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when skiing into the ice cold water with bergen,does the bergen act as a buyoncy aid?

If its waterproofed

No!

It's full of kit.

Artist

I refer my honourable friend to the answer he gave some moments ago...........

No! It's full of kit

.

As a signaller how would he know, he used landrovers and other such mobile methods of transferring kit from one dusty place to another. I therefore regard his answer as inaccurate and derived from books.

The bergen may float for a short period, then disappear to the bottom. As long as you can use the quick release toggles and ditch it you will be ok. Bloody cold, but ok. Once extracted from the water it's even possible to recover the bergen.

roll_on wrote:when skiing into the ice cold water with bergen,does the bergen act as a buyoncy aid?

IF, you used your common dog, you would have waterproofed your kit, in plastic bags, thick sturdy ones, this will give your Bergan, a little bouyancy, but not a great deal,(your Bergen is a mini Chacon) as there may be a little air trapped in the plastic bags. At the end of the day, your life will depend on your kit being kept dry, otherwise, your going to die. This is ok when travelling across a normal lake,(not dieing) as you have water directly beneath the ice, however, when travelling across a Hydro lake, the distance between the ice and oggin, can be as much as 60 feet or more. For those travelling across ice in vehicles (BV`s etc) the sound of cracking ice behind you, certainly gets your nerves on edge, especially with the latter type of lake .

when attached to 59 Cdo at Dombas, the Army were tasked to recover a civvie tractor and trailor which had gone through the ice in the november. (I was attached as the Recovery Truck Driver, of the AEC 6x6 monster, that weighed 22 and a half tonnes) we arrived at the location, we had to drive through a wooded area,down to the side of the lake, the engineers cut through 2 layers of ice, and dived to locate the said vehicles. They found it, and salvaged some keep sakes. the Capt in charge told me to back onto the ice and get the crane ready to lift the tractor and trailor, (f*"*ing right SIR!) 5 minutes later, he asked why the vehicle wasn`t on the ice. I asked him how long he`d signed on for, he said 9 years, i said well if you want the vehicle on the ice, here`s the key`s, throwing them to him, and stating the weight of the vehicle and that he`d be signing on for at least 22 years to pay for it. He came back with, (and i realy tried not to laugh when he said it) "Thats An Order" big laugh`s all round, told him to stick his F*"*ING order. Roger a pongo guy came by, and asked what the problem was, i explained, Rog said what did he tell you Sir, he told me to "F" off sgt, thats exactly what i`d have told you sir, said our Rog. BUT, the press are coming, phone the Navy i said .

well, about an hour later, a Sea King arrived, big smile on Capt`s face, pilot landed in a field nearby, waltzed over, seeing a bootneck came straight to me, asked what the score was, briefed him and sent him on his way to see said Capt, a few words between each other, and wings came back with the words of, "F*"*ing W*"ker" "See You Royal".........."I suppose that means your not lifting then Sir"? big laughs from wings, "not today Royal, F*"*ing Pongo`s" that realy made my day. Made a suggestion to the Capt, about paying out the wich cable, but he just gave me a glare and turned on his heels,but he wasn`t a happy bunny, especially when the press turned too.