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A Dumb question about Viet Nam?
18 July 2021 | D. Grunt

Posted on 07/18/2021 10:03:50 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT

Trying to recall the name of the plastic tubes of freshwater we occasionally received while in the bush.

We had a very good C.O. who tried to get us a hot meal when possible. With the food, we received plastic tubes of water that were DROPPED on or near to our location. IIRC They were about 8 inches in diameter and maybe 5 feet long? Usually orange or yellow, sometimes O.D. green and white?

My son, USMC Infantry 3x sandbox, was unfamiliar with them.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: question; vietnam; war
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Bag Water Sterile, 1 EA, NSN 4610-00-268-9890


21 posted on 07/18/2021 10:55:26 AM PDT by Arkansas Tider (Army EOD (Ret))
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To: molewhacka

—”Lug-a-lugs?”

GOT TO BE IT!!!

!THAT WAS MY UNIT!

1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)
B Company 1-11, Fifth Infantry Division

I was a small cog in REMAGEN.
IIRC it was the largest armored assault since WWII??

GOT TO BE IT!!!

But I have zero recognition of the name?
And recover more than a few of them.
But do not recall any cardboard, perhaps that had run short?
Definitely, some were one inside of another.

THANK YOU!


22 posted on 07/18/2021 11:02:24 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Also found this: A third problem with water resupply to troops in the field was that if frequent resupply was required as was sometimes the case in the dry season, then water sometimes needed to be free-dropped to troops on the ground. Returning regularly to LZs where water could be air landed could limit patrol coverage of a target area. But free-dropping led to loss and also created the problem of backloading the delivery container.

Experiments conducted with jerry cans showed that few survived being dropped through a high jungle canopy. Those that did survive presented the problem of what to do with the empty jerry can. The solution to this problem was eventually found with the use of a US 3 gallon [13.6 litre] water container specially designed for free-dropping without rupturing. Once empty it could be folded and carried.[7] This device could be free dropped full of water from a height of 150 feet, through jungle canopy, with an 80 per cent success rate.[8] An infantry company taking 100 per cent water resupply required 50 of these containers per resupply [680 litres in total]. They were folded and carried out of operations for later re-use although they had been designed as a single use item.


23 posted on 07/18/2021 11:02:39 AM PDT by Arkansas Tider (Army EOD (Ret))
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To: molewhacka

Looks like you are on the right track here. Can’t find a pic though.


24 posted on 07/18/2021 11:02:42 AM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
I'm still looking (wasn't there but my dad was, USAF on C-130 but he's passed) and this is current day, but maybe looked something like this?

They call it a 'bladder tank'.

25 posted on 07/18/2021 11:11:12 AM PDT by Spirit of Liberty (Idiots are of two kinds: those who try to be smart and those who think they are smart.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Just found this article from 2011 where the Army was testing a new ‘water and fuel container system’ for airdrops.

They’re calling the bladder a ‘water blivet’.

https://www.army.mil/article/69457/army_tests_new_water_fuel_bladders_for_airdrop


26 posted on 07/18/2021 11:17:42 AM PDT by Spirit of Liberty (Idiots are of two kinds: those who try to be smart and those who think they are smart.)
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To: PROCON; DUMBGRUNT

Sorry Buddy - never heard of these - but they would have been a great thing to have. We got our water from the water trailer (”Water Buffalo”) which was highly chlorinated or from rivers or wells while in the field. We would add the purification tablets, but not always and we’d get the sh_ts soon after.


27 posted on 07/18/2021 11:17:43 AM PDT by Chainmail (Remember - that half the people you meet are below average intelligence)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Mortar crews would uses pieces of discarded C-4 from the mortar round charges to heat canteen cups


28 posted on 07/18/2021 11:47:13 AM PDT by bravo whiskey (Count Rostov "The tyranny of indistinguishable days.")
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I think you are looking for the word BLIVET...or it may be spelled BLIVIT


29 posted on 07/18/2021 11:51:33 AM PDT by Chuckadv (Let none say �It cannot happen here.� Sophocles, "Siege of Troy" 2400 years ago )
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To: Chuckadv; Spirit of Liberty

Iwas thinking this was mabey not an Army issue thing and the AF blivett came to mind.


30 posted on 07/18/2021 12:04:32 PM PDT by Delta 21 (Get off your ass and earn it!)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Lister Bags? Looked like a duffle bag but had a liner that kept water from leaking out.


31 posted on 07/18/2021 12:23:30 PM PDT by donozark (Awaiting the arrival of Biden's Black Marias...)
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To: Delta 21

It could be branch specific. Could even be a slang term that was unit specific. Being an ex-trucker, my mind first thought that a term that incorporated ‘camel’ would be a possibility. Like ‘camel bag’.

I did find a website that states ‘blivet’ is allegedly from traditional U.S. Army slang dating back to WW2, but no actual evidence was given.


32 posted on 07/18/2021 12:41:42 PM PDT by Spirit of Liberty (Idiots are of two kinds: those who try to be smart and those who think they are smart.)
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To: higgmeister

👍👍👍👍👍


33 posted on 07/18/2021 12:55:25 PM PDT by easternsky
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To: DUMBGRUNT

later


34 posted on 07/18/2021 1:12:43 PM PDT by libertylover (Our biggest problem by far: most of the news media is agenda driven, not truth driven.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Some TF Remagen photos:

http://www.one-six-one.com/tfrem.htm


35 posted on 07/18/2021 1:40:20 PM PDT by molewhacka
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To: DUMBGRUNT
My Army Ranger cousin sent me this:

Yes, they were called, “donkey dicks”. When I was pinned down for six days, nothing in nothing out; two helicopters shot down trying to medivac wounded they tried using them for water. Didn’t work, they were going so fast and so high that the few that made it into our Company area, exploded on impact. Then they tried artillery cannisters, they didn’t burst but less than half hit within our area."

36 posted on 07/18/2021 1:41:05 PM PDT by libertylover (Our biggest problem by far: most of the news media is agenda driven, not truth driven.)
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To: libertylover

—”Yes, they were called, “donkey dicks”.”

The name clearly fits.

Like a very large/long water balloon.

Thanks.


37 posted on 07/18/2021 3:22:44 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: donozark

—”Lister Bags? “

We had those when I was in the Boy Scouts in, 1950s!
Everything we had was government surplus.

No liner! they were made from tightly woven cotton that would swell when wet and self-seal.
The idea was to maintain a thin film of water on the surface and provide some evaporative cooling.


38 posted on 07/18/2021 3:33:29 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: molewhacka

Thank you!

My old unit had a webpage with photos and links to more photos...

The free web hosts went by the wayside and we went through a couple, now there are none.

The last link, now dead.
http://communities.msn.com/veteransofbravo11115thmechvietnam


39 posted on 07/18/2021 4:07:10 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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To: Arkansas Tider

—”The solution to this problem was eventually found with the use of a US 3 gallon [13.6 litre] water container specially designed for free-dropping without rupturing. Once empty it could be folded and carried.[7] This device could be free dropped full of water from a height of 150 feet, through jungle canopy, with an 80 per cent success rate.[8] “

Certainly sounds like it.
We rolled them up and returned as soon as a bird landed in the area.

Thanks.


40 posted on 07/18/2021 4:14:21 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (("The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last message)
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