The History of The United States' EX-54 and M1956 Load Carrying Equipment Systems
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 11 июн 2024
- Our first full fledged dive into an equipment system. In this video we go over the United States Military's first Post War equipment system; the M1956 ILCE and how the somewhat mysterious and experimental EX-54 system helped define what it ultimately became.
Chapters:
Intro: 0:00
Start of individual item breakdown: 11:22
End of individual item breakdown: 21:02 (click this one if you wish to skip past the close up look at all the pieces)
Music by: www.juliancrowhurst.com/
Fun fact: The 'Soldier' storming the beach when mentioning the AR10 is none other than Eugene Stoner.
I think you mean marine.
😱
@falcoacecombat RBLX AR10 had only one designer, AR15 is the one that technically had three. The AR-10 was designed originally by Eugene Stoner in his position as chief engineer at Armalite in 1955. When Armalite was asked by the US Military in 1956 to scale down the AR-10 and create the AR-15, they turned to their engineers Jim Sullivan and Roger Fremont (Stoner's assistant designer), who finalized the AR-15. That's where the 'three designers' comes from.
Interestingly enough Jim Sullivan went on to help design some other popular firearms including the Stoner 63, the Ultimax 100 and the Ruger Mini-14.
Is that from a Stoner promo vid?
@@mattwhite7421 a Marine is still a soldier
The reason the AR10's barrel exploded was because they used an experimental composite barrel that Stoner specifically said "don't send that one in for the test, it'll explode."
Reason that happened is the materials of the composite heat up at different rates.
Truth
The "tests" at Aberdeen were deliberate sabotage ordered by Rene Studler. Both the AR-10 and FAL were outperforming the T-44 consistently, with the AR-10 leading, Then a "test" was performed only on the AR-10 in which they pulled a bullet, dumped the powder, re-inserted the bullet, fired it with only the primer, then fired a normal round after it! That is where the photo of the "exploded" barrel came from. And the FAL only stopped beating the T-44 when they had cutoff 1/3 of the main operating spring, re-stretched it, and tried firing with the butchered spring. Studler had been instrumental in developing the T-44 a decade earlier, and was determined to see it adopted.
@@henrydaubresse9652 Absolutely. What happened with the adoption of the M14 and the sabatoge of the M16 were criminal.
@@henrydaubresse9652 I've had a lot of reading about the FAL and the M14, and honestly I don't see any difference between them.
Only that the FAL is heavier, far less popular as a marksmen rifle (Unlike the M14 and G3, which have three or more marksmen variants each), and that's just slightly handier.
56 AD: "Ah, Maximus! Hand me that lorica laminata of the year of the founding of Rome DCCCIX with the fitting balteus and cingulum!"
1456 AD: "Ah, Jehan! Hand me that armour of the Tedesca type with that belt of hanging things upon it!"
1956 AD: "Hey, Mac! Hand me that M1956 LCE and a few pouches!"
1,000,000,000 BC: .......
@@copter2000 Hey, that food cache is mine, Troodon!
@some lǝᴉuɐp guy 3015 AD: Borg me want bangbang stick for third arm, me hold fire rock in other arms.
@@copter2000 1 billion years ago: Hey eukaryote hand me that cell wall, with the photosynthesis!
19:44 Did not know this at the time, but the canteen cover pile lining, when soaked with water, would cool the contents of the canteen.
You can put a canteen or a can of beer in a wet sock and spin it in the air like a helicopter blade and it will cool it. A bit. 🇬🇧👍✌
All this gear was still being used through the turn of the century. And we called things "LBE", "butt pack", "spaghetti strap", etc.
Could you do a video on the history of the M-65 field jacket?
Absolutely agree. Would love to learn that.
Which would invariably include the M1943 and M1951 field jackets.
I was a draftee in the Greek Army in 2019 . We use a modified version of the M1956 made from canvas during our training. The standard gear that we using after training is a again a modified version of the M1967 pattern of webbing.. Both patterns are pretty outdated for the time! Our Special Forces units and Marines use a modified LBV 88ish style of gear , much more comfortable to wear than the other two that they provided us. I love your vids man , I hope you do somewhere in the near future some episodes about Greek Army camouflage and gear equipment! Cheers and take care!
Got a Greek NATO sleeping bag surplus, very well made. It's more like the intermediate S/B than the lite wgt jungle bag. The tag is in Greek. Nice online purchase.
@@joekurtz8303 The time I got drafted into the army they never issue to us sleeping bags. They begin to issue them in case of army maneuvers. The only things we got issued is M1 helmet (direct clone) M71 web gear (Greek M1967) half a tent (we could also use it as a poncho) a gun and an 24 hour Greek MRE. Hope your sleeping bag is of good condition, we have some serious storage problems.
I've handled loads of sleeping bags in storage, most of them are disintegrating (their material is drying out) but there are no funds to replace them, most inventory officers have sold off many good condition gear of all types including load bearing equipment to the point where draftees have to hand in everything except their boots when they are demobilized, I am writing this mostly for foreign comment researchers as the situation in the Greek infantry is disgusting. Even when there is good gear available the officers responsible for issuing it do not care so most conscripted privates end up getting the wrong number of boots that makes them suffer, and unacceptably bad condition antique load bearing equipment they are to use every day as they waste 6 to 7 months of their lives on non stop sentry and patrol duty with absolutely no motive, lack of sleep, complete lack of training, physically unfit to serve, with many cases of privates not having fired a single shot, even when passing "SF" training. This load bearing system shows the condition of the Greek infantry. A bad joke against Greek young males. A disgrace to the nation.
@@antoniosstavropoulos6180 θα συμφωνήσω !!
🇬🇧👍✌🇨🇾🇬🇷
what an outstanding and excellent video, can't wait for the ALICE and MOLLE ones.
Yes, Sir, you said it for me what I was thinking during watching this video. Thanks!!!
Finally M1956 equipment. I've been waiting for this.👍
Fantastic video-thank you! Here’s an M-1956 “Fun Fact”: While attending an OPFOR briefing at Ft. Irwin, CA (the National Training Center) in the late 90s, I was approached by a major who introduced himself as simply “HR.” He was a staff member of the 11th ACR and was quite strangely wearing 100% M-1956 web gear...EVERYTHING was the old canvas gear. I recognized the vintage of his “LBE,” and when I asked him why he was wearing such old equipment, he explained that it was his father’s gear that his dad used in Vietnam. I thought “very cool.” After talking with him, someone asked me if I knew who I just spoke with...and I said no. I was told that he was H.R. McMaster, the hero of The Battle of 73 Easting! No s#!t!
I was issued and used much of this gear in the late 1970's through 1980's. I was in support units and received the older gear in both Marines and Army. Then there was the National Guard twenty years later. This video reminded me of how rapidly changes occurred--with green stuff giving way to various camouflage patterned gear, and mixed camouflage patterns used with straight green stuff for at least a decade after initial adoption for universal issue.
This was well timed! I'm building an M56 kit from scratch using only components that were Australian issued in the 1960's. I'm also building an improved version using the Australian upgraded components that were being issued in the late 1980's. I really regret selling all my green kit in the 90's (I thought that it was so lame back then)...
In 1975, WWII web gear (except for two single-mag M14 pouches) was standard issue at US Marine Corps OCS, along with an M14 rifle.
----
A couple of tidbits on mag pouches: Originally, single mag pouches were provided for M14s; the idea being to reload the rifle with stripper clips through the receiver, rather than change magazines. THAT didn't last long, and the two-mag pouches were quickly adopted.
Also, the early M16A1 pouches carried 4, 20 rd magazines
It being canvas makes it more comfortable than the nylon-based ALICE webbing and if you have some beeswax you can glob some on the material to reinforce the canvas to keep it from soaking up too much water(unless you submerge it.)
You are insane
@@KeterMalkuth Nylon has always been capable of being soft as silk, hence nylon stockings and parachutes being rather popular in the 1950s. Perhaps cost was an issue?
I love the general purpose ammunition pouches. I have a couple on my hunting belt. Very handy and you can stick most anything in there.
The cyprus army still uses the Alice system to this day, I got mine last year to keep at home as well as a G3
This is a brilliant and thorough channel.
We used a lot of this gear in Boy Scouts back in the 80s! It was super cheap and worked well fir hiking.
Fun fact: ALICE clips were still out in the wild at least until 2011, and likely still are
Navy security forces on my base still use alice pouches for their M4s
I got some ALICE clips so yeah
So....... ALICE system history video when? Or how the Chinese 'Chicom' Chest rig came to be?
if he does a web gear vid next it would be m67 gear and alice would come next
I hope you are able to secure gigs as a military advisor for movies, because your knowledge of all things military is amazing. You'd be astonished and embarrassed at the ignorance of many bloggers and RUclipsrs who know nothing of which they speak! Thanks for the excellent, well-researched content!
This is a nice video, great work. And yes, you really should include colloquial names of things are they are frequently indicative of advantages or problems. Sleeping bag carriers were called "Spaghetti straps" for the simple reason that they were a confusing mess to use. (I actually store sleeping bags using these. The first time I used one it took 20 minutes with the manual in hand to figure it out. I can't imagine doing it in the woods, at pre-dawn darkness, in the rain, to bundle up your sleeping bag. A terrible idea.)The "Butt Pack" tells you where it was normally carried, and so on.
These hooks before "Alice clips" i used in my army time in the Netherlands as part of the M37 system in 1991!!
We also had plain olive drab uniforms. Just one item in DPM, the sleeping mat cover.
I sold my whole dufflebag back then but i am collecting it slowly back. :))
This channel is amazing, you deserve a million more subscribers. I'd love to see a video about the Russian Flora and EMR patterns.
The sleeping bag 'spaghetti straps' make a great beach roll. It keeps my towel, boonie hat, & sunscreen in a tidy, compact package that's easy to handle.
Excellent video, I was aware of the majority of this but I also learned a lot more. NOTE something that wasn't mentioned was that the ANZAC forces during Vietnam also made under contract their own versions of the M56 H-suspenders (1st Pattern ONLY), Pistol Belt (Horizontal & Vertical Weft), Small Arms Ammunition Pouches (M14 Type Only) - the SLR Ammo pouch being separate, Water Canteen Cover (plus 2nd type with a M43 style hook), Entrenching Tool Carrier (with bayonet attachment left off), M1961 Field Pack 'Butt Pack' or as the Australians referred to it as the 'Bumbag' (with a mixture of British and US hardware), First Aid/Lensatic Compass Case, Sleeping Bag Carrying Strap referred to as 'Spiders' and Universal Individual Load Carrying Strap (with different hardware). There is more than likely more I'm missing or unaware off at the time of writing this, so please correct me if I'm wrong or add any additions I may have missed out.
Very intresting! Good researching!
Amazing detail. Thankyou
... when I was in the Arny, from 79 to 89, I had found one of those small canvas mag pouches at a military surplus store and attached it to my butt pack with four twenty round mags for my M-16 - and still have and use it to this day! ...
Thnx ,it'll help when surplus store diving for hidden rarities.
Yes another great video
fun fact: in the 80s and 90s, butt packs were no longer "issued" but were prized possessions we would go to surplus stores to get.
My country still uses those canteens
Best episode so far. LBV-88 please.
Awesome vid brah
i got a partial from just reading the title of this video.
To be fair to the M3, it lasted into the early 90’s as a non-standard bit of kit. Iirc, tankers had them at hand during the first dust-up with Saddam. A good, cheap subgun always finds a niche for itself. The Philippines still use a wacky suppressed version of the grease gun with modern fixings, it actually looks pretty badass for an anachronism.
We need one of ALICE LBE now
Hey there what about a vid on Australian auscam camouflage, i think its something your viewer's would find it interesting, love your work cheers
In the 80s My U.S. Army reserve unit still had canteens from early WW1! Now collector items. Later, my supply sergeant was trading canvas gear (expendable) for Nylon gear Durable to keep the books correct.
This was a great video. Please if possible do a similar video for the ALICE gear. I'm a reenactor and such info would be very VERY useful 😃
This is very cool
Excellent viedo.
The first M-1956 ammo pouches were designed to hold two BAR mags. Also a single 48 round M1 rifle bandoleer could be folded up and placed in the pouch.
The basic load was four bandoleers, two in the pouches, and two over the shoulders. Hanging bandoleers were to be used first. Later canvas pouches were slightly smaller and the bandoleers would not fit.
Could I recommend an overview of the history of the chicom type 56 chest rig. It’s a simple design but an influential one you see in many parts of the world.
Man this would have been really helpful a few months ago when I was trying to put together a whole set of M1956 Gear.
Estoy ansioso por algún día hagas un vídeo sobre el sistema ALICE.
You should make a video on the USMC m61 LCE because there were big differences between the 56 and the 61.
Can you do a video on the ALICE webbing and LBV 88 next?
I'd love to see the history of the alice equipment.
Hey can you please do special krieger forces from far cry 1 ? I always wondered what kind of equipment they use
Could you do a video on the strichtarn pattern please
Hey Uniform History can you please do a video on the SPEAR LEP or PCU?
I like the Eugene Stoner storming a calfornia beach AR-10 promo video
I am amazed that no Backpack was ever designed. Previous web equipment had them. The only comparison i suppose is the Musette Bag that most Paratroops used in WW2, but that is still larger than the M56 Buttpack. How did the Lightweight Rucksack fit into all of this as i think it was being designed and trialled in the early 1960's?
Hey what do you think about the italian vegetato pattern? Even though i don't like digital camos it looks like a nice all around pattern for temperate climate
Hey man, have you ever heard of porsche sportswear selling military gear to the IDF?. I have a porsche safari style vest from my grandpa (who was in the IDF) and I cant find any info on the vest or even the company selling it
Could you do a vid like this for modern equipment like the russian ratnik system or the US/NATO counterpart (I don't know how each country designates their own system) for it ?
5:00 those lucky bastards.
Compared to what people have to carry today
Yeah, whenever I hear that the weight of an item has been reduced by 20%, I think cool, now you can carry two.
The closure on the ammo pouches are known as Spanish Buckles.
that makes me proud of being spanish and living in Spain.😎 certainly the best pouch closure system
@@joemama.556 sorry to tell you but it’s terrible. I absolutely hated it on British PLCE pattern equipment. Most users modified pouches to plastic buckles or Velcro
@@calstewart what do you mean by being terrible? its the only one to have positive retention while being completelly silent. Its not aa high speed pouch if that is what you mean. its intended for the classic solidier who walks tenths of miles on unknown territory and stalks the enemy until the attack is made
@@joemama.556 this is a moot point to me. Modern fastex buckles are hardly noisy, and Ive never needed to swap magazines when it’s not been a bit noisy. If a silent magazine change is required the sound of the magazine release catch is louder than a buckle. Closing Spanish buckles one handed in the prone position is a task best suited to a circus professional
@@calstewart fastex break and also they werent invented when this system was put on service for the first time. you have to understand that this is a some hundred years old system and obviously it is not as optimized as modern technologies. btw velcro gets dirty and fails very easily, specially in sandy environments. seriously dude the fastex buckles are just plastic pieces very prone to break
@uniformhistory can you do finnish defend forces uniforms like m05 and m91 camo’s.
Any chance of going over the British P1972 webbing? I can't find any good info online for it.
Wow cool
Thank God for modern technology!
Links to the original forum posts?
What unit were those men of at the beginning marching with Barrett rifles
I still use ALICE clips to hold some items in place on my belt!
Requesting Mexican Army Digital camo
It's just another copy of the cadpat
@@TheSlayer. I think he means the version made by Hyperstealth.
Wassup with that South Korean camo at 23:18? Maybe you could tell us a little more about it some day!
No joke I was issued a canteen cover from 1945 and a M1956 web belt from my air guard unit, these bad boys are still around
They should never gotten rid of the. M.1956.web gear because it balances well on military personnel and they can carry more gear from ammo to medical equipment all the way to food you can also carry grenades on the ammo pouches and you can also carry a wide variety of other things for different types of missions without becoming wad down and it can be seen around the world in different army's who are being supported by the United States from South Korea to South America made of hemp and it can last longer than nylon and the military can store it with out it roting.away so it will save the tax paying Americans a fortune in manufacturing this type of equipment and the worst part about the nylon equipment is that if you are in a vehicle that is on fire you will end up with. Third-degree burns and the doctors will have to scurb off the melted nylon because it was a fire Hazzard because they used oil to make nylon because it was very poor replacement for hemp i had seen a lot of web gear made before the first world War that lasted way longer than the nylon ones that are being made now a days and to this day I still think that they should never gotten rid of that type of gear because it was very reliable
23:18 episode about that funky South Korean wall camo?
I was thinking a good idea for a future topic would be the world war II fighter pilot/bomber crew member uniform and equipment then go on from there to Korea Vietnam ect. Or stick with the world war II era and start with the US and then do RAF luftwaffe ect.
Could you please do a video on the MOLLE system? I absolutely love molle. It imo is the greatest advancement to gear that the US has ever done. Litteraly millions of combinations for configuration of vests, bags, belts, ect! :3
i hope you can cover the spanish rayadillo unifor cause it looks weird but cool used by the spanish forces and the philippine forces during the spanish american war and the philippine american war or philippine insurrection really wish why they wore that type of pajama like uniform any spanish historian here to enlighten me on it?
Can you please do a video on the Half-Life 2 Metrocop/Combine Soldier's uniform? It would be really nice to see!
The ones during ww2 were such a damn hassle to put on and adjust, with the haversack on everything slid up as the pack pulled down on it. Youd end up looking like an idiot with your cartridge belt just below your chest if you didnt adjust it all the time. My advice, just wear the haversack as a backpack.
Can you talk about the, Alice and the MOLLE.
I think an aspect or side bar is important to all these designed, as issued gear is how is was modified in the field.....
when I look at this load bearing gear I want to immediately get the knife and scissors out and a shank of para cord to make it work better, be lighter and simpler. Oh, and just one canteen, or maybe two, not way that is enough.
Thompson and BAR were still used by US military until late 1970s where MP5 and M249 were available.
I think you mean M3/M3A1 Grease Gun, which was actually in service with tank and armored vehicle units until the mid to late 90s because they were part of TOE for attaching inside the vehicle. The Thompson was declared fully obsolete in 55, although sporadic usage was seen by individuals and units through the 60s. The M249 didn’t enter service until 1983.
I cant find videos about mexican military uniforms can you make one?
Fun fact: the M3A1 Grease Gun was still being used by tanker crews during the Gulf War in 1990. Honestly, there was no good reason to replace it. It performed as well as any SMG out there, even if it wasn't as sexy as an MP5, and the SMG as a weapon concept was largely obsolete. But it was small enough for tanker crews, so it was kept around.
Despite what some people say, the M14 was the better choice over the FAL. Neither was effective in full-auto, and the FAL's inherent inaccuracy meant it could not have served as a DMR. Simply put, the FAL turned a 1000 yard cartridge into a 300 yard cartridge. It effectively made 7.62 NATO less capable than 5.56 NATO, and would have forced the US to start from scratch when the need for a DMR became apparent. Indeed, the US would have gotten more effective range by scoping an unmodified M16 than trying to accurize a FAL.
Forcing the US to start DMRs from scratch would have led to an earlier resurrection of the AR-10, which is pretty much the standard DMR across the US military now and is better suited as a DMR than the M14.
The m14 was also a 300 yrd rifle the basic vanilla one with no match barrel the fal was just Better for it the problem was they were up against AKs and didn’t even shoot back durning ambushes that’s a problem the only way to beat an ambush is either get out or volume of fire the m21 was a very good DMR which had a match barrel and a much better stock
those absolute kings firing those M14s like its nothing lol
Now we just literally order gear off Amazon and cheap and crappy as some of it is, it is still heads and tails more durable, utilitarian, and efficient than M1956 gear.
Modularity is so built in, that every piece of modern gear is mix and match Molle compatible. You can literally have any type of kit you want nowadays, the only obstacle being price.
Idk what youre talking about M56 and ALICE/M67 are some of the most durable pieces of gear that will get the job done theyre cheap, urgonomic, and plentiful, plus they are compatible with most weapon systems M16, M14, HKG3, FN FAL, you can buy a full alice set for less than 150$ the plate carriers/molle chestrigs at my local tactical store sell for atleast 200$ with nothing on them
A grunt will always alter their 782 gear.
Wait a sec...... holy shit..... I actually own the earliest model of M56, it has no plastic or fiber reinforced front except the 2 triangles of stiff flexible fiber on the flap, and a hard back plate, most likely hardened fiber.
me see UH video, me click like
M16 hmmm... never heard of it
The Royal Gloucesters
18:00
Its 'nam baby
The M-1956 from my observation comes from the concept from the WWII German Wehrmacht's Infantry Assault Pack System or A-Frame first used in combat in 1939 during the Polish Invasion. The German has learned from trench warfare that an infantryman needed to carry less equipment into combat and only carry his primary needs to do his tasks to fight. First is water, rations for 24 hours, extra ammo, shovel to dig in, poncho to keep dry or gas attacks, gas protective mask for personal safety. The German Infantry has developed this first into their Sturmtruppen concept then introduced into their regular infantry fighting in the Western Front. After WWI the US Army developed the M-1928 Combat Field Pack from their experience in combat in WWI in France. The M-1910 type "Papoose" was not suitable for assault type operations for 24 hours. By after the Korean War the M-1956 was far more superior than the stuff prior and during WWII for the infantryman in combat and in the field. It was improved in the late 1960s and early 1970s that it was still good before MOLLE was introduced in the late 90s and early 2000s. Bottom line is the German Infantry had pioneered the concept of fighting light during an assault phase of any operation which requires a violent course of action in taking any objective during Poland, Holland, Belgium, and France. It was more epic when German Paratroopers took down Crete in 1940. They all jumped in and had to fight very hard. Many had died in combat because they were not armed as they landed other than pistols or submachineguns on their initial jump. Bad logistics on their part. American Paratroopers from 1942 till present always jump with their weapons on them along with the British have learned from the Germans to never store their personal weapons like rifles and machineguns unless they are too heavy to jump with for immediate use in drop containers. If when you fight light, you can gain an objective. Upon reaching it, you have to be violent in action and kill every enemy on it who are intent on killing you with no mercy. Bottom line of combat is eliminate anyone intent on resisting and they are combatants. More enemy dead is closer to more peace. Yes the M-1956 System was suitable in combat other than the Duck Canvas material they were made with. The Lincloe nylon system was a great improvement which became ALICE after 1967-68. ALICE in the mid 1970s and the early 2000s were fine.
i cant fnd much info on lincloe however i know the m56 e tool cover was copied from the germans
@@vietnamreanacting.6818 Lincloe is like trying to find "Moon Rock". The M1943 folding shovel and cover was copied from the Germans. Many were found in North Africa and Italy. The Army replaced the T- handled M1910 by Korea.
@@reddevilparatrooper yeah I noticed that too im just talking about the bayonet carrier
Cotton canvas 782 web gear gets wet stays wet, and heavy.
One of the many reasons for the Korean War was to get rid of some of that mass surplus of wwii weapons and ammo to make room for newer weapons and ammo.... I mean how else are supposed to get rid of surplus? You can't just throw it away, not while kids in third world countries would be happy to use that old 30.06 cartridge out of the trash...
In Germany, 1967-69, my 166mm SP unit fired ammo made in 1944. It was not until February 1969 that we got anything newer to fire a prep for an airmobile insertion demonstration by the 3rd ID.
155mm, Duh.
Nice... 155mm is a beast... I love when the military gets new stuff... especially small arms... let's us soak up all that beautiful military surplus ammo... still getting 762 surplus made in Lake city Utah, Germany, britian, Malaysia, South africa and Portugal for 82 cents a round. Pretty good in this "ammo crisis"... my family isn't so happy about it. They can't under stand why ammo cans show up every 3rd day or so while 2 walk in closets are full of thousands of rounds of ammo
4:54 So.....way back when the Army decided a soldier could only carry up to 45 pounds into the field......total? What the f*** happened????
Do you think webbing still popular to this day?
So it's not just me?
Requesting Indian army gear.
The T48 shoulda won contract. The m14 was a dumb choice
Canvas web-gear is the worst material ever. When it gets wet in slightly cold weather, is becomes stiff as a board, and chafes in placed you wouldn't imagine. I was in the Danish army in 1993-94, and we still used the old webbing from 1945, we were not allowed to buy ore modern gear ourselves. We were stuck with the old crap.
Americans, how could you chose M-14 over the FN FAL beauty???
We vetoed its adoption because of pride