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Morrow Project Personal Effects

Page history last edited by Michael 3 years, 8 months ago

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     Team members are each allowed to pack an M2A1 ammo can (".50 cal box") with personal effects. Nothing corrosive, incendiary, explosive, radioactive, or which reacts poorly to sub-zero temperatures (so no water or vinegar in rigid containers, or any alcohol under 80 proof); non-explosive ammunition is fine, though. The Project doesn't actually say "no narcotics" but they've usually screened out the hard-drug users long before the personal effects can is being filled. The can weighs 2.3 kg empty; the interior is 28 centimeters long, 14 centimeters wide, and 17 centimeters deep (6.7 liters volume).

 

That's 11" long, 5.5" wide, and 6.7" deep in American units - Porter F. Colton

 

     You can't get anything more than about 12" long into the can -- a pair of sneakers, maybe, but not a pair of cowboy boots unless they're totally bent out of shape. A biggish tanto will fit in diagonally. The contents should not weigh more than 15 kg. The can will be filled with nitrogen gas before it's placed in the bolthole.

     Persons in cold sleep cannot have any eyewear, jewelry, piercings, or other "foreign objects" with or on them. About 50 percent of college graduates need eyeglasses; the Project doesn't object to "personal" spectacles, but provides "standard" frames and lenses (including lens inserts for gas masks).

 

 

     The Project does NOT require personal weaponry to use Project ammo. The small arms ammunition members should expect to find in caches are:

 

  • 12 gauge Magnum:  00 buckshot, 2-3/4" high velocity

  • 9mm Parabellum:  ball

  • 5.56mm NATO:  ball or tracer

  • 7.62mm NATO:  M80 ball, M62 tracer (ignites about 50 meters downrange), or M118 match grade. Subsonic, blank, grenade-launching and armor piercing rounds were not issued by the Project. The M948 sabot-light-armor-piercing round was not produced before 1988.  

  • .44 Magnum:  semi-wadcutter, lead round-nose or jacketed hollow-point (somewhat arbitrarily distributed)

  • .22 Long Rifle:  lead round-nose

  • .410 gauge shotgun:  birdshot or #6 shot

 

     The referee will create the contents of NPC personal effects kits. Some example items are:

 

photo album, books (most common:  Bible, survival info, medical info, 44th edition (1962) of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Merck Manual of Diagnosis (14th edition 1982), religious symbols/icons, computer games on microfloppy diskettes, jewelry, dog tags on chain, P38 can opener, prophylactics, sunglasses, welding goggles, cassette tapes, harmonica, whistle, kazoo, favorite tee-shirt(s), PT shorts, running shorts, board shorts, swim trunks, shower sandals (aka flip-flops), walking sandals, jockstrap, insect face net, playing cards, towel, boonie hat, baseball hat, insect repellent, Leatherman pocket survival tool with pouch (0.15 kg; introduced Christmas 1983), Swiss army knife (the SwissChamp is about the largest, at 0.19 kg; the Super Tinker is 0.1 kg), Boy Scout or Cub Scout knife (about 0.1 kg), handcuffs, personal weapon and holster, spare barrel for firearm, extended and threaded barrel for firearm, silencer or suppressor, 20 or 30 or 32 round (empty weight 0.14 kg, loaded weight 0.5 kg -- these have to be placed diagonally in an ammo can) magazines for HP-35 pistols, cut-down .410 gauge single-barrel shotgun on neck cord, M6 Scout survival pistol (two 12" barrels, one for .22 LR and one for .410 gauge), non-standard ammo, padlock with keys, wrist watches (usually either regular "wind-up" ones, or self-winding watches), non-standard pouches for carrying equipment, non-standard pistol holsters (especially for left-handed people), other items for left-handed use, earplugs in plastic case, clear 1 gallon freezer bags (box of 50, with twist ties), Ziploc or Glad-lock freezer bags (new circa 1984; they're available up to gallon size), bungie cords (usually either 25 cm, 38 cm, or 79 cm), 400 meter spool of 550 cord, duct tape, fabric or metal tape measure, survival or fishing vest, windshield scraper, knife sharpener, diving mask, snorkel, EMT shears, leather sap, ASP baton, shuriken, brass knuckles, nunchaku (or just nunchuku hardware), custom gloves, latex medical gloves, dental mirror, rifle scope and mounts, lock pick set, still photographic camera and film, camera accessories (only a very tiny tripod will fit in the can -- maybe just the head and socket for a set of broomsticks, etc.), pace cord, Kool-Aid or Flavor Aid, other flavorings, freeze-dried coffee, one pound bag of Arbuckle coffee beans, jar of dry preserved chili or jalapeno peppers (seeds removed), teddy bear, Datrex emergency rations (200 calories each, 3 bars per 150 gram package), pornography, bottle of vitamin E pills (or Spanish Fly for the very dim), toilet paper, gold or silver coins, paper money, soap, shampoo, perfume, deodorant, lipstick or makeup, camo face paint sticks, sunscreen, chapstick, Zip-Loc or Glad bags, rubber bands, bobby pins, barrettes, mini-Maglite, Kel-Lite or other small AA-battery flashlights, handheld CB or HAM radio (Midland "Ready Rescue" weighs 0.75 kg without 8 AA batteries), handheld Bearcat Five scanner (30 to 512 MHz, 1.5 kg without batteries), colored lens filters for flashlights, cyalume lights or other glow sticks (Eighties-level performance, though), paper maps, pencils, eraser, ballpoint pens (especially Fisher Space Pens), permanent markers (e.g, Sharpies), SDU-30 survival light (slightly modified to use two Project MP-AA batteries), American flag shoulder patch, other shoulder patches, velcro to switch patches more easily, folded American flag (a 3' x 5' flag can be square-folded down into about 2 liters volume), slide rule (very useful for engineers and other technical types) ...

 

Despite the Project providing various knives, the majority of the personal effects boxes include one or two knives. By far the most common fixed-blade knife is the Gerber Mark II, followed by the Mark I; with sheath, they weigh 0.2 kg. Other popular tactical, hunting or camp knives include the Ka-Bar knife and sheath (0.42 kg), BuckMaster knife with sheath (1.2 kg), Gerber LMF tactical knife with sheath (0.3 kg).

 

Various knives a Project member might obtain in the 1980s;

at the top are the two standard Project knives.

Not all of these are equally useful, or even good.

 

The laser dot projectors of the mid-Eighties are large (20 to 30 cm long), heavy (0.25 to 0.5 kg), and use eight AA batteries.

 

Aimpoint sights were first available in the US about 1980; weight without mount or battery 0.16 kg. Other game effects will be noted later, but it's known to be useful in low-light conditions. Note that the Stoner rifles don't have any mounting points for regular optics.

 

    • The Aimpoint 2000 was used from 1985 by various American special forces units; it weighs 0.17 kg and is only 18.5 cm long; you'll also need to include a set of 1" rings, and find some way to attach the rings to your firearm. There are mounts which install under the grip panels on some semi-auto pistols; the manufacturer considers them useful for "pistols, rifles, shotguns and bows". The scope uses an LED, which should be fine over about any amount of time; the replaceable batteries are not standard Project items, however (they will operate for 50 to 250 hours).

 

an Aimpoint 2000 red dot scope (the 'short' version), with Weaver rings

 

Trijicon products -- the referee will keep in mind the half-life of tritium:

 

    • 1983:  the first tritium-illuminated gunsight, the Armson O.E.G.,  available for sale in stores. This is an "occluded eye gunsight" (hence the abbreviation), manufactured in South Africa; weight 0.12 kg, 1" tubes usually, though a smaller model is available for rimfiire rifles. Really only useful at ranges under 100 meters. Cost $152.

    • 1985:  the first tritium-reticle magnifying riflescope, the Spectrum, is available to the general public. 1" tubes, available in various magnifications, price $289 to $464.  Also, the first tritium-illuminated iron sights for handguns are available in stores.

 

     While not a standard issue item to all Project members, the Project had a couple of standard "survival kits" available for members to place in their personal effects boxes.

     Female members of the Project were never quite entirely accommodated for in "standard issue". Underwear items and hygiene products would be useful contents for the effects box; caches don't contain "feminine essentials".

 

These might be found in a depot ...

 

     Important note:  Project "camera batteries" are essentially "super long life" rechargeable AA batteries. Members can add them to the personal effects kits; they weigh 12 grams each. The Project also has a "D cell hull" that will let you use AA batteries in a D cell device.

     An example of a "90% of the Project has this stuff" personal effects kit:

 

US Army manual FM 21-76 "Survival", P38 can opener, 4 prescription eyeglasses, prescription lens inserts for gas mask, sunglasses, boonie hat, sandals, Swiss army knife, regular wrist watch, earplugs, soap, both Project standard survival kits, pen or pencil, paper map of the state the Team expects to be in, personal identity papers (birth certificate, driver's license, passport, etc.), minor personal jewelry or keepsakes.

 

     Many of the members of training platoons 40 through 55 "clubbed together" and bought double-barrel derringers in 9mm Parabellum caliber, made of stainless steel. Mass, 0.45 kg; a leather clip-on holster weighs 0.1 kg.

    A couple of teams purchased HK4 multi-caliber pistols; but since most of tbe calibers weren't used by the Morrow Project, this was never widespread. 

 

     Here are pictures of someone's personal effects kit:

 

boonie hat, military manuals, stainless steel flask (empty), fingerless gloves with grippy-rubber palms,

monocular in case, sunglasses, tape measure, ear plugs in case, knife sharpener, wrist watch, Swiss army knife,

key to something, memo pad, birth certificate, deck of playing cards, silver and gold coins, tubes of camo face paint in plastic bag,

dogtags and P38, bar of soap, ointment, ballpoint pen, comb, Cadillac-Gage patch, .50 cal ammo can

 

 

all fitted into the can

 

another Project member's personal effects: 

an M1911A1 pistol, five magazines (including a magazine in the pistol), and 750 rounds of ammunition.

A couple more magazines might fit ...

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