What is it? XCIX

I suspect that it was used with a plain web belt (which hooked into the paired holes on the back), and things like bayonet scabbard and canteen were slung from that half.

But also, the belt would go outside other garments for quick access, so in cold weather, the belt would be adjusted significantly larger.

Enjoy, DoN.

Dig a little bit of digging down in the attic and found I had the W.W.II version for the M1 rifle which has two halves and a similar flat webbing belt between for adjustment. A bit more digging found a pic which shows that indeed #563 is only one half. I've combined with #563 so a comparison can be made:

Tom

Isn't that interesting that it took some "bin laden" to expose the stupidity of some of the people "in charge" !

Sort'a... I had a Thingmaker "Fright Factory" when I was a kid. Different molds, same oven and stinky smell:) Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Thanks for nailing this one for us.

Rob

Our masters have decreed that tools are allowed again. Anyway, the "travel wrench" is plastic and thus can be brought through the metal detector without examination.

I saw some guy on some talk show, who had just won an Emmy. He says, "Here's this 20-pound chunk of metal, with sharp pointy things sticking out the top, and they let you walk right on the airplane with it!" I suppose they figure an actor isn't going to hijack a plane using his Emmy award as a weapon. ;-)

Cheers! RIch

I wanted to say a garden-sized harrow, for dried mud or clayey dirt.

Cheers! Rich

By that line of thinking, most people can be classified as "not likely to hijack a plane". And therefore one could argue that they should be able to carry anything in an airplane, including sharp or dangerous objects. But then, you could also argue that a hijacker can use someone else's object to hijack the plane, but then, no planning is possible. Not even a hijacker would start spending his money from flight to flight, in hope that some day he will stumble on an object belonging to someone classified as safe, be able to steal it, and use that object to hijack the plane. But then, if other dangerous objects are allowed to be carried by safe people, he doesn't know if someone else doesn't have a gun, that can be used against him. Therefore I think it would be safer if anything was allowed to be carried by people classified as safe. Consequently, the safer they want airtravel to be, the more unsafe it become.

Of course, the process of determining who is safe and who isn't will give the ACLU a field day.