Piercing a 50 gallon drum

Josh amazing story, It must have been espically amazing when theres lots of grey smoke and your eyes are red; Luckly the rocket fuel didn't explode :eek: ;)

(due to recent e-mails; I mean this in a funny non-offensive way)
 
Hey, J-man-- the only dope smoking going on was when TTO and I smoked those ninja dopes with a huge explosion caused by the rocket fuel.
--Josh
 
We poked the holes in the 50 gal drums with .30 cal implements.

Regards,
FK
 
seems like i remember something about .45 size ones, seems they matched spacing on the opposite side pretty well also, but i thought for a more covert (silent) type, maybe. :D
 
Hello Ichor,
Your 11 months in Nam must have been spent at a bar in Sigon. Since you never saw a split in half 55 gal. oil drum. If you ever made it out to a field base camp, you might have noticed the black smudge fires, burning each morning, down by the latrine. Back in 66-67-68, at our Artilery Bases, we would build the 6-8 hole latrine buildings with trap-doors in the back. Then each morning the poor GI, with latrine duty, could pull out the cut in 1/2, 55 gal. oil drums, full of you know what, and set them on fire. Those 55 gal. drums, ofcourse, were all cut in half, with everyone's trusty, Randall Made, Model #14 Survival knife. My #14 still has the marks, on the top of the blade, left by the ball-peen hammer, as I punded the knife around the middle of the drums. Worked just fine.
Best Regards,
Jay Maines
1/40th. Arty., Dong Ha
3/6th. Arty., Pleiku
Sunrise River Custom Knives
 
Originally posted by Jay Maines
Hello Ichor,
Your 11 months in Nam must have been spent at a bar in Sigon. Since you never saw a split in half 55 gal. oil drum. If you ever made it out to a field base camp, you might have noticed the black smudge fires, burning each morning, down by the latrine. Back in 66-67-68, at our Artilery Bases, we would build the 6-8 hole latrine buildings with trap-doors in the back. Then each morning the poor GI, with latrine duty, could pull out the cut in 1/2, 55 gal. oil drums, full of you know what, and set them on fire. Those 55 gal. drums, ofcourse, were all cut in half, with everyone's trusty, Randall Made, Model #14 Survival knife. My #14 still has the marks, on the top of the blade, left by the ball-peen hammer, as I punded the knife around the middle of the drums. Worked just fine.
Best Regards,
Jay Maines
1/40th. Arty., Dong Ha
3/6th. Arty., Pleiku
Sunrise River Custom Knives
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Well gee, Jay, Thanks for that pearl of information on human waste disposal. I must say, you make a lot of assumptions for a guy that has absolutely no idea where I was or what I did in Southeast Asia. Or even when (yes, I was there for the Tet offensive). First off, I don't think my post said a word about never having seen 55 gal. drums that had been cut in half. What I said was, I never had occasion to punch holes in one with a knife, not did I ever see it done by anyone else.

I do know that you don't have to see any "field base camp" to be on $hit burning duty. I had that my first week in Nam while passing through Long Binh, which, as you may know, is about the fartherest thing you can get from a field base camp (other than being back in the states, of course).

I do know that had I been in a position which required me to cut 55 gal. drums in half, I would have given it a little thought and figured out a way to do it other than pounding it in half with my knife, Randall or not. Of course I do have to take into consideration that you were artillery. ;-) After getting to the part where you were hammering your Randall thru a steel drum with a ball peen hammer I figured you were probably a Marine, cause they always get the dregs and leftover equipment .

Of course, I admit we did have Navel connections that many Army units didn't, so our access to the proper tool for the job may have been better than yours. Hit my Randall #1 with a ball peen hammer? I'd die first.

Bottom line. No I didn't spend all my time in Saigon. I really wish I could have spent 11 months buying Saigon tea for little Numba one cuties, but it just didn't happen. One really shouldn't assume, or infer that, because someone didn't have the exact same experiences, that a person's duty assignment was some kind of "soft" duty and didn't involve being a "real" soldier.


J. Dunn
2nd Brigade
9th Infantry/Dong Tam
Mobile Riverine Force
JADE CO. Investigations
 
Alright guys, No arguing over who had it worse during the war. Assumptions are never a good thing. You both served your country in one way or another and for that I personally thank you both. So lets get back to knives and not piss on one anothers boots :)
 
And to think I always thought it was because knife makers never have a muti tool to remove the threaded bung.
 
While here usually is no need to poke holes in
55 gal drum with a knife I've had to use my Buck
Nighthawk and short treelimb to ventilate the
bottom of drum on 2 occasions to vent the drum.

No, It's not a natural use of the knife ,but a
knife is basicly a tool and I use'm that way. :eek:
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb here. I'm betting most of these prybar folders wouldn't be the best tool to open a letter, slice a bagel or an apple, or clean my fingernails. I'm not a ninja or a commando. But if I do have to slay a dragon I'm not bringing a folder, I'm bringing a pair of 25" sirupatis:eek: :D

Frank
 
I reckon my CS SRK would do a decent job of cutting open a 50galon drum.......and at $70.00, I'd probably be willing to do it.

Although I can't see myself in a situation like Josh Feltman, except maybe in my dreams (or is that nightmares?)
 
When I was at Camp Lejeune in the 70's, I used the can opener on my SAK on C-Rats all the time. When I was at Shaw AFB in 91, I used the wire cutter on my Leatherman almost every day. Now I have HI khukris that cut a lot of weeds and a Strider SA that cuts the ends off a lot of cigars. But I just LOVE that Cold Steel video where they stab car doors.

Just my $.02
 
We had 45 gallon drums in Canada because our gallons were bigger (I hate to brag). I'm not sure what they are called now since we went metric. Anyway, our drums are usually docile but I have heard of the odd one going rogue. If this happens I want the strongest knife I can get. We aren't allowed any guns.:D
 
Ookpik. I believe the metric measurement you are referring to is litres. We have been metric here since as long as I can remember. The old US of A might consider it oneday aswell:p
 
Well Josh's story does make food for thought on all this of course. I got a clear impression he was saying 'Look this can happen to you, so be ready...', even if your Humvee isn't customised.

Also, suppose you were in the Great Outdoors, miles from anywhere but somehow with this mysterious drum close to hand, were cooking pasta for a LOT of people and, lo and behold as invariably seems to happen in just these situations, you'd left the damn colander behind?

NO worries, you'd say.



Incidentally, I'm told this is exactly what happened when Martha Stewart went on a camping trip with MacYver (sp.).
 
Wasn't that the war when they first switched from blackpowder guns to metallic cartridges and finally stopped lining up soldiers side to side and marched at each other? I think my greatgrandpa was in that one... did you two know him?

You two are hilarious...LOL
 
Oh god sorry, no I haven't.

It is not an address I have used before, so not in the habit yet.

Just checking now....
 
[

You two are hilarious...LOL [/B]
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Glad you're so easily amused, Mutt. There really wasn't anything very funny about it. Wish you'd been there with us. I can just hear you laughing through the whole thing.
 
Originally posted by ichor
Glad you're so easily amused, Mutt. There really wasn't anything very funny about it. Wish you'd been there with us. I can just hear you laughing through the whole thing.
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John, if you can't laugh about it, you would have to cry...
never take the internet seriously...
 
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