January 9, 191 5 
LAND AND WATER 
CHOOSING KIT 
Practical Hints 
(Continued from page 195) 
THESE articles are written from practical experi- 
ence of military matters, with a view to keeping 
our readers in touch with the variousrequirements 
of active service. Changes of climate and the peculiar 
conditions under which the present campaign is being 
waged render different items of equipment advisable at 
different times, and we are in touch with officers at the 
front and others from whom the actual requirements of 
officers and men can be ascertained. The articles are 
not intended to advertise any particular firm or firms. 
Saddie Bags 
Apparently, the first man to design a saddle bag had 
\'ery little imagination, and, since it is easier to copy than to 
design afresh, the majority of his followers adhered to the 
pattern he had made, with the result that all saddle bags 
— or very nearlv all, rather — are one-sided contraptions. 
That is to say. a saddle bag is made to fit on either the off 
or near side of the saddle, and an off-side saddle bag cannot 
be fitted comfortably to the near side nor a near-side bag 
(jn the off side. This is true of the great majority of saddle 
bags, though it would have been very little more trouble to 
make the attachment reversible, so that one could fit the 
bag on either side as circumstances might require. But 
man is a creature of imitation rather than of creation, in the 
main, and saddlers are no exception to the rule. 
A Reversible Bag 
But, given the need, sooner or later there comes along a 
man with the ability to fill it, and thus there arose a man 
who constructed a saddle bag whereof the two to]> loops fit 
comfortably on to a regulation or colonial saddle D's, while 
the back attachment is so arranged that the bag can be hung 
on either side of the saddle The back of this particular bag 
is of strong, solid leather, and the rest of it is made of good 
waterproofed canvas, with sufficient of bulge in the flap and 
a fastening strajj of sufficient length to admit of fastening 
the thing without difficulty when the bag is uncomfortably 
full. It is a good bag, as good as any one-sided thing made, 
and one of these bags gives the owner a distinct advantage 
over the owner of the ordinary pattern. 
Haversacks Again 
That matter of the bulging flap brings us bark to the 
subject of haversacks and a notable deficiency therein. It 
seems strange that nobody has yet thought of fastening the 
flap of the haversack with a buckle and strap in place of the 
button, which is to be seen on ninety-nine out of every 
hundred haversacks. There are, it is true, two buttonliolcs 
in the flap, so that theoretically the fla]) can be buttoned 
over when the bag is full ; in actual practice the bag ccmnol 
be buttoned when it is full, for the flap will not reach over 
far enough. \ buckle and fairly long stra]) would do away 
with this difficulty, and yet nobody (with one or two 
exceptions) seems likely to adopt the buckle and strap in 
preference to the irritating button. 
Indelible Pencils 
A correspondent, interested in the subject of writing 
materials, writes to suggest an ordinary black lead pencil for 
campaigning use in preference to indelible lead. He points 
out that if a letter written with an indelible pencil gets wet 
the result is by no means indelible. There is a good bit in 
what he says, for certainly the majority of " indelible " 
pencils produce marks that blur as soon as they are wetted. 
If an ordinary lead is taken, however, it should be a hard one, 
so that the point of the pencil will press on to the paper and 
score a definite mark thereon. Writing with a soft lead is 
likely to become considerably less visible, either wet or dry, 
if roughly handled than any writing with an indelible pencil 
in similar circumstances. 
Puttees 
I believe the puttee is of Indian origin. As a leg 
covering it has some advantages, but it also has many 
disadvantages. If put on too loosely it slips, of course ; if, 
on the other hand, it is put on ever so little too tightly it 
produces torture in the course of a few miles' march. 
Experience, however, will overcome these drawbacks ; but 
I have never yet found the man whose experience would 
enable him to put on a pair of puttees in fairly reasonable 
time- that is, compared with the time a man takes to put on 
an ordinary pair of leather leggings. Yet again, in wet 
weather a pair of puttees is equivalent to a pair of water 
(Continued on page 207) 
SERVICE EQUIPMENT 
At Reduced Prices 
DURING JANUARY 
WRITE FOR SERVICE LIST. 
^~^-____^ Tht Linen Mall U 
Regent Street. LondonW. 
Get YOUR Service Outfit from 
STUDD AND 
MILLINGTON 
51 CONDUIT STREET. LONDON, W. 
The most sensible and practical Coat 
for an officer on active service is a 
"BRITISH -WARM" 
ned fleece, absolutely waterproof. 
From 3 guineas. 
MILITARY GREAT-COATS AND 
WATERPROOFS A SPECIALITE 
STUDD & MILLINGTON 
Sporting a Military Tailors 
51 Conduit Street, London, W. 
THE NEW SAM BROWNE BELT 
Covered Khaki Canvas. Price 63/- 
. . Extra Large and Strong . . 
HA VERSA CKS 
made from an OfTicer's design. 
Pric 
12/6 
WIRE NIPPERS 
Insulated Handles. Complete in Leather Case. 12/6 
Send for full List of War Equipment. 
SWAINE fS ADENEY 
By appointment to H.M. The Kinji 
185 PICCADILLY, W. 
THOMAS & SONS' 
NEW PUTTEE 
Covers the leg in three tuint. 
Made in waterproof cloth. 
Takes about quarter the time to wind and unwind 
that an ordinary puttee does. Price 8, 6 pair 
Another Novelty is a pair of chamois leather 
"shorls" opening at the back ; very warm and 
convenient. Price 25/- 
THOMAS & SONS 
32 
Military Tailors and 
Rreeche s M akers 
BROOK STREET, W. 
205 
