Belt-fed.

I like button-rifled 416 stainless-steel, bourbon, chewing tobacco, a broken-in poncho liner, good ammo, second-focal-plane glass, new batteries, used boots, pyro, a full can of tan spray paint, tritium compasses, double-stitched nylon, faded signal panels, drawing drunk sharpie dicks on passed-out faces, solid ballistics tables, black safety pins you get off of ammo bandoliers, bright green lines in night vision goggles, a clear field of fire, coffee you get from a gas station at 0400 hours on the way to work, dented canteen cups, paint markers, the callsign and radio freq of the nearest CAS asset, strong cigars, a sharp knife, the smell of copper solvent, red meat, pen flares, camp fires, black beer, a strong GPS signal, hugs from my kids and a kiss from my wife.

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Coalition Forces member and military working dog; Afghanistan.

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Water Can Shower

OK, so it's been a long time since I put out a MacGuyver issue.  So here's another installment on professionalizing homelessness overseas.

Deployed?  Convert a water can into a shower with some parts and a garden hose.

The idea is to lightly pressurize a 5-gallon military water can so you can just use a hose to wash yourself with maybe a little bit of privacy.

The 4x4 community has been doing this or something similar to it, I just thought it would be useful for when I left the house for work.  You know, to like... Africa or Afghanistan.

Your parts list:

3/4" sillcock faucet.  I like the one with a flanged base, it helps with stability.

3/4"-to-5/8" barbed hose adapter

steel based Schrader-type valve stem

5/8" inner diameter water hose

hose clamp

some tools

First things first, the water can lid has to be modified to fit the valve stem and the water faucet.  The best part about this is the vent cap, you don't have to cut it off.

These have a nasty way of getting all bent up from lazy motherfuckers that leave the vent open after they're done getting water.

This is a great way to salvage a spare cap: unscrew it all the way, drive out that little off-colored pin in the base of the cap and you'll see that you can unscrew the vent from the underside of the water can lid itself.

Note: the steel valve stem might not need all the rubber bits to seal.  Some trial and error may be in order, but that's OK... it's easy to remove and replace this piece for testing.

Sadly: the pour spout isn't as painless.  It actually needs to be cut open to accept the water line adapter, I used a rotary (dremel-style) tool with a rotary cutter and cleaned it up with a file and it worked out great.  The frayed edges might interfere with sealing, so clean those up with a new razor blade.

During cutting, keep test-fiitting the adapter so that it's slightly undersized.  You'll want the plastic in the water cap lid to bite into the threads to help seal the deal.

Wrap the 3/4" threads with some plumbers tape and thread that bitch in there.  Wrap the tape so the tail end doesn't get threaded first, you'll see what I mean.

Add more  plumbers tape to the threaded part of the adapter and use a crescent wrench to affix the faucet.

Easy.  Cut a piece of flexible water line and use the hose clamp to attach it to the adapter on the underside of the water can lid.

OK, so I cheated a little here... I added a piece of 1" PVC pipe and used it as a sleeve to keep the water line straight for feeding from the bottom of the water can.

Why would I do this?  Mostly so I could use the modified water can lid on shorter 2.5 gallon lids that are popular in the mountains of Afghanistan. They use the same lids, but they're shorter... so just remove the PVC pipe sleeve and the flexible water line can still feed water to your faucet.

There might be hissing or a little air leakage, but you know what?  It's a water can... it wasn't meant for this shit.  Anyhow, it works just fine.

Besides, if you keep a constant air source on the can the little bullshit noises don't matter, you won't be able to hear it over the sound of your shower anyway.

Here's a shot of the faucet all the way open and a small jumper box that has an onboard air compressor.

You can use any Schrader-chucked air source, typical tire repair solutions for cars or bicycles are more than adequate.  A bicycle pump will work if you don't have a compressor or power, you'll have to re-charge a 5-gallon can at the halfway point if you're using a bicycle hand pump.  A green Slime air compressor runs off a 12v cigarette lighter outlet or a BA-5590 battery. 

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Members of the United States Air Force 31st and 33rd Rescue Squadron conduct joint training with United States Marine Corps members at Kadena Air Base, Japan before deployment to Afghanistan.

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Members of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command prepare to conduct military freefall operations over Africa during Joint Exercise Flintlock in Africa.

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US Air Force Pararescue personnel during training.

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Mk 211 Raufoss ammunition, armor piercing, explosive and incendiary.

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M320 grenade launcher in stand-alone configuration being used by Coalition Forces Special Operations Forces soldiers.

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AC-130U gunship on-takeoff.

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200m zero versus 300m zero.

A 200m zero is better for closer engagements.  Flatter, allowing for less adjustment for 200 meters and closer.  Still allows for a simple adjustment of 10-12 inches adjustment for targets at 300 meters.

300m zero is flatter overall for further distances but calls for making adjustments at intermediate distances.

Bottom line, if you need faster shooting at closer distances... just use a 200m zero.

This works best when applied to iron sights that aren't adjusted very often or for red dot/ reflex sights.

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A United States Special Operations soldier carries on a conversation with a prospective Afghan National Police recruit.

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Let us pray.

Chap. (Capt.) Dale Goetz died August 30, 2010 when an improvised explosive device detonated, killing him and four of his teammates while traveling in a convoy in southern Afghanistan.

(official DoD news release)

I knew Chaplain Goetz while we both served in the 25th Infantry Division during the Battle of Mosul.

While I am not a particularly religious man, I always appreciated his efforts to ensure that everyone in my element was remembered.

He'd pray with soldiers on the back ramp of a Stryker vehicle before missions, wait for us nervously at the gate, or meet us at the Combat Support Hospital.

Alive, wounded or killed, Dale Goetz was always there for us.

"You've got five minutes for the Padre, then we're rolling"

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This is a ramp ceremony.  When a fallen soldier is transported from their theater of operations, this is how the aircraft receives them for their trip home.  This is not a staged photograph.

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Members of 1st Special Forces Group and Canadian Special Operations soldiers prepare to conduct an airborne wing exchange jump from a CH47 helicopter.

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A Special Operations soldier prepares demolition systems for firing.

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A Coalition Forces Special Operations soldier carries a child out of the line of fire during an operation.  Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 2010.

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ODA 074, 1st combat HALO jump into Iraq.  30 May 2007.

[thedogtagchronicles]

Oh my God, this is the most terrible picture I have ever seen. They can only give flags to next of kin so this means both parents are dead, and grandparents, this child must be an orphan and the woman that is sitting there must be the social worker. This child is going to leave the funeral and go right back to the orphanage with the flag as her only personal possession.

Or, and I am just throwing this out there, the mother asked him to give the flag to the girl. She is not going to have a lit of memories of her dad, but there will always be this picture. Or maybe the parents are divorced and the child is actually the next of kin. No matter the situation, it isn’t a law that the flag can ONLY go to the spouse.

[tokillthedragon-deactivated2020]

Isn’t it tradition to give it to the kid if there is one?

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This is the daughter of Corporal Aaron Cruttenden, she's sitting in her grandmother's lap.  Sadly, the little girl is the rightful next of kin.  Cpl Cruttenden was posthumously promoted to Sergeant after being killed in a firefight on a route-clearance mission in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.