A Hodgman Fishing Vest with 12 zippered pockets on the front, one on the inside, and three on the back.
This is the first in a series of articles, don’t
forget to come back and read the rest – Author’s Note
So,
this week we are going to talk about another really, cool, piece of survival
gear that is no longer available. We are
going to talk about the “Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1” of the late
1940’s and 50’s, and how to build a modern emergency survival vest, today, just
like it.
“OK,
BandanaMan”, you ask, “so, what was the Emergency
Sustenance Vest, Type C-1, and
why is it important and why would we want to build a modern version of an
antique emergency survival vest, anyways”?
“Good
questions. Let’s get started answering
them, shall we”?
An excerpt from Army Air Force, Pilot’s Information File, page 8-9-1.
The
“What”...
An Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1, from the National Museum of the United States Air Force HERE and HERE.
The
“Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1”, was the first military survival vest and
it was issued to American Army Airforce pilots and aircrewmen, during the last
years of World War Two and later, after 1947, to the USAF airmen during the
Korean Conflict. It was often carried,
folded into a pouch, and attached to the parachute harness, ready to be put
after an emergency bail-out. The vest
had 14 outside and 2 inner pockets and when fully loaded, with survival gear,
including a .45 caliber automatic, weighed 11 pounds; or 5 kg, and contained a
host of survival tools.
A period photo titled “Kit, vest type assy., type C-1 2-29-44”
A detailed listing of the survival supplies in an “Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1”, an excerpt from the Army Air Force; “Technical Data Digest”, January 1945, page 56.
So, what’s
it got in its pockets?
An “Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1”, from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, annotated by the Author.
As
far as survival gear, this vest was very complete with between 32 to 34
survival items or kits, the number depending upon the model of the vest, packed
into 15 pockets (or 11 if you don’t include the pockets for personal items) and
a side holster for a .45 caliber automatic.
Unlike today, when a lost person is most likely to be found within 72
hours2, a downed pilot or crewman during WWII or the Korean Conflict,
would have to sustain themselves for much longer periods while awaiting rescue,
and in many cases, rescue themselves by walking out. This is why this survival vest placed such a
heavy emphasis on food collection, with the contents of five of its pockets being
used to supply food, or sustenance, hence the name of the vest.
An excerpt from Army Air Force, Pilot’s Information File, page 8-9-1, annotated by the Author.
Instructions
for the Use of Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1
An exact reprint of Army Air Force Manual, the “Use of the Emergency Sustenance, Survival Vest, Type C-1”, can be purchased from Hayes Otoupalik, HERE, as item “00724”.
What
I found most interesting about this emergency survival vest, was the instruction
manual that came with it, and which described how to wear and care for the vest
and the gear in its pockets, and how to use all the items. It even included tips and other uses for the
items that the survivor might not have thought of. The “Use of the Emergency Sustenance, Survival
Vest, Type C-1”, is hard to find today, but a reprint can be ordered.
Pages two and three of the “Use of the Emergency Sustenance, Survival Vest, Type C-1”.
The “Why”...
The
reason why a survival vest was important then, is the same reason why it is
important today, because if it isn’t in your pockets, then most likely you
won’t have it in an emergency!
The authors of the Fourth Edition of the Alaska
Air Medical Escort Training Manual recommended that you carry a personal survival
kit that fits in your pockets, because people usually find themselves in
survival situations, people often find themselves with only what is in their
pockets1. If you keep your
survival kit in the map compartment of your airplane, the trunk or glove box of
your car, in your backpack or the thwart bag of your canoe, when the excrement
hits the fan, your survival supplies might not be available when you need them
most.
This is why, I keep my survival gear in the
pockets of my survival vest, or in my survival PFD; depending on whether I am
on the water, paddling and portaging, or hiking along a trail. You can easily get separated from your pack,
or your canoe; but you aren’t likely to get separated from your clothes!
Now
original C-1 vests are hard to find, a bit pricey, and quite honestly, antiques
that don’t belong out in the field. So,
to build a modern copy of an “Emergency Sustenance Vest, Type C-1”, first find
a fishing vest or a fishing PFD, with at least 12 pockets, more is better, you
can never have enough pockets, and then come back and read the rest of this article
series.
The Author’s survival PFD, with an orange Peak 1 fanny pack attached to the back, and survival vest, photograph by the Author.
For
more information on survival vests read “A Survival Kit, Your Ace in the Hole ©”,
HERE.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “90% of drowning deaths occur in shallow water ©”, where we will talk about drowning and the dangers of hypothermia.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 Similarly, the Department of Aeromedical
Education and Training, noted “Only those items of survival, signaling and
personal protection which are attached to the body are going to be conveniently
available to the air crew member under emergency conditions of all
contingencies”
From “On Fire and Going Down”, in U.S. Army
Aviation Digest, by Captain William D. Bristow,
Jr., page 34,
2
Modern civilian survival kits are designed to keep body and soul together for
72 hours, or three days, since within 24 hours, 97% of “misplaced”
people are found by searchers. However,
it isn’t quite the same in a wartime military survival situation.
In
fact, Devon O’Neill, who wrote in Outside magazine, quoted Paul Anderson,
a 42-year veteran of the National Park Service who spent 11 years as the superintendent
of Denali National Park, as saying “Our stats show 85 percent of all lost
people are found within the first 12 hours, and 97 percent are found within the
first 24 hours”. A quote from “They
Can’t Cure Dead ©”, the entire article can be found HERE.
Sources
Army
Air Force, Pilot’s Information File, War Department,
Revised January 1, 1945, PIF 8-9-1, https://books.google.com/books?newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&id=Y80tAAAAIAAJ&q=vest#v=snippet&q=vest&f=false,
accessed November 4, 2022
Army Air Force;
“Technical Data Digest”, Volume 11, Number 1, January, 1945, [Air Technical
Service Command], pages 52 to 56, https://books.google.com/books?id=fUVQAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA4-PA8&lpg=RA4-PA8&dq=Instructions+Emergency+Sustenance+Vest,+Type+C-1&source=bl&ots=Shp6E2UlEL&sig=ACfU3U3R0075QyodYHyYSxZ6hjZT1yCI0A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwittcbMqIb6AhWvGlkFHaJfBxw4KBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=Instructions%20Emergency%20Sustenance%20Vest%2C%20Type%20C-1&f=false,
accessed September 8, 2022
Bristow, Jr., Captain William D.; “On Fire and Going Down”,
U. S. Army Aviation Digest, June 1971, pages 32 to 34, https://books.google.com/books?id=7x3z3yl2MvUC&pg=RA6-PA15&dq=%E2%80%9COh+Say,+Can+You+See?%E2%80%9D+%22figure+1%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjqxobl0dX5AhVTFlkFHbGbDzAQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9COh%20Say%2C%20Can%20You%20See%3F%E2%80%9D%20%22figure%201%22&f=false,
accessed August 15, 2022
Carrier,
Brian; Alaska Air Medical Escort Training Manual, Fourth Edition,
Revised, [Dept. of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health,
Section of Injury Prevention and EMS, Juneau, Alaska, 2006], page 225,
Colonial Knives; “3.Good
Times”, April 14, 2016, https://colonialknives.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/good-times/,
accessed October 31, 2022
National Museum of the
United States Air Force; “C-1 Emergency Sustenance Vest”, https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/195884/air-rescue/,
accessed October 31, 2022
Riveted;
“Backpacks Are For Dorks”, June 19, 2014, http://segui-riveted.blogspot.com/2014/06/backpack-are-for-dorks.html,
accessed November 1, 2022
Young, Richard C. III; “Ace in the Hole”, Flying Magazine, August 1972,
Volume 91, Number 2, [Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, New York, New York], page
54-55, https://books.google.com/books?id=tPhKvA9sdHYC&pg=PA53&dq=%22as+any+e6b+owner+can+tell+you%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiY4cuk7OrnAhVPVK0KHeE1CEYQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=%22as%20any%20e6b%20owner%20can%20tell%20you%22&f=false, accessed May 5, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment