Those P-38's were the shit! I still carry one on my key ring, just in case... my Dear Old Dad carried one on his key ring from the Korean War era, when he was stationed in Germany on the Czech border. He had carried it so long that the hole the ring passed through had been worn paper thin, nigh to snapping. There were two sizes , a large one and a small one. The small ones worked, the large ones bent because you could put more leverage on the bigger shank than it could handle.
Trioxane fuel bars were pretty handy, too. A third of one would heat a canteen cup of coffee in about 10 minutes or so. The came in green heavy foil packets, and you could fold the end back over to save the other 2/3 for the next time you had to heat anything, but you had to use it fairly soon, because when the packs were broken and air got to the trioxane bar, it would "evaporate" over just a little time. I recall once when my son was about 11 or 12, and the power got knocked out in an ice storm. He laughed at me and said "well you won't be drinking any coffee now, 'cause ya can't make any!" I told him to just hide and watch, went and dug out a canteen cup, one of those handy little "stoves" that was just a piece of ventilated sheet metal that slipped over the cup and when you took it off and turned it upside down, the cup would sit in. I took those outside with the cup full of water, and a trioxane bar, sat it all on a rock and lit the trioxane, and while the water was heating, dug out a jar of instant coffee that I kept for emergencies like that. He never doubted my ability to round up a cup of coffee again.
Those OD green triangular bandages that could be used as a bandage or as a sling for a damaged arm did admirable double duty as either drive-on rags or boonie rags to be wrapped and tied on the head as head gear to sop sweat and generally keep your dome from getting all scratched up by branches, or to hide hair that was either too light, too dark, or too bright red, as a sort of camouflage.
The "helmet full of hot water" you mentioned was one of the old steel pots with the liner removed. Made a handy kettle. You couldn't do that with the kevlar "Fritz hats" that they use now. The kevlar doesn't have a removable liner, and I'd hate to try to heat any water in one, nor would I want to try to shave or clean up out of one - I imagine hot water would wreak havoc on the leather parts of the suspension web.
I've still got a bunch of those old plastic canteens, a couple canteen cups, and a couple of those sheet metal cup stoves, and I still keep a jar of instant coffee on the back of the shelf, for emergency use. I don't have any trioxane any more, but since I live surrounded by woods, I'm never at a loss for fuel anyhow. Some of the canteens have those old cold war lids with the drinking valves built in, that you were supposed to be able to hook a gas mask to in the event of a chemical attack. I never trusted that arrangement much, but the gas mask I have here still has the drinking tube and connector built on to it, too.
.
Trioxane fuel bars were pretty handy, too. A third of one would heat a canteen cup of coffee in about 10 minutes or so. The came in green heavy foil packets, and you could fold the end back over to save the other 2/3 for the next time you had to heat anything, but you had to use it fairly soon, because when the packs were broken and air got to the trioxane bar, it would "evaporate" over just a little time. I recall once when my son was about 11 or 12, and the power got knocked out in an ice storm. He laughed at me and said "well you won't be drinking any coffee now, 'cause ya can't make any!" I told him to just hide and watch, went and dug out a canteen cup, one of those handy little "stoves" that was just a piece of ventilated sheet metal that slipped over the cup and when you took it off and turned it upside down, the cup would sit in. I took those outside with the cup full of water, and a trioxane bar, sat it all on a rock and lit the trioxane, and while the water was heating, dug out a jar of instant coffee that I kept for emergencies like that. He never doubted my ability to round up a cup of coffee again.
Those OD green triangular bandages that could be used as a bandage or as a sling for a damaged arm did admirable double duty as either drive-on rags or boonie rags to be wrapped and tied on the head as head gear to sop sweat and generally keep your dome from getting all scratched up by branches, or to hide hair that was either too light, too dark, or too bright red, as a sort of camouflage.
The "helmet full of hot water" you mentioned was one of the old steel pots with the liner removed. Made a handy kettle. You couldn't do that with the kevlar "Fritz hats" that they use now. The kevlar doesn't have a removable liner, and I'd hate to try to heat any water in one, nor would I want to try to shave or clean up out of one - I imagine hot water would wreak havoc on the leather parts of the suspension web.
I've still got a bunch of those old plastic canteens, a couple canteen cups, and a couple of those sheet metal cup stoves, and I still keep a jar of instant coffee on the back of the shelf, for emergency use. I don't have any trioxane any more, but since I live surrounded by woods, I'm never at a loss for fuel anyhow. Some of the canteens have those old cold war lids with the drinking valves built in, that you were supposed to be able to hook a gas mask to in the event of a chemical attack. I never trusted that arrangement much, but the gas mask I have here still has the drinking tube and connector built on to it, too.
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’