As a modern Army light infantryman, I can testify how full circle we have come. When I first joined the army, they were still issuing the green snap together Army shelter half. If you’ve not seen it, they are a canvas modern(ish) pup tents. Anyway, we only used them in basic training. After that in the field on a non-Tactical bivouac, many of still set up our ponchos as Civil War style pup tents. The ponchos are even designed to attach together to form a larger tent. Newer soldiers, are now issued the tarpaulin. Which is just an improved, slightly larger version, without a head slit. But most of us veterans prefer our good old army poncho.
@josephgonzales48028 ай бұрын
Interesting, I'm a 11B from the early 80s when we were issued the shelter half, poncho and wet weather gear. 🤔
@dimezrecon6 ай бұрын
Yeah, my poncho got torn, went to DX it, they tried to give me the new Tarp. I straight up refused to sign for it, lol. They gave me a poncho after awhile.
@woltews8 ай бұрын
the central problem of the combination is that you generally need in camp when it rains both a set up tent and personal waterproof clothing and by combining both into one item you will lose one to get the function of the other , if you just issue each person 2 combinations then you will likely have an unesisarily heavy shelter and also a poncho that is not optimal for it use as it must also be a shelter meaning the troops now carry more weight not less
@standinthedoor19448 ай бұрын
Hey brother this is super solid content. Idk why your video popped up in my feed because I don’t study the civil war very often but what caught my eye is I do basically the exact same thing on my KZbin channel but for WWII Airborne. Amazing job using original documents and photos to promote a more accurate historical base for living history all the while presenting in a what that in honoring a respectful to other people. Presenting fact and calling out historical inaccuracy but in a way that motivates people rather than just tick people off. We honor them by wearing what they wore and carrying what they carried! Liked and subscribed! God bless and keep crushing it!
@11thovc8 ай бұрын
Thanks Standinthedoor1944! Glad we randomly showed up in your feed! My son watches your content since he is a huge WWII guy! lol.
@standinthedoor19448 ай бұрын
Oh nice! Hope he likes it.
@rjohnson16908 ай бұрын
The weight of a waterproof blanket and shelter half is so negligible, That combining them is kinda pointless. Plus not having rain gear after your tent is set up would kinda suck. Having a truly waterproof tent would be awesome though.
@11thovc8 ай бұрын
Definitely agree!
@josephgonzales48028 ай бұрын
I also agree.👍
@tomhenry8978 ай бұрын
Never packed one have you
@phillipsmith218 ай бұрын
Every grunt in the modern military carry both but occasionally we used the poncho to pitch a tent because the tent was in the rear and we got stranded out over night or were just in need of shade.
@sandpounder34438 ай бұрын
Ounces make pounds my dude
@johnking64068 ай бұрын
Actually I think Mr. Day was probably way ahead of his time
@garycollins85184 ай бұрын
I did civil war living history for years . Carried shelter tent half and rubber poncho both worked ok on the march
@sirfox9508 ай бұрын
Was the song really that necessary? 😅
@arfyego06828 ай бұрын
Definitely
@simeondarke2018 ай бұрын
this is typical of the heads of the Quartermaster dept and the dept of Ordinance who would deny soldiers good equipment because the inventor pissed them off. A classic example of this was the WW1 refusal by the dept of ordinance to adopt the Lewis gun because the head of ordinance had a feud with Col Lewis
@kimnenninger72268 ай бұрын
Way more interesting than I first thought that this subject would be. I have one of those two part green canvas tents from WWII(?) That I got from a surplus store. We bought it for when we would go on point to point rides on our horses. The tent looks like it would sleep three men or two fat ladies, two dogs, and two wet saddles. It was really cool except it was too heavy for us to carry. I think each side was 2.5 pounds. Which is a lot if all of your gear can only weigh no more than 12 pounds. We are not soldiers but we had to be totally self contained like a soldier might have to be. We each had a firearm and small amount of amo, boots for our horses, large utility knife, canteen/water purifier (we ended up chucking these), and a fire/soap kit. This crap was almost 12 pounds itself. We had to dump the canvas and buy plastic lined table cloths for the two horses and us. These were the greatest. To bad they didn't have plastic back then.
@giantskunk8 ай бұрын
Once being a reenactor shopaholic, I picked up a reproduction of one of these several years back. I use it as a poncho most of the time. However, when the pards and I build a shebang, it is very handy to button into a conventional shelter half piece for a little extra room.
@davidborn58578 ай бұрын
The Day tent/poncho was found in the kit of a North Carolina Infantry soldier in 1863 or so. A good friend of mine David Urbanski saw and took detailed notes on this piece. The neck opening had a blue corduroy covering.
@rjohnson16908 ай бұрын
Was that the May grouping?
@joshuathomas85298 ай бұрын
Fast forward to the 1960's and the poncho tent was wide spread issued. The ponchos my dad was issued in the 80's and 90's could be snapped together to make a tent. The same design of ponchos were still being issued when I was medicaly retired in 2018. I must admit that I never did snap.my poncho together with another soldier to make a tent. I did this with a multicam poncho and a woodland poncho just to prove it possible. I would be willing to do it again and video it if thers enough interest.
@peterstadlmaier31074 ай бұрын
McClellan: Will your Poncho work as a tent? Mr.Day: Que Sera, Sera!
@robertschultz69228 ай бұрын
This was a really great idea and unfortunately was just a loser of politics. The quartermaster department should have been more worried about giving the troops the best possible product rather than being hurt by how the invention was originally presented. How many other great ideas were scrapped because some bureaucrat didn’t like the inventor or was more impressed by some one else rather than the actual product?
@michaelpeters70448 ай бұрын
The Soviet Red Army used them for years. They were cotton weave with wax melted in to make it water proof. I think they were called plash. It woren as a cape, hooded poncho, tent half.
@lesliepaulkovacs64428 ай бұрын
The problem lies with the situation of Standing Guard in the Rain vs having a Dry Place to rest AFTER Guard Duty. Set up a Poncho Tent, then tear it apart for Guard, then rebuild the Tent? Carry two Ponchos? Or a Shelter Half and a Poncho?
@leoscheibelhut9408 ай бұрын
The biggest problem with the combo poncho tent is that when one of the tentmates is on guard during rainy nights part of the tent disappears.
@vaquerojoel20268 ай бұрын
I think it would have been a great idea. Though not having rain gear when your tent was set up would be an inconvenience. The modern military poncho is a combination shelter half and poncho though it is intended as an improvised shelter.
@bruceblunt29697 ай бұрын
Minus the rubbarizing it sounds a lot like what most European armies would be issuing in the Great War and beyond. Mr. Day was a head of his time.
@Idahoguy101573 ай бұрын
Under the old Army’s bureau system the Chief of Quartermaster Corp was not obligated to obey General McClellan. Army procurement was as Byzantine then as it is now.
@mikeoyler29838 ай бұрын
I think this is an interesting aspect of McClellan's army reforms. He did consider types of equipment that could have made the army more efficient. Ultimately, this was probably was not the best piece of equipment.
@sandpounder34438 ай бұрын
It worked for the soviets and germans later on. I wonder if they got the idea from Day somehow years later
@richardross72198 ай бұрын
The common enemy in all armies was the quartermaster. 50 years ago, I had to bamboozle our qm to get what i needed.
@chrishastings26658 ай бұрын
McClellan: I don't wanna Me: that's probably what he said.
@josephgonzales48028 ай бұрын
I rather be dry both inside and outside the tent. Then just inside. Also its a pain in the you know what to have to take down your tent because it's raining. 🤔
@andydaniels30298 ай бұрын
Unless I just don’t know enough about the processes of canvas shelter manufacture in the time period, it would seem like the vast majority of moisture-related issues could be handled with relative ease regardless of whether the canvas was cotton or linen-based, and more so if there was a seasoning process in the manufacture of the canvas; I’m thinking in the scope of the 90-98th percentile of moisture-related issues, although I have no idea at all about whether or not it was indeed part of the process. Beyond that even, if a shelter half was given to further waterproofing efforts on individually-based preferences by a soldier (as I understand such wasn’t done as part of the manufacturing process of the shelter half), it could veritably stand up to virtually all moisture-related issues given period waterproofing techniques without adding a significant amount of weight to the shelter half. Considering all of that, it seems almost redundant to have a combination item for such a purpose that may not necessarily be ideal for either purpose when just a little extra DIY with the original item might in fact give you a superior item for the purpose intended without adding much more of a burden to the soldiers.
@tomhenry8978 ай бұрын
Did the same thing in the army Shelter halves leaked so much Especially in heavy rain
@jeffreyrobinson35558 ай бұрын
I wonder at the usefulness when one of the guys would have to go stand guard in the rain, and took a third of the tent from his buddies
@vinceb43808 ай бұрын
They should be issued to every Veteran living on the street today.🇺🇸
@christopherevans25475 ай бұрын
Considering most modern military’s issue some type of combination poncho shelters I’d say he was ahead of his time.
@josephgonzales48028 ай бұрын
Yes,I have. I have both a shelter tent and a rubber blanket. 😏
@CalumMacNeil-qb6wp8 ай бұрын
THE RUBBERISED PONCHO IS GOOD 2 TO EACH SOLDIER. BUT THOSE BEARDS LOOKED A FIRE HAZARD.A PAIR OF HEDGE TRIMMERS WOULD BE OF HELP.👍
@Buck19548 ай бұрын
Turned off by the Taco Bell Interuptions
@MrSheckstr8 ай бұрын
Once was enough…..
@charlesmurphy77128 ай бұрын
That , taco hut interruption was very intrusive and distracting with your lesson on this product.
@11thovc8 ай бұрын
Charlesmurphy7712, thanks for letting us know! When making this episode, we couldn't stop singing the song and thought it would be a fun insert at parts of the video. Sometimes we just have to have fun with our videos! lol. Thanks for letting us know thought!
@bensanford91468 ай бұрын
Disagree. Thought it was cute and creative.
@charlesmurphy77128 ай бұрын
@@11thovc your welcome , once or twice would have been great and laughable.
@MrSheckstr8 ай бұрын
@@11thovc the Tasting history has a recurring gimmick whenever hardtack is mentioned, but it is less than a second in length has no music and does NOT have a jump in volume…. This is just so out of place for a civil war era , or post civil war era video. Also, this is the first video of yours u have scene, if it leave a bad taste in the mouth, it will make me less likely to want to watch more. Meanwhile i do not see its inclusion enticing people to watch other videos
@arthurvarady72585 ай бұрын
Megs was just cry baby hurt because they skipped the quarter master chain and he felt he wasn’t included in the buy out because he couldn’t throw his two cents in. Things never change, ain’t it the truth….He He He.
@jillatherton46608 ай бұрын
👍
@militaryhomes62928 ай бұрын
Its not a great idea. If you're on patrol and your tent is already up you have to make the choice to take it down or go out without a Poncho. Also everyone else sharing your tent isnt going to be happy if you want to wear your poncho.
@dimezrecon6 ай бұрын
For the win, haha
@GrangerGangster8 ай бұрын
I thought the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell bit was hilarious. It really represented the absurdity of the times and highlighted the perceived government money grab that entrepreneurs see during wartime. Sure, it can be claimed that a combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell is what the consumer needs, but I mean, do (did) we really? Kudos to Meigs for squashing something that was unnecessary and was just going to encumber the government with more junk with the sole benefactor being the inventor/contractor, who I’m sure didn’t have any sons serving in the field.
@jacobjacobs1508 ай бұрын
Couldn’t finish the video…those Taco Bell interruptions are horrible and unnecessary for civil war content…