August 2, 1917 
LAND & WATER 
Kit and Equipment 
We shall be pleasM fo supply informalion to our readers 
as to where any of the articles nienlioncd are obtainable, and 
we invite correspondence from officers on active service who 
care to call our attention to any points which would be advan- 
tageous in the matter of comforts or equipment, etc. 
Letters of inquirv tenth reference to this subject should be 
addressed to KIT AND EQUIPMENT " Land & Water," 
Old Serjeant's Inn, 5, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.2. 
Three Years of Kit 
It was inevitable that three years of active service should 
bring about changes in the form of military equipment, but, 
at the beginning of those three years, few would have predicted 
that the changes would have been so many and so far-reaching. 
One great cause of change has been the difference in the form 
of war — it was anticipated, at the outset, that the efficacy 
of modern military machinery was such that trench war- 
fare had become an impossibility, while the effect of modern 
gunfire, combined with the absence of the element of surprise, 
and tremendous increase in the size of armies, has driven the 
combatants deeper into the earth, instead of bringing them 
to the surface and keeping them there. The outcome of 
this has been the trench coat, one of the most revolutionary, 
changes in military clothing for a century, and another 
outcome has been the necessity for waterproof boots — in the 
old days, as long as a pair of boots was hard-wearing and had 
a reasonable aptitude for keeping out the wet, nobody bothered 
as to whether the leather was definitely proofed against 
wet, but now officers require that their field boots shall be of 
such quality that the wearers can stand in mud and water 
with dry feet — not only do they require this, but, thanks to 
good design and good material in footwear, they get it. 
Another notable development is the collection of " gadgets " 
that has grown up — field cookers, combination of mess-tin and 
water-bottle, ingenious writing cases, combination of map-case 
with fitments for reconnaissance work, and half a hundred 
other things that make for increased efficiency. Yet again, 
the old pattern of waterbottle, badly designed and very often 
as badly made, had nearly disappeared, giving place to a 
gteatly improved pattern, and the haversack has undergone a 
change for the better. Also in sleeping kit the kapok-lined bag 
is steadily displacing the old and heavy " Wolseley " pattern 
valise, which was cumbrous, involved much time and trouble 
iji packing and unpacking, and was merely a one-purpose 
irticle forced to serve two uses, instead of being — ^as is the 
kapok-lined article, a definite two-purpose thing in which the 
one use does not interfere with the other* , 
It is virtually safe to prophesy that many of these changes 
will survive the war, and the new articles will become standard 
military equipment — with the trench coat and the sleeping 
bag this may.be counted as a certainty. The new pattern 
water-bottle too, deserves and will almost certainly get more 
than a war-time vogue — even on peace service, the officer of 
to-morrow will have a very different and far more serviceable 
equipment than that of the army which took the field and 
ftiade history in 1914. As a negative good effect, it may be 
remarked that the old-time " greatcoat," an excellent water 
carrier and a very good thing for every purpose but that for 
which it was intended, has almost completely disappeared. 
May it never come back to general use. 
One effect of the war, in equipment and kit as in all else, 
has been a forcing up of price, and that, it is to be hoped, 
will not settle to permanency. It is for the present inevitable 
— labour and materials alike cost far more than in pre-war 
days, and the consumer must pay the difference, as always. 
To-day, as always, it pays to get the best, and the saving of a 
few shillings in kit or equipinent is not economy, but mere 
niggardliness, since very many articles of equipment are just as 
xdtal to the pfeservation of health — and sometimes of life 
itself — as good food or good tactical ability. 
The attitude of many firms that specialise in military kit 
and equipment is summarised in the remark made by one of 
them. ' It isn't altogether, a matter of profit," he said. 
" The boys out there deserve the best of everything, and it's up 
to us to give them the best all the time." Many firms have 
risen to this view of the matter, and have proved themselves 
worthy of absolute trust. from the man in uniform. Many of 
them are seriously handicapped through sending their men to 
the army — one, for instance, sent thirty men out of a total 
of thirty-one employees of military age — but thev are carrying 
on with the conciousness that there is a certain measure of 
" national importance " in their work, and it is very largely 
due to their ingenuity and resource that the man in uniform 
is far better equipped for his work to-day than he was in the 
'"-■"iinued on ■paije 68) 
MILITARY 
OUTFITTERS 
cincf 
- CAMP ' 
EQUIPMENT 
- MAKERS - 
For all Services 
Climates & Conditions. 
Catalogues on Request 
-TUNICS. SLACKS. 
BREECHES. WARMS. 
CAPS. PUTXEES. 
BOOTS. LEGGINGS, 
TRENCH COATS. 
SAM BROWNE BELTS. 
WEB EQUIPMENTS, 
CAMP KIT & NECESSARIES. 
TROPICAL & INDIAN 
OUTFITS. 
High Grade Kit only, 
at Moderate Prices 
4' PRINCES ST 
HANOVER SQ 
LONDON 'W'l 
.MAYFAIR 4071 
The Officer proceeding to 
France, Salonika, Egypt, 
Mesopotamia, or India re- 
quires Kit suitable for the 
various climates. The House 
of Hazel with a century's 
experience of Service Cloth- 
ing, and, knowing what is 
required, supplies it ar.d 
guiiantees satisfaction. 
The Officer at home, when 
commissioned, requires Kit 
which will stamp him as a 
gentleman of taste, and not 
clothing turned out by fac- 
tory methods and low-grade 
labour in the interest of 
*' economy." 
The House of Hazel does 
not accept Cadet Contracts 
and caters solely for indi- 
vidual Officers of all ranks, 
who prefer Clothing and 
Equipment which v\ill re- 
flect credit on the suppliers 
and the users. 
Specialists in 
Flying Outfits. 
=^6^a 
The "S & A" ' EatanswiU" 
Combination Mess Tin and Water Bottle. 
(Swaine & Adeney's Patent). 
The size is the same as 
u.sual cavalry mess tin, 
but slightly deeper. Ihe 
capacity of the bottle is 
two pints. 
Ahiminium mess tins, 
nickel bottle, silver 
plated inside, with 
patent air-tight stopper, 
in khaki canvas cover- 
I carrier with shoulder | 
ling.s or with swivel 
hooks for attaching to 
belt £1 17 6 
LOADED 
STICKS 
and WHIPS. 
No. lA.— T.oadcd stick, 
wlialebon* centre, 
plaited all over 
kani^aroo hide, 
wrist strap, 
length 30 inches or 
36 inches £2 : «0 : 
No. IB.— Ditto, whale- 
bone centre. covered 
all over plg.'fkin, 
sliding wri.st strap, 
length Se inches. 
£2: 2:0. 
No. S.— Officer's New 
market Whip. 
whaleiKjne centre, 
plaited raw hidf, 
with kangaroo hide 
handpart, loaded 
• ml. silver collar, 
and thong «l! 18:0 
Ditto, plaited all over, 
kangaroo h i de. 
loaded end, with 
thong ... fii: 15:0 
HAVERSACKS 
Extra large and strong, 
made from an 
offlcer'a design, 
12/a 
Ditto, with 
base 
leather 
18/6 
Detachable sling 2/6 ex. 
Postage to B.E.F. I /- extra. Send for NEW llhnlraled List of War Equipment 
SWAIIVE> &" ADBNEY, 
By appointmeit to H.Mt The King 
185 PICCADILLY. LONDON. W. 
