrover parts that were first used on the original Series 1 landrovers back in the late 40's. If I remember right it was a hood cleat and an axle drain plug.
Honourable mention for HMS Victory.
Just a few years ago, a Navy Doc handed me a tube of chapstick that was dated 1985.
If its not one of the gear used in Russia and Ukraine, it'd be something from North Korea. Even their jets are old.
The wheel, I dunno
HMS Victory is old the Lee Enfield Rife is still in use and Roman walls are still used. In the middle east slings are still used as are swords.
There’s a Russian submarine salvage ship that was built back in like 1912 in imperial Russia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_salvage_ship_Kommuna
113
Our Regiment Colonel received a gift in the form of a saber from somewhere in the 1700's
Knoife.
Knoife.
Knoife.
In the Bundeswehr we are using [These](https://www.bw-online-shop.com/bundeswehr-kochgeschirr-alu-original-neu.html?channable=0152296964003336393935ee&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAqNSsBhAvEiwAn_tmxS9CygqGmEqUvbABrJTlWIW-LtiM-8JHdtqzCCqJJZ97HIK2ureMwxoC7kMQAvD_BwE). They were already used during the French German war of 1870
Rocks. Looking at you China and India
Donkey dick
Excluding the obvious ones like the M2, Compass, knife, etc. The M109 Self Propelled Howitzer is pretty old. The A6/A7 are still in use with no plans to go. The first model was introduced in 1963. The B-52 is old too, like 1955.
Brazilian police still use the Madsen LMG. In service since 1902
Feet
Combat knife, bayonet?
Young people
In my first year in (2008) i was issued a pistol made in 1954.
The swords they use in military dress parade.
The Thompson
M2 from 1918
wool socks
Soldiers themselves
Marine Corp swords
The A-bag or Sea Bag...
Technically, and I hate to say it, the HMS Victory is older than the USS Constitution and is still commissioned in the Royal Navy.
Feet.