1944 USN M-592 Pilot Survival Kit Navy

[Winston]

Interesting channel. I believe the oldest combat ration he's taken a bite of was Civil War hardtack.

Check out this never before filmed WW2 Navy Survival Kit. The Naval Aerospace Specification M-592 was a pilot's survival kit worn under the life vest and parachute. This 13 pound kit was very uncomfortable for the pilot to wear, pushing them too far up in their seat. It was very comprehensive, a pioneering kit that led to better and more efficient designs as this was one of the earliest. About 40,000 were produced in the couple years it was made.

Huge thanks to my Patrons at Patreon for making this one possible. I will now choose the proper museum to donate this kit so it will be re-purposed one last time for it served an airman well, used for this footage, and then in the end to be on display for others to see it.

My most expensive video to date (and longest running), this kit typically costs $1,750 in this condition. The Fishing Kit in a Can runs at $200. I was lucky and only had to pay $800 and change to secure this kit. (Fishing kit in a can was $150) It took me years to find this M-592. I remember starting the search for one back when I was still a teenager. So at least 10 years. I've seen three for sale before this one. They always were far out of my budget and averaged at between $1,250-$2000.



He finds portions or even all of some WWII rations remain safe to eat. However, some of them, like the next one, are incredibly gross. These were $670 each on eBay when they can be found.:

1945 Australian 24 Hour Operation Ration



His channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2I6Et1JkidnnbWgJFiMeHA/videos

 

[RocketT.Coyote]

I have a few boxes of Survival Candy and a sealed tin of survival ration pound cake. The RCAF film "Survive In The Winter Bush" showed pound cake being used as bait for snaring small game.

 

[Winston]

1942 US Army Field Ration D Review Emergency MRE Taste Test Eating Vintage Survival Chocolate



1942 US Army Field Ration C B Unit (1.320 billion were produced in 1942)



1943 US Army Field Ration K Dinner Unit



For U.S. Troops, there were two major types of rations during the World War II: the C-Ration (for combat troops) and the K-Ration (less bulky and initially developed for Airborne regiments and messengers). “A version of the C-Ration had six containers in one crate, and what’s in a C-ration is going to vary,” says Glatthaar. “You’re going to have a main course—like franks and beans—some cigarettes, some canned fruit, some chewing gum, chocolate bars, some instant coffee, some toilet paper. There’s some processed cheese and some biscuits, but really they’re crackers. And you also get a matchbook.”

Each ration was designed to provide three meals, and approximately 3,600 calories (they were almost universally unpopular). Later, soldiers would get powdered drinks like lemonade and bullion, and eventually sweetened cocoa. K-Rations would have three “meals,” a breakfast, lunch and dinner with 4 oz of meat and/or eggs, cheese spread, “biscuits,” candy, gum, salt tablets and a sugary drink. There were also cigarettes, a wooden spoon and toilet paper.

K-ration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-ration

Field ration, Type C (1938–1945)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-ration#Field_ration,_Type_C_(1938–1945)

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During World War II, the average body measurements of the over six million male inductees into the U.S. Army was found to be 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 144 pounds in weight, on average an inch taller and eight pounds heavier than his Great War counterpart. He had a 33-1/4" chest measurement and a 31" waist measurement. The clothing sizes most most frequently issued were a 7 to 7-1/2 hat, number 9 gloves, a size 15 shirt with a 33" sleeve, a 36 regular jacket, a pair of trousers with a 32" waist and a 32" leg length, size 11 socks, and size 9-D shoes. He could expect to add an inch to his chest and gain six to nine pounds during training. Army "A" rations were quite filling, often 1,000 to 1,500 calories more than many civilians were receiving. The average woman volunteer was found to be 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weigh 128 pounds. The average height and weight for a man in the United States today is 5 feet, 9.3 inches and 195.5 pounds; for a woman, 63.8 inches in height and 166.2 pounds.

During World War II, men needed to be between 5 feet and 6 feet 6 inches tall and weigh more than 105 pounds to be accepted into the Army. The Marine Corps was stricter; the 1940 Marine Corps manual specifies heights of between 5 feet 6 and 6 feet 2 inches tall.

The World War II-era figures are smack in the middle of the "normal or healthy weight" BMI category as specified by the NIH, 18.5-24.9. BMI measures body mass in relation to height, but (controversially) does not take into account the percentage of fat on a person's body in relation to muscle and vice versa. According to BMI alone, 65 to 75 percent of U.S. adults today are overweight or obese.

Most inductees were children of the Great Depression. For example, on October 15, 1943, 31.2 percent of soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, Colorado, were between 20 and 22, with 21.8 percent being between 18 and 19, and 17 percent being between 23 and 25 years old. Most of these men would have been born between 1918 and 1925, making them between 8 and 15 during the height of the Great Depression in 1933. Outright malnutrition or low body weight upon induction (which could lead to rejection until the problem was corrected) was a problem. In Missouri, 300,000 schoolchildren were examined in 1934; 14 percent of them were considered malnourished. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the percentage of children who were 14 percent or more below average weight increased from 7 percent in 1927 to 12.6 percent in 1934. The malnutrition rate in coal mining areas of states such as Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia often exceeded eighty percent.

 

[Winston]

Contains a HUGE variety of components, probably far more than most Vietnamese owned in 1967, including item #48: 10 "Stay Awake" tablets (amphetamine). Only 100 of these were issued on a development contract basis to pilots in aircraft without ejection seats. It was found to be too cumbersome and the mass of it on one leg caused a limp while running. It was replaced by the SRU-21/p vest.

1967 Vietnam US Leg Holster Pilot Survival Kit