Check out this photo (with associated prices) of Golden Age USMC kit.
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What’s the date on that photo?
Given the M1 steel pot and M1 Garand I’d say that it’s definitely post 1941, maybe at least ’42 or ’43. I’m sure that someone more knowledgeable will be able to ID some of the kit and get a better date estimate.
Interesting exercise… Pith Helmet means ’40 or later. It looks like he has leggings on, which would mean something like ’41 or ’42 (buckles are in ’43, right?).
Then I’m in the ditch. Can’t tell which haversack he has on, but his blanket role is camo… which I thought was ’44 or ’45 (but leggings should be gone by that point).
Anybody know when they stopped issuing the long bayonet?
I just found this same image elsewhere on a US militaria forum and according to the person who posted the image it’s from ’43.
I’m no expert, but I think the short service shoes and field shoes date it to no later than the late ’40s.
Reproductions for reference here: http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/newusmcfootwear.html
Marines were never issued the Army combat boots with the leather/buckled attached leggings.
Inflation, not to mention the astronomically increased cost and complexity of modern ‘soldier systems,’ (see what I did there?) from textiles and ballistic materials to electronics.
According to the US Dept. of Labor’s inflation calculator, that Marine cost just $2,435.09 to outfit in 2013 dollars, or a mere $1,287.61 sans his M1 rifle.
Anybody know a reliable source for the current cost to equip?
IIRC it’s something like $10,000.
I wish M1 Garands could still be found for $85…
I blame the “Living Wage”
I have the Pith helmet….paid $10 for it. I saw a table full of M1 Garands at a show…the lowest one was $1,600… all were in really beautiful condition
And he got paid $21 a month.
I go both ways on the issue of how complex a soldiers system has to be: the kit shown in this picture shows many multifunctional items like the blanket, but the blanket doesn’t offer near the protection from the weather as the modern ECWCS. I’ve used the modern ECWCS in sub zero hellacious weather and been cozy.
Gotta admire how simplistic the equipment was back in those days. Sure there were some downsides, but for the most part it worked. It seems like there’s too many troops that don’t quite understand how to best utilize their equipment per the environment they’re operating in. Every piece comes with a manual and sometimes it pays to actually read them and study the array diagrams and pictures within them.
I take the rifle for $85. LOL