adventure_photo wrote:
Nice Dan, kinda looks like a medieval torture kit but I'm sure it save quite a few lives.
It survived 2 years in Vietnam and believe me it saved MANY lives. The Evac Hospital was not "just around the corner".
Thanks Scott!
Dan
A poignant "souvenir". I think those, like much of US gear in Vietnam, was Korean War surplus...
I wish I had taken a picture of my dad's WWII ditch kit. It was contained in little early plastic boxes (similar to 100 count .22 cal ammo boxes) in a canvas bandolier so that you could grab it as you stepped out of your plane. As a 10 year old, it was the coolest treasure to go through.
It had the weirdest tools (and drugs!): Water purification tablets, shark repellent, marker dye, glass morphine ampules, hard candy, beechnut, signal mirror, scalpel, gauze, needles, thread, fish hooks and tackle, patch kit for the raft.
The coolest thing was a multi-tool based on a multi-section cleaning rod. It had multiple heads, including a barbed spear tip for fishing and what I'd describe as a 'jigging' triton. I've never seen one anywhere else.
Ironically, if you were in a situation to need the kit, most likely you were already dead..
