Waco’s guide to field sustainment

[The Waco Kid]

Maybe you are doing some battlesim or perhaps a multi day event.
 

Possibly you are on the run from the guberment and know one else can help. 
 

Congratulations you have reached…

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            …….. a complete idiot.

There are many guides out there to “survival” and military field craft. This is not that. If you are in a 24 to 48 hour game you don’t need it.

Many events have a permanent safe zones and the majority of players will go to bed at night. 

If it’s under 24 hours then stick on a poncho if it’s wet or a puffy jacket if it’s cold. Go in a building. 
 

I mean look at this sexy mother lover.

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That’s how to skirmish baby.

 

[The Waco Kid]

The brew kit

Many militaries issue some system to let individual soldiers make hot drinks and heat up rations in the field.

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Few airsoft events involve living in the wilderness for any length of time but being able to get a hot drink is very useful for morale and we are here to enjoy ourselves, allegedly.

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For the more involved events you may be expected to provide your own catering, so a little more capacity to cook is useful.

Some brew kit options:

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1) Hot drink in an insulated container.

Possible but it’s limited how long it will stay warm. Maybe useful for winter day game but bulky. Immediately ready to use.

2) Gas canister stoves and Jetboils.

Jetboil & Fire Maple type flux ring heating systems are fast and originally intended to fit in an issue utility pouch. Great for boiling drinking water. Expensive and some breakable parts.

Compact canister stoves are cheaper and can be very compact. Like jet boils there are parts that can break. Also light & fast.

All gas stoves can be noisy and it is possible to mishandle and ignite the can if you are a knob head.

3) Military style solid fuel coolers. The old “Hexi TV”.

In the UK HEXAMINE is now band and like US trioxane not healthy to breath the fumes in an enclosed spaces. Esbit also smells a bit. BCB fire dragon gel/blocks is a bit more eco and lights very easily. Solid fuel stoves are very cheap and robust but can take a while to get a full boil depending on conditions. Quiet and May or May not smell.

4) Liquid fuel cooking systems. 
 

Pressurised systems like the MSR whisperlite light take time to set up an prime. Are often expensive and commonly flare up more than other devices on ignition. Often sound like a rocket launch when running. As quick as gas once going, breakable and the most complex to operate.

Traditional systems like the Trangia are very robust but you need to take care with loose liquid fuel. Take a few minutes to prime but very hot once running. Quiet when running and usually not smells. 
 

5) Wood burners.

Good luck with this, way too much work.

Options 2 & 3 are popular with soldiers for a reason. Either speed (2) or simplicity (3) and possibly the hexi fumes. 

 

[The Waco Kid]

For cheapness option 2. The very robust solid fuel “Tommy” cooker style stove and cup.

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The hardware in this is £20-30 including enough fuel for half a dozen brews.

• BCB Metal Crusader mug.

• Highlander army stove.

• Fuel tabs.

• Windproof matches.

• Soldering mat to protect the grass

• Long spoon,  for eating directly from food packets.

• Plastic fold-a-cup. Nicer to drink from and you can make a brew/soup in this while still cooking in the metal cup.

• Gloves. The metal mug handles get very very hot when the fuel initially flares up.

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This set up is very simple and very robust. Even if you some how broke the stove you could still run it. Alternatively just use 3-4 big nails jammed in the ground or rocks as a stove. 
 

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The old issue stoves with a holder for the Crusader mug are a bit more stable.

Heximine and Esbit are a bit toxic and leave a residue on the outside of your pot. Rubbing them in the soil or sand is enough to get this off.

If you are using alcohol based fuel blocks or gel, then a bit of foil folded to make a tray or stove specific works better.

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  The fire dragon stoves are also cheap. The fuel is a bit pricier than hexi, but legal for sale! Supposedly non-toxic and less odour.

 As it’s alcohol based the flame is clearer so it’s difficult to see it’s lit in daylight. It leaves less sticky residue on your pot, just soot. The stove tray will get a crust in it, but this doesn’t effect function.

  Extra kit may be a:

• pot scourer or tissues to clean up.

• Pot/mug lid, metal ones are best or tin foil. Retains some heat and keeps out bugs.
• Heavy foil wind shield. But this is then an extra faff to set up.

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  These types of stoves are usually cool to the touch by the time you have had your brew.

  As a side note round pots are a bit more fuel efficient and boil quicker due to better heat distribution, or something.
 

 So if you don’t need a metal mug to stack with an issue canteen they are a good alternative.  They can be a little less convenient  for boil in the bag though.

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  There is no issue with using aluminium cook ware, steel is obviously very strong. Titanium is lightest but most expensive and if actually cooking can burn things more easily.
 

  However my focus for this cheap. ?

 

[Cannonfodder]

This is still good info for those who play at sites where lunch isn't provided or is frankly a bit shit as on a cold day a hot meal or drink can really boost morale. In these situations I've often taken a flask of tea (you really should avoid coffee as caffeine dehydrates you) and a small gas stove with a camping meal along with a set of mess tins.

Alternatively there's the self heating MRE style meals. These are more expensive but are great if space is an issue as you only need to add some water in the outer bag and a chemical reaction produces heat to warm the food pouch. 

 

[The Waco Kid]

Time for pyromania! The real reason anyone goes airsofting….

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  You’ve got your stove but now need to light it.

Left to right:

• Magnesium block and striker. Takes quite a while to get a decent number of shavings, best dropped on to duct tape to avoid them blowing away. ?

• Fire steel/ferro rod. Pretty unbreakable but work best with processed tinder. Readily light gas and alcohol but easy to knock over the stove with cold hands. ?

• Bic lighter with o-ring or cable tie to stop gas leaking. Handy for various jobs and pyro. ?
• Windproof matches. Very useful as they can be inserted into most stoves without burning your fingers. Especially the UCO hurricane matches, bigger am better… ??

The latter two are simple. But do practice stetting up and using your stove before trying it out and about.

Solid fuel blocks such as Esbit can take a bit to get going so a flame held under them usually get the best result. One reason matches get issued in kits, plus they are light cheap and store for ages.

Alcohol fuel blocks will light from a spark even when completely soaked, just tip water out and they will go.

Other methods.

• Wire wool plus battery. Just take a lighter.

• Fire by friction. Good luck with that Bear Argyll’s. ?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/SzRzbCJEGo6DxwoP/?mibextid=KsPBc6

 

[The Waco Kid]

Water

Most sites should be able to provide potable drinking water. 
 

If not there is the option to treat it yourself. But this is really outside the ideal of what we want for a game.

If there is no supply on-site get a big bottle to keep in the car.

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For those considering some sort of Bambi goes Rambo themed survival game here is a summary of options:

• Bringing water to the boil will kill bugs. Ideally with pre-filtering (with a millbank bag* for example) but this takes times.

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• You can mechanically filter. But takes time and filters are pricey.

• Chemical treat in a canteen. Pop in tablet and go and play. Most water purification tablets were calibrated for military canteen volumes. Again ideally pre-filtered, which is time consuming.

There can be health issues with using chemical tablets over time but a weekend shouldn’t be an issue.

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* Surplus millbank filters may have been used for liquids other than water and contain contamination. New ones can be had cheap these days.

 

[The Waco Kid]

Scran

What to eat and drink?

Instant soup and drink mixers are the simplest and quickest. They are warming and provide energy. 

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Screach can be consumed hot but it doesn’t isn’t any better. Although the sugar rush is as addictive.

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  I tend not to brew up using tea bags. They just bring back too many bad memories… especially in the woods at night.
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  In most situations snacks can be stored in spare corners of your kit.

  The traditional military biscuit will also help you by avoid the need to go to the toilet for then next day or too. ? 

  
  A good filling and light weight option is instant porridge. 
 

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  If you are an athlete then performance gels might be your thing.

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  If you do want something more filling then the options can be summarised as:

1a) Self heating meals (as CannonFodder mentions). You can  sometimes find inexpensive ones in the supermarket. The are quite a few adventure travel ones, bit pricier.

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1b) Or the military MRE heaters but I find them a faff as they don’t really work for a hot drink so you might as well use a stove. They are a lightweight back up if you

carry ration packs.

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The above are flame less so some situations they maybe useful.

However if you are carrying a canteen cup and stove might as well use it.

2) “Dry” dehydrated meals. These are very light. And could be anything from a pot noodle ? to a mountain meal. Generally just add hot/boiling water and eat from bag.

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3) “Wet” meal ration packs and boil in the bag. Heavier but pre-cooked so they can be rated cold if needed. If cost is a factor just make bolognaise and put it in freezer bags, ones you can cook in are available. Cooking time generally 8-10 minutes.

4) Cooking direct in cup. Certainly do able but then you need preparation time and clean space. People may get upset at you catching and gutting the local coneys however. 

  Options 3 & 4 are more suitable for use with a mess tins. But if you are in a team at a base camp you can more readily cook for the group in one go.

 

[gavinkempsell]

God knows why but I have a craving for a 24hr gs ration pack (had to look that up coz I'm old & forgot)

 

[The Waco Kid]

Ah yes fine dinning indeed!

In no way has my increasing waistline due to using up “out of date” stock. 
 

Just looking at the calorie count on the cold weather pack. ?

 

[The Waco Kid]

Shelters

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No not that kind.

These:

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For bulk comparison compared to a 1 quart sized canteen.

• Far left is the issue Aussie Hootch, maybe the king of bashas.

• Top centre is a foil lined heavy tarp.

• Top right is a silnylon “ultra light” tarp.

• Botton left is a coy of the USGI poncho.

I’ll go through each of these below  with plus’s and minuses. As well as some set ups.

I’ve deliberately omitted period military shelters and tents. They can have there place at events but I’m concentrating on what can be carried as part of a webbing set and used in the game.

At a big event and even if sleeping in a building these can often be a barn or large disused building. For these situations a cheap single skin or pop up tent could be useful. It gives some privacy and an admin area where you can just dump kit without it getting lost.

 

[Shamal]

Hey Waco thanks for taking the time to put all this info up.

It makes for some very interesting reading ?

One thing though.

What happened with the tea bags in the woods at night??

 

[GenuineGerman]

This is amazing thank you. Almost as good as lemon screech at 3am on stag ?

 

[The Waco Kid]

Hey Waco thanks for taking the time to put all this info up.

It makes for some very interesting reading ?

One thing though.

What happened with the tea bags in the woods at night??

 Over friendly roe deer.

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He said he call me too…… ?

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

Great stuff.  Loved the tip for not letting your Bic lighter lose gas.

Defo second foil backed double skin tarps for shelter.

I'd add hobo cooker and Snugpak Jungle Blanket, as well as Kelly Kettle and cook kit as options too.  They are the more feral ends of this type of thing though tbh.  

 

[Sewdhull]

If your needing energy glucose tablets work wonders and don't require any liquid to consume.

I use a water filter on the hills but for Airsoft I can bring enough for the day.

As ppl say hot drinks are a nice morale booster, a treat so have what you want. 

Weekend events I guess need more kit, interesting info.

 

[The Waco Kid]

Kelly kettle, now that is decadent sir! Get the tiffin tins and it’s four course meal time. ?

I’m going to discuss a couple of shelters setups. Starting with British Army Standard Hotel Accomodation.

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For skirmishes there’s basically two (non emergency) uses. 
 

1) Weather protection at some sort of harbour area.

and/or 

2) Concealment for an observation post.

I’m a bit wary of tarping over location that will definitely get bumped. Just because I like pyro a lot…

ACF YouTube video about the basics.

For our purposes quick and easy is what we want.
I am not a big fan of bungies however. Mostly because when they go ping they are bound to hit you in the face or nuts. 

But your mileage may vary!

Centre ridgeline basha 

General use shelter.

The setup below is a variation  of the basha with the cordage and ridge line already in place. If tying between two trees it uses minimal hardware.

Avantage of pre-rigging is that is very quick to pitch. 
 

Disadvantage is that you’ve lost some flexibility so as you have to take stuff off to change  the set up.

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Bundled up. Main ridge line is just wrapped around the whole thing.

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Partly unrolled. You can set this up by tie one end to a tree and unroll it as you go and then trying off the free end.

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The basha Will the just hang from the line. The line is pretty thick and it easier to work with than paracord. But that works just fine too.

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The ridge line is pre rigged run through the centre loops on the basha. The knots on the two one loops are PRUSSIK’s. These self lock under load.

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This means you can tension the basha separately along the ridge line and move it along to where you want it.

Staking straight to the ground is the most weatherproof.

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Using the guy lines gives more clearance. These I quite long as as I often pitch it above a hammock.

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If I intended to use this for concealment I’d rig the ridgeline along one edge.

There are a lot of ways to set up tarps and the Aussie hootch/basha has a variety of eyelets and studs so you can button it into a tube or join them together.

 

[The Waco Kid]

A note on knots

The above basha uses a few basic knots:

Clove hitch or round turn and two half hitches for the ends of the ridgeline.

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Prussia knot for keeping the tarp in place.

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Overhand on a loop to tie off the guy lines to the stakes. There are better and adjustable options but this keeps it super simple. I make the loop quite large so it’s easy to up hook.

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A more advanced option is to use a truckers hitch on one end of the ridge line to get it really tight.

Corporal’s Corner explains:

This is useful for poor weather or if you intend to have the basha up for a while.

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I was useless learning knots as a kid.  As an adult, I've become slightly compulsive about learning them and failing to teach them to my kids.

 

[The Waco Kid]

    I’ll post up a bit about poncho shelters and tarps next. Plus a few options that avoid retrying knots or make things more flexible. 
 

Got to do some more pictures however.

 

[Emergencychimps]

On the cooker side of things, heard great things about alpkits bru kit, which is a copy of the jet boils and are about £50. 

I was always a fan of a hot chocolate flavoured protein porridge just before sleep, generally meant there was hot water for a metal bottle with a sock around it to act as a hot water bottle. Anything that helped me get good sleep in the 4-5 hours of rest I'd get was very welcome. 

Wet clothes were removed, but important clothes I'd have to wear again were generally added to my sleeping bag to dry them out (or at least keep them warm, warm wet clothes were better than freezing wet clothes).