Thank you all for the welcome.

Outside of finding a good pair of shoes/boots to help with the knee in future ventures, I'm trying to stay on top of good ways to cut the infantryman's load, from the ounces equal pounds, and pounds equal... aspect.

To that end, I continue to use predominantly issued gear and clothing and strive to be as minimalist with it as possible. One of my enduring projects is to work towards a standard loadout that allows us to get down to a 45 liter pack and avoid the current 80L behemoth we were saddled with a year ago (FILBE).

I'll have to remain in the 500 denier world for some time to come.