IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY Middlesex. ACCOUTREMENTS.
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Augustus Frederick Blakeney
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd December 1879.
WILLIAM AUGUSTUS FREDERICK BLAKENEY, of Bury Street, in the County of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MILITARY
Middlesex, Captain in the First Royal Lanark Militia.
ACCOUTREMENTS.'
The equipment at present used in the militia service and formerly in the regular
forces is inadequate to meet the requirements of the day. It has been condemned
on military grounds because it does not enable the soldier to march with the same
comfort and facility carrying the same quantity of ammunition as he can with the .
new valise equipments, and on medical grounds because the old pack and cross belt
have been found to be detrimental to the health of the soldier.
My Invention is designed to obviate these inconveniences without the cost of a
completely new equipment, by so altering the old accoutrements or equipment as to
render the same as efficient and advantageous as the new valise equipment. Two
conditions deemed essential by the medical faculty have been complied with in my
improved knapsack or pack equipment, viz., first, that there must not be any straps
across the chest of the wearer, and second, that the waist-belt must be worn loose.
I comply with these requirements at the smallest cost to the country, for with
the exception of five buckles, two rings, four hooks, two buttons, and six D-rings,
I utilize the whole of the existing material. The actual value of these additions
will amount to about two sbillings, plus the cost of labor in the process of
conversion.
My Invention is carried into practice as follows, that is to say:-I transfer the
buckles now placed on the pouch from the said pouch to the top of the knapsack ;
I cut off the buckles of the coat straps and attach them to the lower part of the
sides of the pack to take the strap that acts as the lower support to the great coat.
Two new buckles have to be sewn on the pack at right angles to those above
specified for the continuations of the yoke, which are joined to it by means of two
new buckles on rings; the latter are secured to the waist belt by means of two
hooks or runners, one on each side of the belt when the said belt is buckled on.
The old coat-straps are utilized as ammunition straps, and are joined together to
form one strap which passes through two loops on the V of the yoke to the D-rings
on the top inner edge of the pack. These straps serve to steady the pack or
knapsack in conjunction with the lower straps, and further help to support the
pouches on the waist belt in addition to its two auxiliary breast pouches.

page_text: The old pouch is worn in front and looped on in the ordinary manner over the
belt clasp; the removal of the flap and other unnecessary parts reduce the weight
by nearly one balf. Two D-rings sewn on the inner top side take the hooks of
the ammunition straps. The ball bag is worn on the right side as usual, but can
be placed in front when the pouch is not in use, the contents being carried as before.
The arrangement of the great coat is a very important feature in my improved
equipment, and on the principle that the greatest weights poise best when carried
low, I have transferred the great coat from the outer side of the pack to the lowest
side, and in folding the coat I double up about twelve inches of the skirt around
the inner side of the pack or knapsack to form a pad for the loins where the bottom
of the pack should rest; moreover this arrangement allows free circulation of air
between the pack and the back of the wearer. The top of the knapsack reats
against the broad portion of the wearer's back and its lower edge rests on the loins.
The blanket and waterproof sheet may be carried with the great coat rolled up
under the pack. The yoke is attached to the pack by means of two tags or straps
which I have taken from the cross belt, and these fit into their old buckles that
were originally on the pouch. The second coat strap is sewn to the strap of the
yoke, and is strapped round the coat to the outside of the pack. Two buttons on
the yoke are used for the purpose of supporting the havre-sack and water-bottle;
one side of the supporting strap is buttoned on the yoke, whilst the other is hooked
on to the waist beli.
It will be found that with my improved equipment the loins take the chief
weight, whilst the rigidity of the pack enables it to act as a back board or support
to the back and loins of the wearer. All extra straps besides those already on the
pack are cut out of the old cross belt; the pack can be carried as comfortably as
any of the new valise equipments, and my Invention permits the addition of
40 rounds to the soldier's stock of ammunition. Each man can carry one hundred
and ten rounds, that is to say, fifty in the back pouch, twenty in the ball bag, and
forty in the breast pouches. Moreover if a man were to throw away his knapsack
he would still be left with about seventy rounds of ammunition on his waist belt.
In the so called "Oliver" magazine equipment the bag or valise is suspended
from the shoulders by two shoulder straps, and it is further looped on the waist
belt. Its weight is therefore entirely suspended, but in my improved arrangement
while the pack is suspended from the shoulders the bottom of the same rests on
the man's loins, thereby relieving the hips and sides.