Survival Gear

[Guest theflash2000@hotmail.com]

Does the air force issue a survival knife to pilots? If so, what knife do they issue them? If not, is there a universal knife they use, or something? Thanks.

[HerkDerka]

None issued. At least I've never been "issued" one. Survival vests normally have a bolt knife and a small pocket knife. You can find good boot knives in your local military clothing store.

HD

[C17Driver]

The squadron's at McChord have been issuing someting like the Leatherman PST II:

http://www.tacticalproshop.com/lepstiito.html

And some of the squadron's have been issuing the benchmade:

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_de...tml?s=BM3500SBT

But by no means is it standard. Just depends on what the squadron decides to get. Changes from year to year and squadron to squadron and availability of funds.

[Guest deweygcc]

Did you guys know that is it ILLEGAL to take the survival knife from its case unless in a situation to use it. UCMJ States this..... I wonder what broguht this law on? Maybe someone snapped in the jet.

[Guest skipplet]

Making it illegal to take the knife out of its case isn't going to make someone think twice about having a mental breakdown.

[Hacker]

Originally posted by deweygcc:

Did you guys know that is it ILLEGAL to take the survival knife from its case unless in a situation to use it. UCMJ States this...

What's your reference? What UCMJ article addresses this subject?

[Guest C-130 Nav]

I got one issued at the end of Nav School (before going to Survival School). I'm not sure what kind/brand it is. All I can tell is that it is orange and has a spring-loaded blade and a hook (probably to be used with the parachute). However, it didn't come with a case so I guess I'm illegal.

[Guest AirGuardian]

I hope it's a trend to issue the knives at the end of training, since I've known too many folks who would have whipped it out and used it on themselves or another for earning a TACO/unsat... during training.

I prefer my own knife anyway to anything they could have given me.

Bought in Turkey, $2.50, Spring Blade, nearly priceless...

[Guest Metalhead]

They gave me the orange switchblade. But the spingload was on the straight blade and not the hook. I heard this was a manufacturing error. The thing was a piece of shit anyway. The blade was like the edge of a piece of tin and was loose when it was open. But it was issued.

Me and my Nav did get handcuffed because of that thing once though. (Long hilarious storry that requires many beers before I´ll tell it)

[Guest ruckerstud]

I'm wondering who carries what in their personal survival kits? For the dudes with ejection seats, can you really carry that much? And for the folks in bigger aircraft, do you carry a bag with extra gear, or just have stuff in the aircraft? Is it something you only carry when you are deployed or when you are home too?

[Clayton Bigsby]

I'm in a C-17; no chance for personal gear, besides what I have in my baggage/backpack. The parachutes and seat kits stay with the plane, and a strong rumor has it those may disappear as well.

[Stuck]

I've got one on topic: Can you carry personal weapons with you on your survival vest? Knife/Sidearm?

[brabus]

I've heard you can't carry personal weapons...gotta use the Beretta...or .357 (I heard they were going to that). Totally sucks because I KNOW my Glock doesn't f*ck up and I can shoot it straight as an arrow. I'd definitely want that pistol with me if I was every down...but hey, guess I'm stuck with the shitty beretta.

[Guest KoolKat]

If your ever down...I suggest you can sing your EPA backwards, and are patient enough move quickly, but not too quckly and don't even need your glock.

If you need your glock, your life is going really, really, really bad.

BENDY

EDIT: For the question though, I have a kit that I can put in my bag to grab if it ever happened. It has water, chew/dip, IR light, mirror, matches, socks, and a compass. I never take it with me, since all I do is training flights, but I have it.

[ 26. March 2006, 02:43: Message edited by: Bender ]

[Toro]

Originally posted by ruckerstud:

I'm wondering who carries what in their personal survival kits? For the dudes with ejection seats, can you really carry that much?

If you're talking about the issued survival vest, their isn't a whole lot of room in there, but there is a lot of crap crammed in there. GPS, signaling mirror, flares, water, water purifier tablets, radio to name a few. Oh, and there are condoms that apparently they want you to use for 'collecting water'. If you're talking about a no-kidding personal survival kit, some guys will add a couple items to their own kit, but again, there isn't much room in there.

Originally posted by ruckerstud:

Is it something you only carry when you are deployed or when you are home too?

At Seymour we have to wear them when we are flying mountainous low levels or when we fly over the water at night.

Originally posted by stuck:

I've got one on topic: Can you carry personal weapons with you on your survival vest? Knife/Sidearm?

Knife, yes: lots of guys fly with their own personal knives either tucked in their boot or in their G suit. Sidearm, no: You're only supposed to carry the issue 9mm. In the Gulf War, though, a lot of F-15E dudes didn't want to meet the Abis face-to-face with the (at the time) issued six-shot .38, so they went out and bought their own 9mm before they deployed.

[Guest ruckerstud]

I was talking more about like backpack with stuff you figured would be more valuable, as opposed to the issued survival vest. Or stuff you carried on your person i.e. cell phone for stateside flights etc. For stuck, pretty much everyone carries at least one knife with them, FEs have a reputation for carrying many knives (leatherman, boot knife, and a pocket knife or something like that)

[GBock]

I know a guy who wears a survival vest in the tanker. Filled right up with PB&J sandwiches, pudding packs, plastic ware, Dr. Peppers, and TP. All the essentials you gotta have flying the mighty -135.

[Hacker]

Originally posted by brabus:

Totally sucks because I KNOW my Glock doesn't f*ck up and I can shoot it straight as an arrow. I'd definitely want that pistol with me if I was every down...but hey, guess I'm stuck with the shitty beretta.

I'd be interested to know specifically why you do not like the 92FS and why you do like whatever Glock it is you own.

Although the 92FS is not featured prominently in much Gangsta Rap, it's still a good handgun and doesn't really have any poor design features (other than it is large framed and shoots a smallish round. The Beretta is suited for a pilot sidearm nicely. For the survival scenarios we're talking about, I can't think of anything "Glock Perfection" provides that your Beretta can't.

But really...c'mon, if you're gonna b*tch about the M9 at least say that you'd replace it with something manly (e.g. 1911) and not some Tupperware gun.

[Guest gonads]

But really...c'mon, if you're gonna b*tch about the M9 at least say that you'd replace it with something manly (e.g. 1911) and not some Tupperware gun. [/QB]

Good point. Wait until you go to survival school to figure out when you would need a weapon in a "downed" situation before you try figuring out what kind of weapon you "need". Not trying to be rude or tell you to shut up and color, but trust me, you have a lot of work left to do before you can worry about what firearm you are carrying in the cockpit.

[busdriver]

we always joked that the course of fire for the M9 should include a section where you run away from the target and shoot over your shoulder.

[Mark1]

The PDW is a fun weapon to fire but it wouldn't really provide any meaningfull benefit over a handgun for this application. Also its length (with folded stock) is pretty damn compact, but its much more bulky than a M9. If you're looking for accuracy in a small package a bullpup design would be a good place to start, but I can't think of any prominent bullpup SMGs. Plus, as was mentioned, accuracy isn't really an issue.

[Guest Hydro130]

I had a kit very similar to CH's each time I went to the container. I kept all the goods in a small, light, no-frills backpack (kept in my pubs bag) that I could throw my CamelBak into quickly if needed.

The two things I had which CH didn't mention were a space blanket and a ziplock bag of petroleum jelly soaked cotton balls ala SERE firestarter.

The good thing about kit like these is that once it's built, it requires little to no MX.

Fortunately, I've never had to use the kit, so I've now broken it down into stuff I mountain bike with :D

Cheers, Hydro

[Guest txaggie_99]

Just because of their size and light weight, I'd suggest either: a) the little cube fire starters like you find at camping supply stores or B) if you're cheap just some dryer lint rolled into a ziploc.

Check with your Life Support shop and see if they can get you a BlastMatch. Damn easy to start a fire with and you never run out of fuel!

[Scooter14]

Tostitos, Salsa, Jim Beam, Coke, one of those collapsible cups and an industiral size bag of 800mg Motrin.

Hopefully you end up somewhere with ice.

[brabus]

I'd be interested to know specifically why you do not like the 92FS and why you do like whatever Glock it is you own.

Ok, I was a bit harsh...the 92FS is not a bad pistol and in fact is pretty good. I don't really hate it as much as I came off, but I just prefer my glock over the beretta. Much of it has to do with the fact that I'd rather put some .40 into a guy instead of 9mm. Also, I've never had a glock jam on me ever...although only a few times, I've had a beretta jam on me. I'm consistently more accurate with my glock than I am with my friend's beretta...yes it probably has something to do with me partially, but nonetheless, the glock is just more accurate. The glock is lighter than the 92FS...now maybe that doesn't matter when it's just hanging on your vest, but from a conceal carry standpoint, I'd rather wear my glock than a 92FS.

If you need your glock, your life is going really, really, really bad

I realize this. There's still nothing wrong with prefering one firearm over another. If I got caught in the middle of a 7-11 robbery, I'd rather have my glock, but a 92FS would probably do just fine. And yeah, I'm not EVER planning on going rambo style on some derkas with AKs regardless of what weapon I have.