Stowage for British AFV

[SaintsPhil]

Hello all,

Hopefully someone with more experience in such things than me can shed some light on the best source for 'kit' to hang on the side of British Armour from the cold war period, most notably the Falklands and the Balkans.

So far I've stumbled across the obvious sets from accurate Armour

http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=4&subcategory=104&product=346

But I'm not an expert on such things so I don't know what periods they are suitable for.

I also came across the Black Dog sets:

http://www.blackdog.cz/products/fig/f35093/1.jpg

Obviously the rifles are different...

Any other suggestions sources of suitable stowage, water or fuel cans, ammo boxes etc will gratefully be received too!

Thanks in advance

Phil

[andygif290368]

Well for the early cold war period, until about 1960, you'd more than likely find that it was still all the same stuff as used at the end of ww2.

My Father did his national service with the REME in the late 50's, and the pictures I have of him and his kit would all seem to show the old pattern kit.

[Phil Evans]

Falklands would be 58 Pattern webbing (or belt kit) with webbing large packs or bergens/crusaders and steel helmets. Balkans would be a mix of 58 and 95 webbing and Mark 7 helmets. Don't forget that a lot of kit is bought by individual soldiers for use on operations/exercises so that they are as comfortable as possible, so you will probably see non-issue kit in photos.

[Graeme]

When I served in BAOR (75-87), there was very little kit left outside any vehicles, other than cam nets...for one thing any personal kit left hanging outside was likely to get nicked (either by other units, or by the locals if we were on exercise), but more importantly it would probably get wet - and a wet sleeping bag (schlafsack in our pigeon German) is not nice. Also remember that stowage bins are quite extensive on British armour so again there was no need to hang stuff on the outside.

it would get even worse in the mid-80's because one of the tactics the Anti-NATO protesters would use was to throw paint at tanks - I remember that during Ex Lionheart '84, there was an order that all tank drivers had to wear goggles so they didn't get paint in their eyes.

Not sure if this helps or answers your question.

Graeme

[SaintsPhil]

Thanks gents, do we use the same water cans we always did (we being British army) ie are these still in use?

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/afv-club-135-british-fuel-cans-set/

[Phil Evans]

Water cans in the 70-90s were black plastic very similar to the metal fuel cans apart from having one handle on the centre and also one large and one small screw cap at either end of the handle.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Phil Evans