JsARCLIGHT

Gas Mask? You don need no steenking Gas Mask! (usually the first thing tossed out of your kit upon combat deployment and the first thing missed when you need it) The trauma insert plates are most likely in that vest... hiding... nice and heavy-like. ... and they would only give me an M9... sniff... poor little gun... who has you now I wonder? The dumpster out behind the armory most likely. Edit: M9 bayonet? Noooooo! I used to cut soooo much wire with mine! And how can you make the "pass the buck" jokes without the M9?

Still a bit too long. You really only save about 3" with the AR telescoping stock... it's the reduciton in the barrel length in conjunction with the telestock that give the M4 it's petite and handy size. Heck, the only thing you loose with that shorter barrel is your hearing as the milspec AR is no prize pie when it comes to accuracy anyway. I'd take a 639 or a GAU-5 A/A any day... provided your quartermaster can find you one in the shed and you have clearance to tote it.

Helloo.. hellooo? Ah yes, but N's answered in the most clinical and shutupayouface manner that befits my usual tone.

DING! We have one correct missing item! There is nothing in the world that hurts more than dropping down to your knees on hard cement, rocks or other nasty crap with a few pounds of gear on you in a hurry. Sure you don't notice it right away but after a while your knees get blown to hell and on a march it really, really hurts like a bitch. The other missing item is a sidearm. Not all troops are qualified or issued sidearms but when I was a lad and heading out into the field the second thing on me was the sidearm. M9, in case that pos M16 jammed up you could do something other than throw your mags at the enemy. ... and on the beret issue (once again) let us not forget those valiant, uber elte Air Force Combat Air Controllers who also don the red/maroon beret... all those nice men earned that headwear. Edit: there is also not enough tape on that new gear layout. Green tape (or in this case tan) is a grunt's best friend in the field. Tape down those hardpoints, tape down those pins and fer god's sake anderson tape down those darn snaps!... whoops, for a second there I channeled the spirit of the old platoon sergent.

Canteens are on his butt (lower back)... he could be carrying two for all we know as we could not see them either way. And before people say "extra magazines" he has those too, just look reaaaaaaally hard under his arms and behind the M4 and you'll see the edges of his carryall pouches. As for the rifle according to Military appropriations that M4 is the best he can hope for for the next few years until the next gen combat rifles are tested and fielded... of course if Big Dick... Cheyney... would actually cancel a program that needed it and fast-track one that needed it he would be holding that new MBR right now. But all of Big Dick's money is invested in fighter planes and MREs right now. Edit: Now that I stare at that pic long enough I think he has a camelback water system on that rig. That is either his drinking tube or his vox control for his headset on his left shoulder. As for the two missing items: think "legs" and think "ouch"... and also think about what he'll do if that fancy M4 jams on him.

Damn! Noriko beat me out with the Flag question... damn half hour drive home stupid traffic... Now can anyone pick out the things missing from that trooper's gear that he will really wish he brough with him on patrol?

Is that a combat issue berette, troop? SIR, YES SIR! Sir!?! I'm a beautician for a living, private!

I'm just growling back myself. Us ex-green machine folks need to stick together rather than fight over headgear anyhoo.

Different Beret. Those come with a little antennae point on the top, a loaf of Bread and only look good on Marlo Thomas.

What I was saying is the folks in the mud with the blood deserve all the badges, hats, buttons and honor they have. They earned it. But to put a beret, an official and unofficial symbol of elite combat units onto the head of a common non combat soldier is not right. My fiancee, who is still in the armed forces today, has the same opinion. A little while back they took away her crush hat and gave her that beret. Even she thinks it is sort of a slap in the face to the original beret wearers. Yes, she provides a essential armed forces service (medical) as do every member of the armed forces but in her opinon (and mine and a lot of other people's) that beret makes people think he is something she is not. Back when those berets first became SOP there were people that would walk up to her when she was out and about in uniform and ask her things like "I didn't know they let women be commandos?" and "Are you a Green Beret?" and "Are you airborne?" The Beret carried with it a connotation of elite, special and commando... three things that your average soldier is not. Since the black beret has become so common, the whole image of the beret has been lowered. I never said that. Every role in the armed forces is important but they are not the same. I just believe that being one of the highly trained combat operators that this country makes gives you a place of honor and that you should retain that position of honor, along with the symbols of that honor as respect for your sacrifice. How would it make you feel if you worked long and hard for years, endured constant training and hardship to earn a doctorate degree... then a few years later the place you got that degree from just starts handing out things that look just like those doctorate degrees to everyone who walks through the doors just for showing up. Common people look at those piece of paper and instantly assume that person is the same as you even though you went through so much more to get to where you are. Being in the service, you can tell who a person is by their badges but to the common man they see the flagrant, the showy things as signs of rank and role. When I was in the service I wore a normal crush hat just like everyone else when not in the field and you did not see me complaining about it. That is because I knew I was not an elite fighting unit or a commando, I was a normal schmuck in a truck looking through binoculars. And when you saw a guy in a black beret, green beret, red beret or whatnot you knew that guy was hardcore... that he was elite.

The beret thing bothered me since day one as the beret, in the american army and a few others, has traditionally been a symbol of elite status. The first american troops to don the beret where the special forces boys in vietnam and they wore it before it was even permitted as part of the uniform. The military changed it's own regs to give the "Green Berets" their green beret as a formal part of the uniform. Several other branches soon followed like the Rangers, the Air Force Combat Controllers and others. The beret was a badge in and of itself. The beret was a mark of accomplishment and courage... besides looking totally froo froo. You never see a self-respecting SEaL wearing a beret do you? My point is the beret itself is the symbol of elite status, not a patch or a button or a pin. I can understand making everyone feel special and happy and better about themselves but let's face it, if you are a rear echellon mother farker loading boxes onto a flatbed you have no business being as special or as "fancy" as a guy who dumps out of a plane a mile up behind enemy lines on a special op. Next thing you know they will start promoting everyone to Sgt. like they do for the special ops people just so everyone can have a rank now. Most of the ex-SF people I know have the same opinion I do. They suffered through a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get that beret and now they are handing them out like cracker-jack prizes. Sure an army person can tell a "real" beret from the normal cannon fodder "black berets" out there but it still takes the whole notion of the beret down a notch. To me, it is just a ploy to get more people to join the RA... "now EVERYONE gets a beret!" "Join the army, see the world, load boxes on a truck... wear a beret." Why not just give everyone the old Zouave headdresses or civil war sloutch hats? If they want the common box pitcher to feel special why not give him a giant snoopy hat or a big gold bar on his guts that says "AVERAGE JOE"? Everyone in the military cannot be "special", you have to work hard and be on of the elites to be "special"... then again if modern wars are like vietnam that means the snipers aiming for the berets will have soooooo much more work to do.

I'm not really a fan of the new "digital" camoflage pattern myself. Sure it may "work" if you squint hard enough just like any camo but it just comes off as fruity to me. Combine that with the new BDU layout and our troops look more like something out of Universal Soldier or hollywood than they do an effective fighting unit. Why did they not just invest in some nice realtree camo or something a bit more "conventional"? Plus with the new centerline rank patches and collar/pocket layout they look more British now then they do American. As for the whole beret issue I feel that giving everyone a beret is just more of the "everyone wins and everyone gets to feel speical" treatment. I remember a time in the military when just the sight of a beret was an automatic sign that the wearer was someone special... (see sig below for better explaination)... but nowadays you have REMFs wearing the beret, Milspec Accountants wearing the beret, Grease Monekys wearing the beret...

(steps out of men's room) *Looks around* Mouths: What the Fark? *Ducks Pie* (ducks back into men's room)

The penetrating power comes from the new bullet FN designed for the P-90. In all respect the bullet is impressive... it is about the size of a .357 round, but a bit shorter and it is necked like a .357 Sig. The only problem with the ammo is as of right now (unless things have changed without me or my local department's procurement officer knowing about it) the special ammo is only available directly from FN, and they will only sell to governments and pre-autherized LEO agencies (see edit below). In the early days of the gun's development I even heard that they requested all brass be returned to them for processing (hence why the Fed boys were so meticulous about collecting all the spent casings in the training demo). Also the magazine is a propreitary design as well and is only made by FN and, of course, only available from them. Every major component of the gun is stamped LEO and replacement parts are only available straight from FN as they do not allow the parts to be outsourced to middleman dealers and Class III dealers. Heck, I have even heard from a local Class III that FN will not even ship a test sample to a LEO Class III dealer without several special letters from the department that is interested in purchase and the dealer's normal forms first... yet H&K will send out a brand new LEO UMP to him at 15% under price as a demo unit with no paperwork whatsoever outside of his normal LEO sheets and Class III request forms. (and yes, I have test driven a demo UMP they are fantastic guns) To a trained pro the magazine exchange should not be as hard as it appeared to me but for a true, hardcore engagement weapon you need a drop-free magazine. I'm thinking that is what the retrofit STANAG system is for... to homogolate the gun into a useable package by troops and teams. The local ERT boys train hard to get their mag change times down to the bare minimum and from what I have seen of the P-90's standard magazine you could change a flat on a fiat faster than a mag change on that weapon. Precious seconds mean everything in the field and the more time spent swapping mags out the more time you are vulnerable. Admittedly if you had a team moving in conjunction with each other and spacing out their firing cycles it should not be too much of a problem but... still. Like I said the P-90 is a beautiful weapon, like a Ferrari, and it performs well enough for the job at hand... just much like a Ferrari you are getting not much more performance and power from that package than you already have in a much cheaper and easier to use weapon. Perhaps the next generation of that line will iron out the bugs and create something truly deadly and fieldable. Edit: I will correct myself somewhat that after some searching online I found two places that apparently will sell the controlled FN 5.7x28mm ammo outside of FN. I know one of the places and they are a known dealer in Class III weapons which leads me to believe the ammo they are selling they bought through their dealer program from FN and since they have no buyers for the guns they stock they are just selling off their ammo (they are even selling it at a very marked-down price) and the other seller looks a little "shady" if you catch my drift... other than that they seem to be reselling the normal FN marked factory ammo like Impact is. Now if there where only more guns other than the Five Seven and the P-90 that used this stuff it would be more common.

The limitations I was referring to are entirely based on the gun's propreitary design and control arrangements. FN wants to controll all aspects of this weapon from the parts to the ammo to who gets to buy them and who does not. I understand their excuse for limiting it to law enforcement personel only but their strangle-hold on the ammo situation is uncalled for. I have only seen one of these guns in reality from behind a plexiglass pannel in the hands of someone else... it was on "loan" from the FBI along with a few people to the SLCPD for a few weeks durring a cross training seminar. In reality from what I saw the guns are not very user friendly. They appeared hard to load (even the well trained FBI demonstrator had a hard time loading the magazine in "combat conditions"), loud as all get out (even when suppressed the gun is loud) and they are almost impractical for standard police operations. The FBI guys even went so far as to recover each and every spent casing from the gun because they were told they "had to". A lot of good that would do them anyway as they can't reload the cases anyhow. For as "far out" and "futuristic" as the P-90 design is it's handling and implimentation by FN are terrible. They have been getting better about this lately as they have seen the error of their ways with the propreitary ammo and parts thing but for all due reasoning the thing is the Lamborghini of the weapon world... way overhyped, way overpriced, way "exclusive" and does the exact same things a nice .40S&W MP5 or .45ACP UMP can do for triple the price and double the hassle. I will not argue that it is a "pretty" gun but when it comes to all-out combat functionality and overall bang-for-the-buck bottom dollar bills, a ERT team can have two or three solid as a rock new MP5s and tons of parts for the same price as just one P-90... and the ammo is off the shelf compatible and cross-platform compatible. The P-90 is just "too new, too soon" but at the same time it keeps appearing everywhere in movies, TV shows, video games etc. etc... to me it is Desert Eagle syndrome all over again.

ARGH! Smaller pictures, please! My dialup does not like huuuuuuge pictures! ... and if I may ask, what is up with the pics? Are these items you like or items you want to buy or? ... and can someone clue me in on everyone's seeming addiction to the FN P-90? The thing is a higly restricted weapon with a lot of limitations to it's use and outside of it just looking like something out of Ghost in the Shell it is not all that powerful or handy as a firearm. Is it just a case of "you can't have it" that makes everyone want it? Or is it that the FN P-90 has become the Desert Eagle of the new era for movies and whatnot and now everyone wants one?

Now was your father's the artillery Luger or is that someone else I'm mixing you up with?

From what I know about Luger waffen marks this one has S/42 Mauser markings and the "K" code on the top of the breach as well as the Eagle proofs all over it. From my internet pokings it is a 1930 something (34 I think) early war, Mauser make. I found this pic that matches it almost exactly:

.... why would anyone make a PC based on a vaporware game, anyway? I'm eager to play HL2 as much as the next man but why would you build a computer around it? Computer Geeks scare me... and I'm a gun collector!

Yeah, '65 would have been long before the 1968 NFA act. Prices for WW2 bring-backs did not start climbing until the mid '70s when most of the original old soldiers started selling them off as they got to the age when they needed to start thinking of entering a retirement home. Back in the early '80s gun shows used to be flooded with 98's, Lugers and all manner of bring-back weapon... mainly DEWATs. Nowadays you still see the odd wartime Luger and the Yugo Mauser market has just sort of stagnated with so many in the market these days. But that PPK sounds like it was possibly a General's special toy or something... a gun like that would sell at auction for some high bux nowadays. Heck, numbers matching waffen proof Lugers still can fetch into the high three digits depending on their quality, some even go for a bit above a grand. I shot Derrick (pun intended) an offer on the two pieces today at his father's estate sale and he took my offer for them. One check later and now these beauties are mine. Did some cleaning on them when I got home and found that the Luger has nice clear factory number marks and waffen eagles under all that age and even has a numbers matching wood plate magazine. The bore looks a bit rough though, I can see some pits just by flashlight in it's finish. I tested it with a snap cap and it closed. The trigger hangs a bit but the action works. I might do some more work on it and then take it out to my local gunshop hangout to have the gunsmith give it a once over to see if it is safe to shoot. The MP-40 on the other hand had a nice going over by the then Justice Department (fledgling ATF) when they DEWATed it. Lots of scuff marks, lots of welds and upon taking it down the trigger itself is welded in place and the bore is hot melted shut. This poor guy will never be functional again without massive work and parts replacements... then again it is just a wall-hanger... oh and it does not have a magazine. I might buy a mag just to give it the complete look in the safe.

I'm not planning to rush out and see this movie but it might be a decent rental sometime in the far future... but I do have a question that has been bothering me the whole time since I first saw previews for this movie. Without giving away any major spoilers or things can anyone that has seen the movie tell me how exactly it links up with Pitch Black? Last thing I remember from PB is Riddick, that strange neo-islam priest (played by one of my all time favorite character actors Keith David) and the annoying kid flying out into space and supposedly they claim Riddick as dead on the planet and the real Riddick plans a life of good. Soooooo how exactly does Riddick once again go by the name of Riddick in the new movie and regain his infamous legend?

Of those guns he brought back, do you remember if they where functional or did he turn them in for DEWAT treatement in 1968? DEWATs are rare but not as rare as live captures.

We had thought about inquiring with museums about the flag, arm bands and pins but they are sort of tattered and it's not like they are rare or anything. I might look into that... but if no society or museum wants them they are getting torched. It's one thing to be a piece of history but these items cary a very dark and evil connotation with them, Derrick did not want them in his house and neither do I. To his father they meant something but to us they are symbols of an evil dictator and mass murder.

Exactly. As children's entertainment becomes less and less entertainment and more or less a numbing toy commercial or simplistic one trick pony theme hopefully the children will turn away and look to more entertaining and enlightening shows... on MTV.

Congratulations Graham! Hey, do they have the baby lojacks over there in HK like they do here in the US? One of my co-workers just had a kid and he was so enamoured with the baby lojack device rather than his daughter.