Load Bearing Equipment

[Timerover51]

Exactly - and prior to metallic cartridges, keeping moisture away from the paper cartridges and the powder therein (or just loose powder) is critical for the powder to function correctly - thus the preference for leather for cartridge boxes and powder pouches.

Leather was also discovered to corrode the early brass metallic cartridges when used for cartridge loops. It did work very well for cartridge boxes for the muzzle-loading weapons, and the early breech-loading Sharps that used a combustible paper cartridge.

 

[samuelvss]

Hitting the ground with a bandolier of ammunition magazines across your chest can be a quite painful experience. Then there is the bulk of the magazines, over and above the weight. For that matter, hitting the ground with two ammo pouches each containing 4 M-16 magazines on your web belt is not exactly fun either. Try it sometime and see how it feels.

BTDTGTT. Comfort, indeed has little to do with the lot of the Soldier...

I would say it's better than doing IMT holding the lot in your hands, which was the point. Military ammo comes well-packaged.

 

[nobby-w]

Belt and suspenders, backpacks, etc... how do they help characters carry more weight in Traveller? How does tech level affect them? Weight and durability?

...

I handled load carrying equipment - webbing, better quality packs etc - as having some multiplier on the weight of equipment carried in it for the purposes of counting against encumberance limits.

For example, you could assign chest webbing a multiple of x0.5 and a capacity of 5kg. You could carry 5kg in it, counting a total of 2.5kg towards your encumberance totals.

 

[kilemall]

Re: the volume/bulky/awkward question, I simply add in kgs in some multiplier for encumbrance per item that is not readily packed or carried.

Ahh, here we go-

[FONT=arial,helvetica]The encumbrance rule always seemed excessively limiting, just by personal experience and what troops and backwoods campers often carry, so I upped the capacity.

For normal people, encumbrance starts at 2xSTR=kg, 3xSTR=kg for double encumbrance and 4xSTR=kg for triple encumbrance limit.

For professionals who have undergone training for long range carrying, Marines/Army/Scouts/Barbarians/Hunters and individuals with Survival or JOAT 1+ skill, the encumbrance ratings are 4xSTR=kg, 6xSTR=kg for double, and 7xSTRkg for triple encumbrance.

Armor is counted against encumbrance for these higher limits, and bulky items count double kg, or triple in some extreme cases.[/FONT]

 

[samuelvss]

Exactly - and prior to metallic cartridges, keeping moisture away from the paper cartridges and the powder therein (or just loose powder) is critical for the powder to function correctly - thus the preference for leather for cartridge boxes and powder pouches.

Interestingly, in one of the first kit I spent time in, modeled after what used at the school in Napoleonic times, had a leather cartridge box and cotton cross-belts. The cotton, as was mentioned, breathable, and the cartridge box of heavy treated leather to keep paper cartridges dry. Of course this ergonomic bliss would be offset by wearing woolen coats and shakos.....

I think web gear is really not the question: it's not web gear but packs that really make the difference. While spreading loads evenly about the torso with high tech synthetics gives a little bit of efficiency over having two TL0 leather bags cross-slung and heftily belted, it is not much. I would say maybe a gain of 50% in capacity over 7 or 8 TL's: probably the least impressive gain across TL's one can think of. That said, a frame pack constructed of modern synthetics gives us a load-carrying capacity that was not possible in Napoleonic times.

 

[aramis]

Interestingly, in one of the first kit I spent time in, modeled after what used at the school in Napoleonic times, had a leather cartridge box and cotton cross-belts. The cotton, as was mentioned, breathable, and the cartridge box of heavy treated leather to keep paper cartridges dry. Of course this ergonomic bliss would be offset by wearing woolen coats and shakos.....

I think web gear is really not the question: it's not web gear but packs that really make the difference. While spreading loads evenly about the torso with high tech synthetics gives a little bit of efficiency over having two TL0 leather bags cross-slung and heftily belted, it is not much. I would say maybe a gain of 50% in capacity over 7 or 8 TL's: probably the least impressive gain across TL's one can think of. That said, a frame pack constructed of modern synthetics gives us a load-carrying capacity that was not possible in Napoleonic times.

Having seen an SCAer make a relatively modern frame pack out of period materials...

Much of the tech isn't to improve carrying capacity so much as it is to reduce the weight. The tech improvements over time generally are in better understandings of ergonomics and structural loading, more than the materials, as the materials tech is really just the last 50 years.

 

[Enoki]

Of course, if you have high enough tech, the availability of grav belts and such render the whole discussion moot. You can haul massive amounts of stuff limited more by volume than weight if you can control the later using grav technology...

 

[BlackBat242]

As long as you have access to fast recharging for those grav belts/lifters... taking days to recharge your belt via roll-up solar panel sheets is not an option for soldiers in the field.

 

[Enoki]

As long as you have access to fast recharging for those grav belts/lifters... taking days to recharge your belt via roll-up solar panel sheets is not an option for soldiers in the field.

Soldiers usually operate in groups called units. As part of their logistics system I could see the necessary batteries or whatever being available for rotation just as say, radio batteries and such are today.
If the unit moves in vehicles, those have the means provided for the troops to recharge energy weapons and their gear I'd think.

It would hardly be a logistics problem for an unit that has energy weapons, lots of electronics, and other gear that consumes energy to have one more piece of energy consuming gear added.

 

[BlackBat242]

All that is assuming mass troop concentrations and full-on logistic deployments.

Now take a small long-range exploration/patrol or infiltration unit of 3-12 persons traveling days or weeks away from any logistics support, who are trying to avoid being noticed, so no air-drops are possible.

 

[Enoki]

All that is assuming mass troop concentrations and full-on logistic deployments.

Now take a small long-range exploration/patrol or infiltration unit of 3-12 persons traveling days or weeks away from any logistics support, who are trying to avoid being noticed, so no air-drops are possible.

That would argue for them to have a couple of grav sleds (something like a pallet jack loaded with supplies) with 30 days of fuel on them to haul a lot of their gear.
12 people for 15 days require the equivalent of 540 MRE's alone (3 per day per person). That's 45 per person to carry. You'll need more than backpacks.
A grav sled the size of a pallet jack would be reasonably maneuverable, I'd assume very quiet, and could carry the necessary supplies.

 

[Spartan159]

As long as the enemy does not have sensors that can pick up gravitic distortions...

 

[Enoki]

As long as the enemy does not have sensors that can pick up gravitic distortions...

Now that is a reasonable objection...

 

[nobby-w]

I had a critter called a packbot

IMTU I had a machine called a packbot that was an agile legged robot for carrying supplies. This could be powered by a small fusion reactor at higher tech levels or an air-breathing fuel cell at lower tech.

A typical pack bot has a body in three segments connected by articulated joints. Each segment has a pair of legs with retractable grippers that also give the machine some ability to climb and negotiate rough terrain. The front and rear have sensor packages that allow the machine to see and navigate, and each segment has a pannier that cargo can be lashed to.

The net effect is a machine that looks a bit like a chunky stick insect with panniers on its back. The joints and legs are articulated sufficiently that the machine can fold up for stowage - imagine the segments folding like a 'Z' shape and far enough around to sit parallel. The panniers also detach or fold away.

A few other components, for example a winch and a grappling hook arrangement help with manoeuvring the pack bot over rough terrain. The most common model had a nominal capacity of around 300kg and a practical maximum of 400-500. Extended, the machine is about 2.5m long; folded up it would occupy a space approximately 1m x 1m x 50cm. Unloaded weight is about 200kg, a 4-6 man lift to pick up or stow manually. Larger models could carry bigger payloads but at that size payloads are more likely to be dropped by an air/raft or truck.

The machine could run at speeds up to about 15kph or travel at a walking pace. Sensor and control systems are good enough that the machine is quite sure-footed.

For road travel, the machine could be fitted with a set of powered skates (imagine something like a Tachikoma from Ghost In The Shell:SAC), although normally you would just load it onto a trailer or truck.

The ABFC power pack would give the machine a few days endurance on a tank of fuel (about 20 litres). Higher tech levels (say: 13+) would allow the construction of models powered by fusion reactors.

The base tech level of the packbot is around TL10 - TL10 versions are semi-autonomous but still need an operator. TL12+ versions can operate completely autonomously.