by fallout Sat Sep 26, 2015 1:34 pm
"The ammo pouches, which are connected to the front of the webbing, are disposed off in the first part of the 70's. After dispossal they where ONLY used during the "Nijmeegse Vierdaagse". Ammo pouched connected to the "koppel" (big canvas belt) for the FAL and UZI where used in Libanon and by special forces from the end of the 70's till the end of the 90's. You did have two magazines, 1 in the weapon, 1 in your pocket. At war time exactly the same because they reckoned that a lot of your fellow soldiers would be dead (or severely wounded) quickly so their should be more than sufficient ammo around. (for instance. If war broke out: a scout at the East German boarder had a life expectation of max. 3 min.)"
I got this info from a Dutch group who collect post war Dutch militaria. They also said:
"normally the soldiers only carried there "koppel" with attached canteens, sometimes a shovel, and mandatory a gas mask. In the '80's it wasn't the K-mask any more (discarded in 1973) but the C3 gas mask. A bayonet wasn't worn after the second half of the '70's (a bit depending on which company you was in.
Full gear was only worn by infantry on displacement to another area. If the arrived all of the stuff like "gevechtstas" "ransel" etc was left in bivouac."
And for those of you who don't know what gevechtstas and ransel are, they are the large and small pack.