# How Much Weight Do Infantry Soldiers Have To Carry



## longknife (Dec 11, 2012)

Bill Corcoran at Corksphere gives us this video. How many of us could haul all this around?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjE53-MRPkI&feature=player_embedded]How Much Weight Do Infantry Soldiers Have To Carry - YouTube[/ame]


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## Oldguy (Dec 11, 2012)

God Bless the Army.  Our troopers are more pack mules than soldiers.

That's about what I carried in my youth with a full rucksack, the M-60 machine-gun and 600 rounds of ammunition.  But, we had no body armor back then or it might have been even more!

Nope.  Couldn't carry that today.

Wait a minute.  Let me back up on that statement for a moment.  When I got out of the Army, I weighed 155 lbs, soaking wet.  Up until just a few weeks ago, that had ballooned to 255 lbs over a period of 40 years.  That means my total, naked weight today was almost the same as my weight back then PLUS all the gear.

So...yeah.  I guess I CAN still carry it!


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## RandallFlagg (Dec 13, 2012)

Oldguy said:


> God Bless the Army.  Our troopers are more pack mules than soldiers.
> 
> That's about what I carried in my youth with a full rucksack, the M-60 machine-gun and 600 rounds of ammunition.  But, we had no body armor back then or it might have been even more!
> 
> ...



HAHA!!

I recall that we, as Infantrymen during vietnam, carried those "fanny packs" that were (literally) a pain in the butt along with our web gear. A couple of days of C rations, extra canteens, etc. Additionally, we "sometimes" wore "flack vests" that were heavy as all get out and you would nearly drop from dehydration in the bush. Couple that with your sidearm, canteen, chest wound "kotex", rifle and usually either a crew-served weapon or lots and LOTS of ammo. I carried a grenade launcher as well with 4 or 5 bandoliers of grenades.

Fun times, right??


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## Oldguy (Dec 13, 2012)

RandallFlagg said:


> Oldguy said:
> 
> 
> > God Bless the Army.  Our troopers are more pack mules than soldiers.
> ...




I was "Light Infantry," which paradoxically means we carried the most weight simply because we had no vehicles.  We stayed out in the bush from 2-4 weeks at a time and got resupplied by air generally every 4 days or so (though it was sometimes more than a week because of the weather).  That meant we had to carry everything we might need.  Fanny packs were out for us as they weren't big enough, so we used the big rucksacks with an aluminum frame.

My basic load was:

M-60 machinegun
At least 600 rounds 
A full case of C-rations
Sleeping gear:  Poncho's, tent pegs and an air mattress (when it didn't have a hole in it...which was rare  )
A bag of "world food" to supplement the C's.  Later, I added a small sauce pan for cooking.  
Dry socks.
An ammo can with personal items in it, such as my wallet, money, writing supplies, etc.
Assorted grenades:  Frags, smokes, a thermite for destroying the gun if it became necessary.
Machete.
FLS (Fuckin' Little Shovel)
Canteens.  During the dry season, I carried 6 of them, plus a 5 qt. blivet bag.
A couple of pressure bandages
Steel pot 
Assorted other stuff, like Claymore mines or Mechanical Ambushes.
Sometimes, they'd make us wear flack jackets too.

When completely full just after re-supply, the whole load could go up to 120 lbs.  Of course, as the days went on it got lighter and lighter as I ate the C's and expended ammunition.


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## RandallFlagg (Dec 13, 2012)

Oldguy said:


> RandallFlagg said:
> 
> 
> > Oldguy said:
> ...



I hear you! I had forgotten smoke and Willie Pete. I'll never forget, as long as I live, watching an M48 fire a round into a small gulley by a paddy where some NV regulars were hiding. I think they called it a "beehive" round and hundreds of little darts came from that round.....it was "messy", to say the least...


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