Warbird Information Exchange

what survival gear is in a CURRENT u.s. pilot / aircrew survival kit?? ( please no dr strangelove / slim pickens quotes ) i know the no brainers such as rations, meds, bandages, ammo etc, i want to know the new cutting edge stuff since desert storm of the early 90's gps?? glow sticks?? what kind of new high tech or innovative stuff?? what about other countries??

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Gotta have some duct tape!

All kinds of good stuff! There are actually two kits that most fighter guys will have: what is in the ACES II seat kit, and what is in the survival vest.

..here's just a few of the "high tech" items that will be found between the two kits:

The basis of everything is the PRC-112B radio, or the "hook 112", which is a survival radio and GPS combined. It also has a bunch of neat encrypted communications capabilities.

My squadron also purchased the Garmin GPS-12XL as a backup navigation aid, but that is completely up to each squadron what they want to purchase.

An NVG monocular, to aid in night navigation and evasion.

Strobe/Beacon with an NVG-compatible IR marker.

A "firefly", which is an IR strobe that sits on top of a 9V battery.

Other than that stuff, we have the standard flex packs of water, compass, face paint, chemical glow sticks, fishing kits, desalinization kit, hat, gloves, signal mirror, knife, Leatherman, evasion maps, 9mm, ammo, whitsle, gyro jet flares, smoke, fire starter, waterproof matches, tourniquet. Lots more than I'm mentioning here, but these are the main items.

randy, i betted that you would be the guy to come through with the info, thanks!! question......... how often are the kit contents rotated or checked, & who does it?? quartermaster?? things like meds, flares, etc have a shelf life. i face the same dilemma in my business with boaters safety kits if they do not sell in time, only i eat it when they expire. what is rotated or checked?? batteries for electronics? pistol oiled etc??

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Depends on the Command the aircraft is assigned to. But the basic equipment is a PRC-90 series radio, first aid kit, raft repair plugs, chap stick, sunscreen, space blanket, survival knife, water, mirror, whistle, sea-dye marker, Mk-13 or -124 signal flares, L-119 pengun flares, strobe lights. Survival vests have most of the same components, we put PRC-112G radios in our vests, along with the Garmin E-Trex GPS's, survival manual, compass, blast match (fire starter), camo pack, tourniquet, first aid kit, water. I've seen watch caps, dive gloves in some of the ACES II kits from Iceland.

In the MC-130E world and the other heavy's that carry ML-4 kits they are inspected every 365 days. The ACES II is either 180 or 365 days.

We, Aicrew Life Support/Flight Equipment, inspects them. The components are changed out if the service life is expired or if the item is just plain bad, or if a newer better version comes out. Some items seem to last forever.

Mike in Florida
USAF Aircrew Life Support
"Your Life Is Our Business"
Aircrew Flight Equipment (Our new name, since we have merged with the parachute shop))

Randy, do y'all have MRE's or energy bars or similar to "snack on" while evading the bad guys, or are y'all just kind of on your own for getting food (berries, ants, critters, etc.)?

Gary

I think there is only water and a couple bullion cubes in the survival gear. There is room in the vest to put extra stuff in there, and I carried a Powerbar and an extra flexpack of water.

I fully expected in a combat situation to have to spend the night -- 9-12 hours -- on the ground minimum if I had to punch out. I wanted to be able to eat and drink as soon as I hit the ground and took care of my immediate action stuff (the ol' 'conserve sweat, not water' theory).

After that, I was gonna have to either just be hungry for a couple days, or go scrounge food from the locals.

Interesting. Thanks!

GAry