We call the category of this kind of post "The People's Site" -- in it, we highlight some of the most informative comments from our previous week's posts. We're lucky to have a roster of devoted readers who've clearly been there and done that and it shows in our civil, and often helpful, comments on particular posts.
From the Army Solar Charger story, "Captain Davis" has a solution to decrease charging time:
The troops do not have to "sit around for 6 hours" while their equipment charges...the solution is simple, rig the charger to a pack with the charging batteries inside (do I have to think of everything?!)! Earthtech.com also sells photovoltaic backpacks for the civvy-side of life. Will charge your mini, laptops, portable anything (if you buy the larger pack). I use the panel to charge my HH HAM radios, trickle-charge my motor home batts and they do a good job (as long as the batteries are not fully depleted).
Captain Davis, SF (Retired)
On the Bushnell BackTrack post, "markm" had a really descriptive comment on his experienc with the pocket GPS unit and gave military users a tip on how to mute the screen sheen:
Sometimes the Army will send you out of the wire with no map or having any previous walk over the ground, just "Get out there and don't get hurt." With a point of reference and 5 mins in Tac Ops a team can at least keep away far enough to actually patrol without tripping their own EWS.
Mine runs on two AAA rechargeables, which are a good cheap power source to use in the field. No mention here, but the shape looks like they kept them. For those who need to tone down the unit's reflective screen, use matte PDA screen protectors, which will kill most flash. They work well on any glass surface, including watch faces, and don't reduce the effectiveness of touch screens.
A great comment on the Foreign Legion picture gallery that just typifies the mythology of the kepi-wearing fighters. "Bob" wrote this:
Want to bet that if a Legion patrol takes sniper fire from a roof top, they don't call in CAS to drop a 500 pound bomb on the house, or arty to drop a 155 round on it. They practice fire and maneuver and take out the sniper. The Legion are warriors.
And "jeff" had a funny rejoinder...
They dont call in support cause they don't have it, they are expendable. Not disputing that they are warriors, but some people value their lives a bit more than legionnaires.
Last but not least, our well-informed readers smoked out the mystery and revealed that A/SRG C-1 is indeed a fake rifle -- merely a graphic design concept...
...and, oh yeah, it should have been built in 7.62!
