Jonathan Idema

"Jack" Idema was an interesting character to me. He was U.S. Army Special Forces qualified, but disliked the military. I totally understand that. I was in the Army, Airborne Infantry, pathfinder, parachute rigger etc. I loved the schools and getting the training but hated the juvenile petty way the Army machine ran things; FTA (fuck the army). I think Idema thought the same. 

Check him out on wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Idema

Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema (May 30, 1956 – January 21, 2012) was a former U.S. Army reserve special operations non-commissioned officer. In September 2004 he was found guilty of running a private prison in Afghanistan and torturing Afghan citizens. At the time, Idema had been portraying himself as a U.S. government-sponsored special forces operative on a mission to apprehend terrorists. However, the U.S. government has repeatedly denied most of such claims.

Idema served three years of a ten-year sentence. He was released early by Afghanistan's then-president Hamid Karzai in April 2007, departing Afghanistan in early June.
Idema died of AIDS in Mexico in late January 2012.

Military service;
There is a discrepancy between what Idema says his military experience was as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and what is stated in his official military record. Idema has repeatedly stated on television, radio, and in writing that he acquired 12 years of Special forces service, 22 years of combat training, and 18 years of covert operations experience.

Idema's military career was short and contained several reports of poor performance, with no record that he acquired any combat experience. Two years after enlisting in the Army in 1975, he qualified for the Special Forces.

According to his military record obtained in the course of his 1994 fraud trial, after serving one term of service Idema was not allowed to reenlist, likely due to poor performance. He had received numerous negative remarks from superior officers in addition to participating in three non-judicial punishment proceedings. Idema was cited for "failure to obey orders, being derelict in the performance of his duty, and being disrespectful to a superior commanding officer."One superior officer, Capt. John D. Carlson stated that Idema "is without a doubt the most unmotivated, unprofessional, immature enlisted man I have ever known.

However, he was given an honorable discharge and allowed to join the United States Army Reserve 11th Special Forces Group working to provide logistical support. In a November 1, 1980 letter of reprimand, Major Paul R. Decker wrote that Idema "consistently displayed an attitude of noncooperation with persons outside his immediate working environment, disregard for authority and gross immaturity characterized by irrationality and a tendency toward violence. In January 1981, Idema was relieved of his Army Reserve duties, his last position was the assistant sergeant of operations and intelligence. After leaving the Army reserves, he became a member of the Individual Ready Reserve until he left the military completely in 1984.

Doug Peacock AKA George Washington Hayduke

 Doug Peacock is an American naturalist, outdoorsman, and author. He is best known for his book Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness, a memoir of his experiences in the 1970s and 1980s, much of which was spent alone in the wilderness of the western United States observing grizzly bears. 

Doug Peacock was born in Alma, Michigan, and attended the University of Michigan. He served as a Green Beret combat medic during the Vietnam War and, upon returning, felt so disillusioned with human society that he sought solace in the beauty of the wilderness. Although he had little scientific background, his passion for and firsthand experience with bears soon brought him recognition as an expert in grizzly behavior. He was a friend of author Edward Abbey, and served as the model for the character George Hayduke in Abbey's famous novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.
Peacock's 2005 book, Walking it Off: A Veteran's Chronicle of War And Wilderness, continues his memoirs, in the wake of Ed Abbey's death. He ventured into the southwest deserts to walk off the scars left by his friend's death. In the process, he revisited Vietnam in flashbacks, remembering the cantankerous friendship with Abbey, and almost died in his journey to recover from "this terminal disease called life" in Nepal with his friends Alan Burgess and Dennis Sizemore.
Peacock is also friend of American author Rick Bass. In Bass's book "The Lost Grizzlies: A Search for Survivors in the Wilderness of Colorado" Peacock is a key element in the search for evidence that there are still grizzlies in the San Juan Mountains.
Peacock was a 2007 Guggenheim fellow, and currently lives in Montana with his wife Andrea, author of Libby, Montana: Asbestos and the Deadly Silence of an American Corporation. Peacock speaks in schools about wilderness, conservation, and the need to preserve our wilderness. Doug is the chairman of the board of trustees for Round River Conservation Studies.

Hayduke; his weapons in the book; The Monkey wrench gang by Edward Abbey

waiting he inventoried the weapons in his possession, in the jeep,illegally concealed,available for use: one Buck knife, the special, honed to the keenness of a razors edge; one 357 magnum revolver,loaded except for an empty firing chamber;one small steel VC crossbow with broad head darts, made of an American wrecked helicopter; one Winchester carbine model 94,the classic deer rifle packed in a saddle scabbard; one AK47 with two banana clips taped together, Loaded; and the basic item, the backbone of his arsenal, a staple for any well-equipped death kit the Remington 30/06 bolt action target rifle withBausch and lomb 3x/9x variable scope, accurate enough to pick off a gook, greek or your brothers ear at 500 yards, plus a reloading kit,powder,caps,bullets, salvaged casings, the works.

processing Moose meat and forcing a patina - BushCrap

I concerned that not enough people are forcing a patina on their mora knives. please check out the 2 hour video I posted on my new site. ladyboysandoldfarts.com

Max Rockatansky fly swatter knife

Mad Max Rockatansky fly swatter/knife, it is a cool Grey man tool.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Rockatansky

"He has one hidden weapon, referred to in the novelization as his "Live saver", being a small knife carefully concealed in the handle of a fly swatter."

Looks like its made from an SKS bayonet.I think Ill make a few. It would be a fun build.

Alleged coup attempt in Venezuela

"The quiet professionals" what a crock of shit. I get a little sick of these self important Army SF types and their inflated egos.  They may be veterans of the military but so are Cooks, truck drivers, finance people, supply etc. But you dont see the veterans of those or the other MOSs expecting people to kiss their asses like SF types do. Fuck those idiots that went to Venezuela, I hope they go to jail. 

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ex-US-Green-Beret-Behind-Failed-Terrorist-Plots-in-Venezuela-20200504-0015.html

Supposedly this guy - yet another American Army Special Forces "expert" set it up.
meet Jordan Goudreau - of Silver corp USA - https://www.silvercorpusa.com/about-jordan-goudreau

Having read Jordans website, I can say at least he isnt another one of those TV survival "Experts" you often find on Dick-scovey channel, that claim to be experts simply by virtue of being a green beret.

What a load of CRAP. Why would the USA want to knock out Maduro? something is rotten in denmark. The American govt would not be in support of launching a coup on a

worthless leader like Nick Maduro. I would say IF this supposed coup was
supported by anyone its the Colombian, or Chilean governments.
Both governments and the citizens, are tired of Venezuelan refugees flooding
their respective countries. Just go to any city in Colombia or Chile
and you will see scores of street people - ALL are from the socialist
shit hole called Venezuela.

The snugpak jungle blanket - not recommended

A while back  I took a hitch hiking trip to visit my pimpalicious surfing buddy Donovan in Nicaragua. I traveled light taking a tingguian tribe hammock ( From the Philippines). my patched up old army poncho, and a Snugpak Jungle Blanket.

I had dont a bit of research on a blanket for the tropics and saw the Snugpak and decided to give it a try. all of the online "experts" were touting its ability to fit into a sack the size of a 1qt nalgene bottle....ok cool. Anyway, I bought one on evilbay, stuffed it into my travel bag and hit the road.

I found it to be too short, too thin and had very little insulating value what so ever. If you were using it with a sleeping bag etc. it would make a decent addition to your sleep system. But as it stands alone - nope. It also didnt have any baffels quilted into it for body heat retention.

In the long run I should have just taken an old poncho liner with me on this trek. 

The Army shelter half

The Shelter half was always a useful piece of issue gear for me. I actually bought one at a surplus store and took it along with a poncho liner to one of the riggers and had them sew it together and put quilting baffels in it - all for a case of beer and a #1 number on chudo street. I had in essence created as far as I know THE very first "survival quilt" in history. Why? well, for a couple of reasons.

1. Army issue ponchos suck the big mahoney and either de lam or fail in another regard.
2. ponchos make you sweat.
3. and making your own designs are pimp as a mo-fo

The combination of the shelter half and poncho gave me a water resistant (not water proof) medium weight blanket/shelter combo. it served me in good stead in both North carolina and Germany.
anyhoo, A shelter-half (UK and United States; the German equivalent, dating from before the Second World War, being the [Dreiecks]Zeltbahn or triangle tarpaulin), is a simple kind of partial tent designed to provide temporary shelter and concealment when combined with one or more sections. Two sheets of canvas or a similar material (the halves) are fastened together with snaps, straps or buttons to form a larger surface. The shelter-half is then erected using poles, ropes, pegs, and whatever tools are on hand, forming an inverted V structure. Small tents like these are often called pup tents" in American English.

Shelter halves are a mainstay of most armies, and are known from the mid 19th century. Often, each soldier carries one shelter-half and half the poles, etc., and they pair off to erect a two-man tent. The size and shape of each half shelter piece may vary from army to army, but are typically rectangular, triangular or lozenge shaped. When time and space allow, some forms of half-shelters can be combined into a larger, more complex tent.

Shelter-halves are usually designed to serve double duty as ponchos against the rain, or for the concealment of snipers. While the fabric is often simple olive drab, several nations use camouflaged fabric. The first printed camouflage for soldiers were the Italian Telo mimetico introduced in 1929 for their half-shelters. The first camouflage uniforms were the Second World War German paratrooper smock, based on their M1931 Splittermuster shelter-halves. Russian Army has used Plasch-palatkas (literally "cape-tents", designed to be used as both a part of a larger tent cover, or an individual weatherproof cape) since 1894, and the modern version, virtually unchanged since, was introduced in 1936, with the cammo version being available since 1942. To add some confusion, the ordinary waterproofed cape with a similar name (plasch-nakidka, "cape-overcoat") was issued at the same time, but these weren't intended to combine with each other

The poncho liner - calling it a woobie is gay as fuck

Its called a 'cho liner or poncho liner NOT a gay ass "woobie" it must have been a REMF that came up with that name for a valuable piece of equipment.

The venerable poncho liner is perhaps the only piece of military equipment that isnt fucked up and complicated to use. Thats rare considering it is made by the lowest bidder and evaluated by officers that have never served in the field.

I got my 1st poncho liner in 1968 when my brother mailed me one from Vietnam. I loved it and carried it through my 3 year stint with the U.S. Army. I also bought a couple more just for shits and giggles.

https://www.wiggys.com/clothing-outerwear/ponchos-poncho-liners/

Currently I am using a Wiggys brand poncho liner ( in desert cammo ) that I bought from Big Don back in 2008. Been packing it around the world since. I also bought 2 hand made poncho liners in Cambodia and had them made into a hammock. Excellent for sleeping in the jungles of Laos, Cambo, or Thailand.

A poncho liner is a piece of field gear originating in the United States military intended to provide warmth in mild temperatures used as a field expedient sleeping bag when attached to the standard issue poncho by means of integral lengths of material which are looped through the poncho's eyelets.

Although it is unclear how this item originated, it was first fielded around 1962 to special forces troops in Vietnam. The poncho liner consists of two layers of quilted nylon encasing a polyester batting. There were tie-cords on the corners and side that could be tied through matching grommets on rain ponchos. They measured 62 x 82 inches. The intent was to field an item which was lighter and faster drying than the standard-issue Army Wool Blanket, which had been rendered all but obsolete in the wet and tropical environment of Vietnam.

The first ones were Olive Drab on both sides and the earliest models featured squared corners. Around 1963, a second model was fielded which was made of WWII duck-hunter patterned parachute fabric. This model required the standard "center seam" because the fabric wasn't wide enough to produce the entire width. Later, the first camouflaged pattern was produced which was named, "ERDL Pattern." This stood for Engineer Research and Development Laboratories and the acronym became the common name for the pattern, which was enlarged somewhat in the 1980s to become the Woodland Pattern used on the BDU uniform and late 1980s poncho liners. The center seam was abandoned in the early 1970s because fabric could be produced in bolts that were wide enough that this sewing pattern was now obsolete.

Until the USMC produced their own Digital Woodland Pattern, most poncho liners were produced with the same pattern on both sides. The Marines decided to field one with Woodland Pattern on one side and a solid Coyote Color on the other. There are examples of improved models, which included high-tech 3M fillers (Thinsulate and the like), border and head zippers (there is no hole for one's head on standard issue poncho liners), and a variety of colors and patterns. Brigade Quartermaster, Inc. used to sell a zipper modification kit, which essentially codified and standardized commonly made modifications. Most recently, there have been models produced and issued in the Army's Universal Combat Pattern, the USAF's Environmental Camouflage Pattern, and Multicam/Scorpion II/etc.

Opinions among the troops generally hold the poncho liner in high regard, as a very useful piece of equipment, light and packable yet reasonably warm. Even when soaking wet, the poncho liner wrapped around a soldier would trap body heat. Many servicemen and women go through great lengths to find ways to keep their poncho liners as long as possible, even when they leave the service often upcycling or custom tailoring them into smoking jackets, hoodies, blanket coats or robes. The poncho liner found wide acceptance amongst US troops in Vietnam, providing just enough warmth for cool tropical nights but still being light and small. It is especially popular today in the age of 100-pound rucks and bulky Modular Sleep Systems.

ALICE gear - All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment

ALICE gear. Just for the record , Im not a fan of this system. I was issued ALICE gear at Infantry school at Ft. Benning back in 1976 and hated it.

The Medium alice pack is perhaps the most tortuous device ever issued to an 11B. Even with the frame the medium or large ALICE packs bite the big one.

When assigned to scout platoon 2/505th Infantry, 82nd Ariborne Div. I drew my TA-50 issue and was given the prior old school canvas issue web gear. One of the old 'Nam vets in my platoon showed me how to modify the "H" harness and adjust the belt and ammo pouches so they rode in a less uncomfortable manner on my light ass, 135 pound frame.

Here is a little info on the (to me) worthless issue ALICE gear;

By March 1972, so many deficiencies and shortcomings had developed in the load-carrying equipment that the United States Army Test And Evaluation Command requested that the test at Fort Benning be suspended until test items could be repaired or replaced. Officials held a meeting at Fort Benning on 6 April 1972 to discuss the failures.[9] In their discussions, they agreed that Natick Laboratories would take action to correct the problems so the tests could resume 9 June 1972.
Most deficiencies were found in field packs, users asked that the inner flaps on the small arms ammunition cases be removed as they impeded the rapid removal of cartridge magazines. Developers replaced these with simple strips of nylon fabric to divide the cartridge magazines. At some point during 1971 the Marine Corps found that the small arms ammunition case with the divider flaps was acceptable and initiated acceptance procedures. On 31 January 1972, the army issued military specification MIL-C-28981(MC) and these small arms ammunition cases were type classified and assigned the Federal Stock Number 8465-464-2084. The Defense Support Agency (DSA) issued contracts for the item for fiscal year 1973.
Natick Laboratories completed the modifications of the test items and military aircraft transported them to Fort Benning 1 June 1972, but testing did not resume until 3 July 1972. Testing finished 18 August 1972 and the final report was received on 24 November 1972.[10] As a result of the test, the Infantry Board recommended that no further development effort be expended on the load-carrying equipment as a system. On 31 October 1972, representatives from Natick Laboratories visited Fort Benning to discuss the problems which appeared during the testing of each item and to arrive at a decision whether to continue development of each item.[11] Prior to these final meetings the LINCLOE LCE components had been type classified and assigned Federal Stock Numbers as follows:

Belt, Individual Equipment – 8465-001-6487 (large), 8465-001-6488 (medium)
Carrier, Entrenching Tool – 8465-001-6474
Case, Field First Aid Dressing – 8465-001-6473
Case, Small Arms Ammunition – 8465-001-6482
Cover, Water Canteen – 8465-001-6472
Suspenders, Individual Equipment Belt – 8465-001-6471
The three field packs were also type classified and assigned Federal Stock Numbers:
Field Pack – 8465-001-6479 – small
Field Pack – 8465-001-6480 – medium
Field Pack – 8465-001-6481 – large
After the final meetings, the group proposed the following changes prior to manufacture:
Belt, Individual Equipment – Adopted; but with the standard buckle. The test item had been equipped with the Davis two-piece aluminum buckle which provided a quick-release capability.
Suspenders, Individual Equipment Belt – Adopt a set of individual equipment belt suspenders similar in design to those tested, but modified to increase ajustability by four inches.
Carrier, Entrenching Tool – Adopted

Case, Field First Aid Dressing – The panel rejected the test item and retained the M-1967 version. The adopted characteristics required that this item to be of sufficient size to carry two field first aid dressings. The panel determined that the M-1967 version, that accommodated one field first aid dressing, was acceptable.

Case, Small Arms Ammunition – The group adopted the small arms ammunition case as tested without the internal divider flaps.

Cover, Water Canteen – The group rejected the test item and retained the M-1967 nylon water canteen cover modified by stiffening the closing flaps so that they would not collapse and interfere with the insertion of the water canteen; to enlarge the water canteen cover somewhat for easier insertion and extraction of the water canteen cup; to add a reinforcement band to the inside of the water canteen cover to help prevent the lip of the water canteen cup from rubbing through; and add a grommet drain hole in the bottom. As requested by the NCO Board, the test cover was made without a pile liner, whose purpose was to provide evaporative cooling, and with openings in the bottom to provide better drainage and to make extraction of the water canteen cup easier. However, the test indicated that the pile liner added shape to the water canteen cover and kept it from collapsing completely when empty, making insertion of the water canteen cup much easier. The tests also determined that the openings in the bottom constituted a camouflage hazard as the metal of the water canteen cup bottom was exposed.

The group accepted the medium and large field packs with minor modifications but rejected the small field pack as unnecessary. Retesting of the modified medium and large field packs were conducted at Fort Benning during 27 November through 18 December 1972. The tests showed that the deficiencies and shortcomings of the field packs previously reported had been corrected.

The formal Development Acceptance (DEVA) review on the LINCLOE LCE occurred at Natick Laboratories 17 January 1973. The panel members agreed, by consensus, that the components be type classified as Standard A. After acceptance, the individual equipment system was given the designation M-1972 Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment (LLCE). The Defense Support Agency (DSA) began issuing contracts for the components of the new individual equipment system for fiscal year 1974, which began 1 July 1973. After the DSA issued the initial contracts, the individual equipment system was re-designated All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) and the use of year-model designations officially ceased.


The ALICE system has been phased out of all Active and Reserve Component (USAR and Army National Guard) units in the Army. Basic and Advanced Individual Training units, to include OCS, ROTC, and USMA, use the current MOLLE equipment in the digital Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP). ALICE was succeeded by Generation I MOLLE equipment. MOLLE I was then replaced by MOLLE II which, unlike MOLLE I, is strictly for the Army's Army Combat Uniform (ACU) instead of the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) and Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU).
The Navy and USAF use ALICE gear for ground personnel as well, although the USAF is phasing out ALICE in favor of MOLLE.

The Marine Corps still issues the medium ALICE pack for some radio operators. Both it and the large variant can still be found with NROTC units (who train Marine officers in addition to Navy officers). Active-duty training units (Recruit Training, School of Infantry, Officer Candidates School, The Basic School) and deployable units have switched over to the new Family of Improved Load Bearing Equipment (USMC Pack) or the slightly older Improved Load Bearing Equipment (ILBE) system. MARSOC makes extensive use of ALICE or Modified ALICE (MALICE) packs for ruck-running events in training (Assessment and Selection, Initial Training Course, and Special Operations Training Course), pre-deployment evaluations, and the Raider Games.

Small maneuver elements which rely on lightweight pack design and durability still use ALICE packs today.

Iranian Military and Law Enforcement still make heavy use of ALICE, MLC and LCE gear, but they are switching to MOLLE equipment (specifically IRGC and Army special forces) because of being more modular and to IIFS for being more lightweight.

V-Lite survival strobe

I was recently watching the flick "Extraction". I noticed that a few of the operators were wearing the V - Lite Survival strobe. Kinda cool.

Check them out on the link Below.

 https://www.tacticalxmen.com/products/wst-v-lite-survival-lamp-identification-marker-light?variant=16779733958725&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping