“Ground Pounder Series: U.S. Surplus vs. Other Nations - Will They Work Together?”

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

thanks for all the comments!!

[@TheWtfnonamez]

Excellent discussion mate. I buy my army surplus kit primarily based on "cheapness", but I still manage to make it all mesh together. Post-WWII military standardisation is a huge benefit for this. I have 1 litre British Avon water bottles, and 750ml Dutch Army canteens, and the caps are entirely interchangeable. This means you can take an Avon CBRN cap (compatible with the Avon FM12 respirator drinking system) and swap it on to a Dutch canteen without issue. The only real issue I have is with the old British drop wire connectors, because without a corresponding belt there is no real way to improvise a connection without literally lashing it. I will check to see if it works with my Swedish LK35 webbing belt (should have done that before tbh) All this being said, nearly all my kit is cheap old army surplus and nearly all of it can be tuned to work together. Thank you once again.

[@paulwolf7562]

Good info on various surplus. I remember picking some of those items up at various flea markets, stores, antique shops, years ago. Ammo pouches, canteens, I got whole set of stuff from a neighbor, growing up... It's always good to learn about different countries surplus stuff, for camping, whatever. I still remember the old leather Ammo pouches I got, years ago. I finally found out, that they were Swiss, not Belgian or Dutch, like I thought? Wished, I still had them. They were nice.

[@earlshaner4441]

Good afternoon from Syracuse NY brother and thank you for sharing this information

[@giulianotoniolo]

The m51 m65 jackets were made and used by several nato countries as well. Ove seen german made ones and even had a greek m51 fiel jacket

[@kenbarrett6466]

Good information. Thank you !

[@southernlandsolo7839]

Great video Blackie, it takes me back. The New Zealand Army issued a mixture of US and Australian web gear back in the 1980's. All three countries' used the Alice clips so interchanging kit was easy. The US ammo pouches were so small that who ever got issued the US pouches would groan and "immediately" run around trying to scrounge up some bigger Australian pouches lol. Those old small US pouches were the same kind as Blackie's first haversack from his older videos. The army did not get a big budget so we were allowed to improvise our field kit. The US, Australian or British web belt and suspenders were our foundation and all three countries had water bottle and ammo pouches that could interchange (or could be modified) to work. The Brit 58 Pattern ammo pouches were prized because they could hold a lot of magazines (M16 and FNFAL / L1A1) and ammo belts for the 7.62mm machine gun.

[@hiramhaji7813]

Great information 😊

[@canadafree2087]

Canadian '82 pattern is a bit like ALICE in that it has plastic clips that hook into the holes of the belt, then reinforced with velcro loops. Modern Canadian rucks uses an odd combination of velcro and buckles, not MOLLE at all. Older gear like wool shirt, canteen/cup/stove, C5 clasp knife, poncho, poncho liner was either US supplied, or modeled after the US gear. Our MKII combat jacket liners have buttons on them, so you may be able to wear them together but not attached. The 82 Pattern pouches were poorly single stitched but they do provide a complete cover of the canteen.

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

thanks for the info

[@jeffrichards5106]

Great video, Blackie. I didn't realize or never really thought about the foreign surplus being compatible with our US gear. Thanks for the info! 👍🏻

[@hagman1077]

Greetings Blackie- Good information here. Ive put together a web belt using pouches from other countries and notice that they seem to have went to the Molle system of connections. Im frugal and dont care if the cammo is off a little, so I get the used good condition stuff and works well. Thanks for sharing- You and Mrs Blackie be good down there-

[@NolanFacer878]

One thing to watch out for are Belgian canteen cups, they look just like the American ones but are just too small. I bought one and the canteen could only fit about 3 quarters of the way into the cup. It only cost 2 bucks though so it wasn't a big loss.

[@jelkel25]

Got lumped with one of those things when I ordered a French canteen cup, I gave it away in the end.

[@southernlandsolo7839]

I had an older Austrian or Dutch canteen and cup. Same thing.

[@timlacy2284]

Blackie, Thank You for sharing this information and what to look for. I heard from my Platoon Sargeants and section chiefs that have served in Vietnam that the French Canteens were the one to get ,they filled up very quickly as they crossed creeks , streams, rivers, springs. Thanks Again Sir for sharing your Time and Vast Knowledge, Experience, Wisdom. Also I've got all my L.B.E. or WEB Gear . Blackie and Bear Y'all Are Doing A Great Job.

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

Very welcome

[@dagrimes1965]

Thank you brother

[@apar1560]

Awesome, thanks

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

No problem!

[@woodrowbrimm2805]

Thats why the FSN (Federal Stock Number) was modified to become the current NSN (National Stock Number) with the addition of 2 extra digits to indicate which Nato Nation it was from. U.S. Canteen Caps cam in both Plain and NBC types. I worked in U.S.Army Supply in 1964 to 1967 . I noticed you often wear a West German style BDU Jacket in many of your Video's I wore mine out years ago after I Traded for it with a German Soldier I met back in the late 1980's while on joint training maneuvers ,very good jackets they also used to issue us a british Army Wool Sweater in the Winter in Germany when the U.S. Style was out of stock .

[@outbackowl3040]

Hi Blackie, greeting from Australia 🇦🇺, thank you for your time to make these videos.

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

My pleasure!

[@MichaelR58]

Good video Blackie , thanks for sharing YAH bless !

[@jeepnicc]

Please excuse my ignorance.... What is YAH bless?

[@MichaelR58]

@@jeepnicc YAH means I AM with is our Heavenly Father, it is a way to wish someone God bless, thank you for asking

[@Mayhemcountryliving]

Good stuff

[@jelkel25]

If you are just testing the waters with different countries surplus paying a visit or two to a surplus store (if possible) is no bad idea before you start ordering online. The Dutch canteen/canteen cup and covers are smaller than the American ones but not so much that you can spot this at a glance. An American canteen doesn't fit in the Dutch covers. Then you might prefer the British style canteen pouches that totally cover your canteen if you live somewhere that gets dusty in the summer. Three or four countries use this style. Finally got around to buying a poncho liner but a Dutch one, I'll be looking to see how alike it is to the American one, I've heard so many American service and ex service people speak highly of them.

[@Seamus3051]

Thanks for a valuable analysis of the interchangeability of NATO gear. The major problem that exists is that the American (SAE) measurement and most of the rest of the world's (SI) measurements occasionally produces a few minor differences. Eventually the entire world appears to be headed toward the use of the ( SI ) system of measurement. Because of the global trade the standardization of a single system of measurement, becomes unavoidable. Eventually we'll become able to accept Grams, Kilograms, Liters, milliliters, meters, centimeters and kilometers as a part of a standard, global system of measurement. Thanks for all you do.

[@donross5995]

Don’t hold yer breath. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation tried that conversation at least 20 years ago. New construction plans were metric. That wasn’t bad. The big cost was signage. The replacement cost of every single roadway 3:47 sign was cost prohibitive. Maybe sometime in the future especially if the USD loses its place as the world’s universal dollar

[@stevencunningham4680]

Hello from Arkansas Blackie. Will you please demonstrate how to use the Alice clips that are on the U.S. military canteen ? My son gave me a canteen for Christmas and for the life of me I can not figure out how to use them. Maybe add the demo to a Ground Pounder video ? Thanks.

[@jamesharvey44]

Nice to know when out and see some odd to me gear. Off topic, are there any class slots left? I have tried the email link, but I am not sure if they are going through.

[@jeepnicc]

Hmmmm... Great video Blackie, thanks much for sharing, but in my experience, (and I DO own enough military surplus to stock a large store...) Aside from a few canteens/cups, the only thing that was really interchangable was the NATO designated ammo? Y'all please correct me if I'm wrong. Would love to learn that most of my gear actually IS interchangeable.... Thanks!

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

thus far i have been lucky with only one to two items that did not work.. but then again i am limited to some of the stuff from over seas

[@jeepnicc]

@@BLACKIETHOMAS yeah, that makes sense. Thanks again for sharing Blackie!

[@57WillysCJ]

The thing about gear from around the world being similar is research and developement takes time and is expensive. Look at how much went in to the current set of camo fatigues. Nowadays with computors another country can take the US/Canadian pattern change enough to not get sued and make theirs or have them made without the outlay. It's why countries band together to develope expensive weapons. Easiest thing for countries post WW2 was buy or copy US gear. They might have even had a license to do so.

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

very true

[@pemekd6369]

I found out that the Swiss M84 canteen fits inside old Alice M-16 clip pouch (a little harder with the cup) if anyone is looking for a pouch for this canteen

[@hardtrooth1776]

Blackie which US canvas canteen carrier pouch was better the one with fleece liner or the one with the thick felt liner ?

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

i like the fleece line myself

[@hardtrooth1776]

@@BLACKIETHOMAS thanks

[@madtownangler]

A lot of stuff started getting made in China too so it was easy to make things work with each other. Not a lot of surplus even gets over here anymore

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

true

[@gregsmall5939]

Australia and New Zealand rotated every infantry battalion they had through Vietnam. The Aussies had their own, product improved M-1956 gear. In many respects it was better than the US issue. The pouches were larger, allowing greater ammo supply.

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

nice i had a Australian basha ( tarp tent ) that came home from Vietnam with a family member

[@keithmoore5306]

too bad the pentagon didn't return the favor on mess kits!! i truly prefer the Brit and Dutch nesting 2 pan kits over the US kit!!

[@froginthewaves8450]

It all works together if you try hard enough lol

[@jeepnicc]

Zip-ties and gorilla tape baby!

[@BLACKIETHOMAS]

very true if duck tape cant fix it you have an electrical problem