The Kit Pic Thread

yeah, WWII airsoft is living history for me, I tend to view it that if I wouldn't do it at a re-enactment event, I won't do it at an airsoft one.

Of course there are some things I do at re-eanctment events that I don't at airsoft - like being more on the ball for shaving, or other character eccentricities - but that is more because other people want me to at re-enacting, and even though I am not as bothered about it I respect their point of view and oblige happily.

Having to get a drink from the water-bottle on your webbing is all part of the fun and helps one immerse in the event.

Do you only eat food from repacked 'period' looking items etc as well?

TBH I only bother with stuff like that if its in the public eye.

Do you only eat food from repacked 'period' looking items etc as well?

TBH I only bother with stuff like that if its in the public eye.

I know this is a question for Wladek, but I thought I'd answer anyway.

I have done, but to be honest usually it's more effort than I have time to sort. This for me goes beyond the "easy to do" status.

yeah, WWII airsoft is living history for me, I tend to view it that if I wouldn't do it at a re-enactment event, I won't do it at an airsoft one.

Of course there are some things I do at re-enactment events that I don't at airsoft - like being more on the ball for shaving, or other character eccentricities - but that is more because other people want me to at re-enacting, and even though I am not as bothered about it I respect their point of view and oblige happily.

Having to get a drink from the water-bottle on your webbing is all part of the fun and helps one immerse in the event.

Do you only eat food from repacked 'period' looking items etc as well?

TBH I only bother with stuff like that if its in the public eye.

A lot of the time, yes. sometimes, no. Depends on how 'me eating food' fits into the event. If it is a day of 'shooty shooty' then I might revert to a pack of hula hoops. If there is any living in the field-ness then I try have something which could be period. Bread has been bread since the dawn of corn (sic), and a pork pie is substantially the same today as it was 70 years ago. wrap 'em in brown paper and bobs your uncle. Would a frontline soldier have had 'em? probably not, but that files under 'character eccentricity', being the scrounger, the cad who does get hold of 'em, which I also enjoy at re-enactment dos . It is more about the functionality of it then the look.

Even at re-enactment dos I may have a pack of mars bars in the back of the tent but I consciously avoid the 'public eye' argument because I do the hobbies (both of them) for me, not the public. The whole 'public gone stop re-enacting now' thing feels silly to me. Even when I am at the pub in Crich on an evening I am still playing my little game, just the same as I am during the day.

Of course I am not saying other people are not allowed to have modern water bottles, or Kit-Kats, doesn't bother me at all.

Oh not forgetting that at the Bastogne event, we (by that I mean Wladek) actually supplied the entire US side with C-rations. Even issued from the correct boxes at the HQ.

I was actually on about the kit Ranj, not the wearer.

I know, I'll put the fun away now. Your kit does look great, Jim.

I always try to have a full period water bottle on my webbing because it is one thing almost every soldier seems to have in pics (in my head anyway) regardless of his role /theatre and it means that I always have some water if I really need some in the field, even if I drop my small pack/ musette/ haversack. Depending on the game I might not use it all day and just drink from the massive bottle back at a CP but I'd rather that than find myself without after a frenzied sweaty bout of running awa... er tactical withdrawing.

I'm sure we've discussed it on this forum but there was a recent thread on Pozzi on using brit bottles to drink from [link]http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=79295[/link]

While I generally drink from a bottle kept in my small pack, mainly because I am poncey and would rather drink environmentally unfriendly sparkling water, I would always try and carry a full period water bottle (although I forgot to fill it up at Fuhrer) and drink from it if necessary. It's part of the equipment and while not a re-enactor I don't understand not trying to get the uniform and equipment as authentic and complete as possble. I don't understand where arbitrary lines are drawn or the justification that it is only WW2 Airsoft. For me that is the reason it should be correct - it is WW2 airsoft. It is items like boots and water bottles and full sets of webbing that give me a greater appreciation of what it was like. If I end up with a huge bruise on my lower back because the hobnails are so awful on concrete or a soaking wet leg from my perpetually leaking canteen then I have learned something about the practicalities of being a WW2 soldier. And more than I would get sitting behind a rope in a field full of public or running through a building in a nice pair of modern army or hiking footwear. I doubt I will ever get a haircut that would not have got me on a charge back then (I have a life outside the 10 days airsoft I do a year) but even there I try to make it look as less long as I can.

And speaking of charges I note that such an excuse:

Would a frontline soldier have had 'em? probably not, but that files under 'character eccentricity', being the scrounger, the cad who does get hold of 'em, which I also enjoy at re-enactment dos .

Got me on a charge of looting at Bastogne for my Ardennes pate...

And speaking of charges I note that such an excuse:

Would a frontline soldier have had 'em? probably not, but that files under 'character eccentricity', being the scrounger, the cad who does get hold of 'em, which I also enjoy at re-enactment dos .

Got me on a charge of looting at Bastogne for my Ardennes pate...

Well you couldn't produce a witness to say you traded it so a charge of looting could not be avoided. Don't worry, the charge of probably murdering this increasingly hypothetical pate seller we quietly lost the paperwork from when you shared the Brie.*

Note the charge for murdering the Brie seller still stands

While I generally drink from a bottle kept in my small pack, mainly because I am poncey and would rather drink environmentally unfriendly sparkling water, I would always try and carry a full period water bottle (although I forgot to fill it up at Fuhrer) and drink from it if necessary. It's part of the equipment and while not a re-enactor I don't understand not trying to get the uniform and equipment as authentic and complete as possble. I don't understand where arbitrary lines are drawn or the justification that it is only WW2 Airsoft. For me that is the reason it should be correct - it is WW2 airsoft. It is items like boots and water bottles and full sets of webbing that give me a greater appreciation of what it was like. If I end up with a huge bruise on my lower back because the hobnails are so awful on concrete or a soaking wet leg from my perpetually leaking canteen then I have learned something about the practicalities of being a WW2 soldier. And more than I would get sitting behind a rope in a field full of public or running through a building in a nice pair of modern army or hiking footwear. I doubt I will ever get a haircut that would not have got me on a charge back then (I have a life outside the 10 days airsoft I do a year) but even there I try to make it look as less long as I can.

And speaking of charges I note that such an excuse:

Would a frontline soldier have had 'em? probably not, but that files under 'character eccentricity', being the scrounger, the cad who does get hold of 'em, which I also enjoy at re-enactment dos .

Got me on a charge of looting at Bastogne for my Ardennes pate...

You see I always have an authentic haircut and shave properly, this was always done except in *exceptional* circumstances, men even shaved at arnhem before crossing the rhine after nine days of fighting.

But webbing was frequently stripped down and dropped before combat. Plently of pics of guys fighting with just a 303 bandolier wrapped around the waste or in 'skeleton' order.

Ah for the good old days:

1860 to 1916: Command No. 1,695 of the King’s Regulations "The hair of the head will be kept short. The chin and the under lip will be shaved, but not the upper lip"

Ah for the good old days:

1860 to 1916: Command No. 1,695 of the King’s Regulations "The hair of the head will be kept short. The chin and the under lip will be shaved, but not the upper lip"

Hmm, one could grow a massive moustache and really go to town with the styling.

It is a shame that, of all the eras in time, we pick the one with the period with the least interesting hair

Hmm, one could grow a massive moustache and really go to town with the styling.

Indeed; here is where google led me to refresh my memory on the regulation and dates operative - a fine example:

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php ... moustache/

we pick the one with the period with the least interesting hair

For those of us with no hair at all, this is a blessing.

I always thought WW2 haircuts were rather jazzy? All that Brylcreem.

Cheers
Martin

we pick the one with the period with the least interesting hair

For those of us with no hair at all, this is a blessing.

I always thought WW2 haircuts were rather jazzy? All that Brylcreem.

Cheers
Martin

Everything is relative.

i give you http://badasscivilwarbeards.tumblr.com/

Oh yes, the mid/late nineteenth century was the heyday of facial adornment.

The Hapsburg army of 1859 and 1866 also featured some truely astonishing moustachios.

Cheers
Martin

3 pages since an actual picture of anyone in their kit! And yes, I do appreciate the irony that I too am not posting a kit picture by posting this!

Oh we can have a chinwag now and then. Adds a bit of spice to our lives.

Unfortunately I cannot post my new kit pic until after flying lead - when I shave of this beard.

Well, I'm itching to get some pics of my newly-completed DAK kit... only trouble is, a snowy background doesn't really look right, somehow...

WW2 Global Warming problems?

Well, I'm itching to get some pics of my newly-completed DAK kit... only trouble is, a snowy background doesn't really look right, somehow...

Black and white photo, then it might look like sand.....