Who's got my bore snake?

February 15, 2007 10:32 AM

Kit Up! is a site where current and former soldiers report the one thing they absolutely could not have done without in their military life. Whether hitchhiking the galaxy or fighting the enemy, don't forget your towel. And don't even think about going door kicking without your Silly String.
posted by Turtles all the way down (12 comments total)

Can I get a shout out for the P-38? Not that P-38, and not that P-38 either -- no, that one.
posted by pax digita at 10:45 AM on February 15, 2007

Really liked the site. Necessity is the mother of invention. It is amazing what a person can come up with under trying conditions.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:58 AM on February 15, 2007

That is fucking awesome. :)
posted by sperose at 11:04 AM on February 15, 2007

It's like the Whole Earth Catalog for the automatic weapons set. My only complaint is that there isn't more of it.
posted by arto at 11:25 AM on February 15, 2007

It will probably be better in a few months when there is more on the site. But then it will be a double
posted by Megafly at 12:08 PM on February 15, 2007

I carried a P38 as well. My old man gave it to me when I left for basic. While in service, a buddy gave me one from another manufacturer (British, i think) and it was a P38 with a spoon on one end, albiet a small one, it worked GREAT.
Nice site and even better post.
posted by winks007 at 12:11 PM on February 15, 2007

Awesome. I love the silly string idea.
posted by odinsdream at 12:30 PM on February 15, 2007

I have my (Vietnam vet) uncle's P38 in a cigar box with the Acme Thunderer whistle my grandfather used training astronauts and test pilots in Texas. Having a keepsake they used every day beats a medal in my book.

This, from the mess kit spoon comments section, is great. Sounds like my uncle:

"Ah! The good 'ol E-Tool! aka mess kit spoon. I typically ditched the shit skillet and kept the spoon in a thigh pocket. P38 on my dog tag chain. (of course, several times while going prone, the P38 just about opened my ribcage for me!) took a while to learn to use the short bit of dog tag chain to fasten the P38 to the E-Tool (the dog tabs being laced into my boots). Also used to heat c-rations by leaving them on the engine block of the track for a few hours."
posted by breezeway at 3:19 PM on February 15, 2007

Somebody should forward this site to the people I work with. Our services are clearly lacking.
posted by etoile at 5:17 PM on February 15, 2007

I used to always get a kick out of kids buying camo mini-maglites, camo wallets and camo pens the first time they saw a kit shop. The field is littered with camo items that people lost the first time they dropped them in the dark, and the fact that nothing on that site is camouflaged is a pretty good sign in my books.
posted by furtive at 7:09 PM on February 15, 2007

breezeway, I think your uncle was making a joke when he referred to a mess-kit spoon as an E-tool.

I've got a nine-pound East German folding model -- a gift from a onetime Soviet naval Spetsnaz -- and I keep a really keen edge on the shovel blade and a nice triangular point on the pick. It's come in handy when I had some issues with teenaged neighbors. I went and bought a coconut, waited until I saw the kids outside, then took E-tool and coconut out nearby and proceeded -- wordlessly apart from some grunting and a couple of war cries, never even glancing up at them -- to put on a memorable and messy demonstration.

Haven't seen much of those boys since....
posted by pax digita at 5:21 AM on February 16, 2007

The E-tool reference was on this page, pax digita. But it's exactly the sort of joke my uncle makes.

I've heard and read a lot from special forces types about the utility of an entrenching tool over, say, a military-issue machete. Not only that, but I've heard those Spetsnaz ones, like the one you have, are the best; they keep the best edge and are more effective than a bladed weapon for deflecting blows in close combat. Versatile.

Speaking of machetes, I was once talking to a Jamaican coworker of mine and the subject of machetes came up. He was confused, wondered what I was calling a machete. I went online, showed him a picture.

"Oh, you mean a cutlass."

He then proceeded to tell me how his village in West Jamaica was plagued now and again by teenaged bandits who would threaten everyone with cutlasses. I reckon you'd have to demonstrate your E-tool on more than just a coconut with those kids.
posted by breezeway at 7:20 AM on February 16, 2007