Winter BMQ

[Bert]

I‘ll be attending Reg force BMQ in St. Jean from January to March. Would anyone with experience
in winter BMQs have any tips, pitfalls, recommendations, how not to freeze ones a$$ off,
winter wear? My CF Case Manager has been good about answering general questions but not the specifics of a winter BMQ.

 

[fusilier955]

buy yourself hand-warmers, poly propalyne socks, and silcon based moisturizer. the hand-warmers obvious (cold hands suck), poly propalyne socks are hydrophobic, they will dry super fast if left as barrier under wool sock (say goodbye to foot sweat). the silicon based moisturizer is to keep your face moisterized, if it drys out, it is more likely to get frostbitten. do your shaving at night (drys out your face) when you are on stove watch, it is also a great time to get your kit squared away. take care of your feet, get foot powder, use a rag and clean them, again best time stove watch. if ever you are given a break, take care of your feet then go to sleep, but always feet first. to be honest there is not much that people can tell you how to survive in the winter other than the obvious to keep warm and dry, you will have to learn most of it on your own.

by the way, you will love your ranger blanket, it is a great piece of kit. also pack your valice in logical order of taking it out (so your kit doesnt get wet). line your valice with garbage bags, it is not water-proof. also keep a pair of wool socks in your but pack with powder. put all your stuff in large ziplock bags so it wont get wet, also when you are rooting around you can save time by pulling out bags of related items (ie- socks/stuff for your feet) for your clothes, roll them up and get elastic bands and wrap them around them. it is no fun when you pull out something and a peice of rolled up clothing pops out and un rolls and you have to waste time to roll it back up.(put clothes in ziplock bags too). well i cant think of anything else, but you will learn.

 

[brin11]

Bert,

Fusilier has some great ideas and use them if you can but you may be required to pack your kit in a set way with certain items in certain places. I did my basic training in the winter many, many moons ago so I‘m not sure how stringent they are now about these things. I know that when I went through there really wasn‘t time for much. You could pack your valise with a garbage bag but you weren‘t allowed to use zip lock bags.

Do the best you can.

 

[Bert]

Thanks for the information.

 

[winchable]

Just came across this post and realised what it was about.
Bert, bag EVERYTHING, unless they don‘t let you. If it can fit in a ziplock bag, put it in one. If it can‘t, put it in a garbage bag. They‘ve got these big ziplock bags at Walmart, you just put your boxers and socks and shirts in there.
Bag your feet too! Unless you have the gortex boots, I put bags on my feet and never got them cold or wet.
If they don‘t give you time to bag things, bring bags anyways and put the stuff in the bags before you get to the field. You will thank yourself a million times for doing it if you get the chance. It‘s not bad being cold, this is Canada it‘s expected, but it‘s really bad if you‘re cold AND wet.

 

[Bert]

The CFRC provides a list of personal items you can bring to BMQ. Its strongly suggested that you bring only that which is identified in the document. I‘ve heard BMQ staff may remove
items not identified in the list but I don‘t know whether thats true. Would you suggest bringing the baggies and poly propalyne socks at the beginning of BMQ or get them from the St. Jean Canex if they‘re available?

 

[winchable]

It can‘t hurt to bring baggies.
There should be opportunity to buy them there too,
I would hope they‘re available.
I‘m not 100% sure, but I believe when they say that they strongly suggest only bringing things on the list, they mean don‘t bring entertainment devices etc.

 

[fusilier955]

you will have a pair of civies there right? have your civie socks be poly propalyne socks if you want to sneak them in as a safe bet. the ziplock bags, bring em, it wont hurt. also in the feild i forgot to tell you something, you will run into a nasty rash since you dont wash. it is given the name of "feild d***", to combat this get some travel pack baby wipes. use it to keep your bits clean that way. also for any chaffing/already developed rash that you may encounter, you may laugh, but use diapper cream, it helps. also to help keep your weapon clean, get a broken kids toy, or some cap of some kind to place over the flash supresser snugly. that will keep out water when you have it slung over your shoulder and it starts to rain. last thing you want is rust to develop in your weapon. that is all i can remember for now, but if you have any specific questions Bert, just private message me.

 

[Joel85]

What about using a condom over the flash suppresor? Would that work, or would it be too cold, and the condom would become brittle?

 

[winchable]

I would worry less about the condom becoming brittle, and more about the fact that you‘ll be walking around with a condom over the end of your rifle in the first place.
I doubt it‘s a good idea to modify the rifle at all, although I will admit putting a condom over the end of the rifle sounds better then wedging a kids toy in the flash suppressor...
I don‘t think I would do either though.

 

[chrisf]

As far as bagging your kit goes, don‘t get those cheap lightweight garbage bags, get the heavy sort, the lightweight ones have a habit of shredding very quickly. For zip-locks, get the heavy duty freezer bags.