"french rolling" ? ?

[sjek]

Hi there, I am new to the reserve, and I was told that I need to ‘french roll‘ all the straps on my webbing gear, in order to keep them tight.

Could anyone give me some tips on how to do this?

thanks,

 

[portcullisguy]

French roll? I haven‘t heard the term before, but it is _probably_ doing what I was shown to do on day 1 of my basic course, and that is...

Roll the loose end of the strap through the spare/clear hole on the plastic buckle, if available. Then without pulling it tight, begin to roll it up. Keep rolling it until you can fit the rolled part within the remaining strap loop.

Hard to describe, easier to demonstrate.

Another way of looking at it is rolling the strap in on itself. You can actually get them pretty tight, and if it needs to stay that way, I have seen people use gun tape to tape it up.

One negative is it can take a while to do, so I usually haven‘t bothered on the ruck straps that hold my valise to the ruck, or on the main compartment straps. I usuaully try and tuck them away somehow. Maybe I am supposed to be getting yelled at for that and have been lucky so far, though.

 

[sjek]

Thanks alot!

It sounds like thats a good way to get rid of the extra length of strap.

Unfortunately I have to wait for basic in the summer, but my unit is finding ways to keep me busy

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Remember, this is only a way of keeping the straps neat while in Garrison. In the field, you want them loose so you can adjust them quickly. One minute your FFE is over your parka, the next it‘s just over your shirt. They‘re hard to unravel and adjust when wet or frozen and you have to adjust and run.

 

[excoelis]

Ah yes...the old dichotomy of ‘form over function‘.

Do what they say in trng, but temper it with a good dose of reality.

Some things that you do in garrison are done in the interest of discipline and uniformity, they do not necessarily translate to good fieldcraft.
The wisdom is in knowing the difference