Kilt Aprons.

[MacWage]

Additionally, as has been pointed out on this forum before, soldiers used to also be much smaller built than modern US and Brit ones. They used to be fairly small and lean. Now most are muscle men, 5'6" to 6'+. This is also primarily a recent (latter 20th Century) thing.

Imagine all the soldiers (as they used to be built) carrying all that stuff. Yet, that is what they were used too, especially compared to today (with modern motorized -and rotored- rapid resupply.

[mkmound]

Touching on a soldiers load-well an infantry man of either WW1 or today-a lot of kit is needed just to survive, and often the immediate action is only a prelude to holding the ground hopefully won.

. . .

Now after ninety years we have personnel carriers-helicopters and all sorts of ways of riding into action-so by now it stands to reason that the soldiers load must be a lot lighter--does any modern soldier believe that?

James

James,

It hasn't worked out that way . . . one of my sons was in the US Marines, in Iraq last year. He said that he routinely carried a pack that weighed in excess of 100 lbs. when out on patrol.

Mark

[James]

That's why I closed by asking if any modern soldier believed that!

James

[Pleater]

The 'Tommy Atkins' of the Roman Legions was 'Marcus the mule - two thousand years and not much has changed - not even the gripeing.