Re: OOC
yeah, i was light infantry back in the day. it wasn't uncommon to carry 40 to 50 pounds of gear (uniform, weapon, ammunition, grenades, e-tool, poncho, liner, 1st aid dressing, compass, signals materials, etc.) plus a rucksack that weighed 35 to 40 pounds, and then sling our vest and helmet on the top to add another 20 pounds to it.
the heaviest items are water, ammunition, radio batteries, and the radio. after that there is food, sleeping gear for adverse climates, spare clothing, and rope. then add on things like bandoliers of claymore mines, 40 mm or hand grenades, belted ammo for the squad or platoon mgs, mortar rounds, LAW or AT4 (M136 Viper) disposables, explosives and detonators, excavation tools, sandbags by the bundle, bolt cutters, saws or axes, and so on.
what made this load so tough was that light infantry marches everywhere, and everywhere is defined as everywhere it is hard to operate heavy vehicular forces. so remote forests and jungles, steep mountain terrain, deep desert, coastal areas, dense urban environments, underground, etc.
the most used items are deodorant (used on groin, thigh, armpit, shoulders, and/or hips to prevent chaffing), toothpaste (clean the mouth after drinking 'purified' local water just in case of bacteria), mouthwash (used as an all purpose disinfectant), grunt candy (a.k.a. tylenol, advil, alieve, excedrin, ect.), foot powder (used two or three times a day), socks (see foot powder), halazone tablets (to purify local water), peanut butter (good on the march), jolly rnachers (keeps the mouth wet on the march), the e-tool (entrenching tool, folding shovel), toilet paper (used for everything plus wiping your hinie), and a weapons cleaning kit (you carry a rifle all the time, fire very little, and clean it like it once or twice a day depending on local moisture and dust conditions).
the equipment and the weight of equipment are poorly described in the game. and although the weapons listed (by types) do offer some differences in performance, they all fall well within a very well defined set of criteria. meaning that the on paper differences between, say, an M16 and AKM are measurable in areas like muzzle energy, bullet velocity at a given range, drop, penetration versus media, wight, average group size, first shot hit ratios, etc., etc., etc. but, in reality, and especially the reality of combat, these weapon are similar enough that they could use a single set of statistics by category because the finite and small strengths of weaknesses of each weapon will never offset stress, fear, haste, lack of familiarity, lack of experience, anger, carelessness, ego, or mishandling. all the stuff that combat weapons are exposed to in the hands of soldiers during combat.
