Equipment

"You know, it's just occurred to me we really haven't had a completely successful test of this equipment."
"Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back..."

I like equipment. It's a genetic trait in men, right alongside keeping odd bits of kit because they "might come in handy someday". I know in my head that I'll never be in a situation whereby I need my inflatable safety shelter with built in GPS and grommet de-mangler, but imagine how you'd feel if you were and you didn't have one.

I blame Bond films myself. 007 always gets these brilliant yet obscure gadgets that somehow you know he'll use to defeat the evil villain and still leave time to pull the bird. Bond never comes back with any kit left over, and he never stands there with seconds on the clock saying "Damn, looksh like I should have brought the multitool thish time, but I left it in the Ashton Martin." (Note, I have not misspelt any words, Bond is *obviously* played by Connery). His laser watches never run out of batteries either. Bastard.

However, since the the rest of us do have to decide what kit we take with us, this is my section on what I use. I've also included a section on carrying it all as well.

General Kit

	The humble stick of camo face paint. Not exactly what you'd slap on for a night out on the town (well, there again...), but very useful for vanishing in the woods. It's very good and only comes off with soap. Also repels insects and moisturises the skin!
A guardsman's handwarmer. This useful bit of kit burns a charcoal stick (seen in pic) for up to eight hours. This gives you a nice little warm box, which is ideal for warming up your hands when you're in the safe zone between games. It also keeps whichever pocket you store it in warm, so it's useful for those using gas blowbacks to keep your magazines warm.
	Yes, for the particularly unobservant amongst you, this is a chair. It comes in a handy carry bag and is great for sitting on. Infinitely preferable to cold, wet logs and you can hang your kit off it. People found it amusing when I first brought it down, but strangely enough, they all seem to have them now. Draw your own conclusions.

Webbing

Okay, so you've got all your Bond style gadgets together, your armchair and matching cushions are ready to go, you're all cammoed up and loaded with enough high-explosives and ammo to make Guy Fawkes look like he wasn't really putting any effort in. The question remains, how on earth do you carry it all?

With this of course!
No, not the table, the webbing.

Above you can see my Soldier 95 PLCE (Personal Load Carrying Equipment) webbing. It's a modular system, which means you can load up with as much or as little as you like, within reason. On mine I generally only carry two ammo pouches, as this is easily enough. Each one of those pouches holds 2 magazines, or one military smoke, or a couple of thunderflashes and small smokes, or up to about 4000 bb's. They're also quick opening and water resistant, so no more fumbling around trying to undo buttons in gloved hands, only to find out your stuff is soaked anyway.

If I wanted to add more, you can clip additional units on to the belt. A holster maybe, more ammo pouches, a water bottle, utility pouch, respirator case... the list goes on. Just try not to overdo it. At the end of the day, you have to lug all this stuff around, and you're back at base camp every hour or so, so how much do you really need to take?

Here we have a couple of shots of the front and back of the webbing. Details to note on the front are the types of connectors used. If you have a yoke with a couple of buckles on it, then you've done what I did and picked up a Bergen yoke, for connecting your backpack to. On the back see that the straps go around two metal loops that are fixed on the belt. You only get these on PLCE belts, so don't go getting a normal belt by mistake or you'll have nothing to connect things to.

This shot is more of the same, but you can see the radio holder that's been attached to the yoke, making it convenient to access. I did used to have this fixed on the drag strap on the back of the webbing, but it's more practical here. Underneath that you can see the striking cap from an Enola Gaye pyrotechnic. I carry my pyros without striking caps on, so that I can just pull them out one-handed, strike them and throw without ever having to put my weapon down.

One of the options I've also tried and am quite happy with is a PLCE chest rig. There are plenty of companies doing clones of this, but this is the genuine issue. The fitted buckles are more secure than the pull tabs of webbing, and when you're crawling having magazines in front of you is much more convenient. Additionally the large side pockets can hold waterbottles or a couple of big smoke grenades. The only issues I have with it are that it gets in the way when you have a sling.