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Weight of kit
#1
How much weight would youre normal infantry man (personal kit) have to lug around with him on marches from place to place <p></p><i></i>
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#2
Salve,<br>
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The weight of kit is a much debated item and estimates can vary greatly. Junkelmann and his companions marched with some fourty to fourty five kilo's of kit and packs across the Alps, but other estimates are some set lower at some thirty kilo's. The differences in estimates are partly due to different types of equipment used (eg the older model of legionary shield is a couple of kilo's heavier than the later rectangular model, mail coats can vary in weight depending on size of link, width of iron wire and cut) and partly to disagreement on what the Roman soldier actually carried with him. While some consider every and all items named in the source material as those required toi have been carried on the march, others suggest that some authors ascribe simply too much gear and assume that the various tools were distributed among several men rather than carried by a single man. A march made in full kit several years ago induced much sympathy for the latter position, though perhaps not exactly on scholarly grounds Smile.<br>
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Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>
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#3
Modern U.S. Army doctrinal loads are 48-62 pounds, but in field training the Army loads its grunts down with so much excess that they're presumably going into combat carrying 80-120 lbs all told, weapons and ammo inclusive.<br>
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In "The Soldier's Load and the Mobility of a Nation," Marshall argues that armies have always burdened their foot soldiers with too much baggage, and that soldiers invariably lighten their loads of their own accord as soon as they go into a real-life situation where their prescribed load begins to threaten their own welfare. Lists that have the poor soldiers hauling everything but the kitchen sink may well reflect training loads, which would have been higher than those actually carried into a combat zone, just as they are today.<br>
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From practical experience on extended deployments in remote areas, I believe the above to be perfectly true. Fully 3/4's of the gear I brought in two (!) duffel bags and one large rucksack never even came out for use; we had all been required to bring this much equipment, but quickly realized that we could get by with much, much less. Most of the weight we ended up carrying was a personal water supply, gas mask, weapon, ammunition, and prepackaged food.<br>
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A terrific discussion of soldiers' burdens, particularly as it relates to rations and how many days of food supply Roman soldiers carried, can be found in Jonathan Roth's Logistics of the Roman Army.<br>
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Cheers,<br>
<br>
Jenn <p></p><i></i>
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#4
Thanks for that, you a grunt your self then?! <p></p><i></i>
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#5
Spent two years as an OH-58 helicopter mechanic, then the next five as an officer. I'm an Army captain in Germany.<br>
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Cheers,<br>
<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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