Basic, High-Tech, maybe Low-Tech: different tents / tent types

[The Colonel]

Mind you, these days a lot of smally military tentage is used to roof a trench of some kind, giving you at least a bit more vertical space...

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Mind you, these days a lot of smally military tentage is used to roof a trench of some kind, giving you at least a bit more vertical space...

Hmm. I imagined that such an option is very, very situational: it takes time and effort to dig a trench large enough for a person. Let's say 2 ft × 6 ft × 1 ft, a very minimalistic deepness in the ground, will take half an hour in loose soil, an hour in ordinary, and can't meaningfully be done without a pick or an improvised equivalent in hard soil. It also might have the problem of getting flooded if there's a rain. How are these issues solved?

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Hmm. I imagined that such an option is very, very situational: it takes time and effort to dig a trench large enough for a person. Let's say 2 ft × 6 ft × 1 ft, a very minimalistic deepness in the ground, will take half an hour in loose soil, an hour in ordinary, and can't meaningfully be done without a pick or an improvised equivalent in hard soil. It also might have the problem of getting flooded if there's a rain. How are these issues solved?

The time constraint isn't a huge issue, as soldiers spend a lot of time waiting for something to happen. The flooded fighting hole? Easily solved by officers telling the Sergeants to tell the men to dig fighting holes, and then going to a nearby cottage to sleep indoors.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Hmm. I imagined that such an option is very, very situational: it takes time and effort to dig a trench large enough for a person. Let's say 2 ft × 6 ft × 1 ft, a very minimalistic deepness in the ground, will take half an hour in loose soil, an hour in ordinary, and can't meaningfully be done without a pick or an improvised equivalent in hard soil. It also might have the problem of getting flooded if there's a rain. How are these issues solved?

An E-Tool is a pick and a shovel (and a really dull axe, and a rake, and a hoe...).

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

An E-Tool is a pick and a shovel (and a really dull axe, and a rake, and a hoe...).

I sharpened the edge of mine to the point where I could thunk it into a tree and it'd stay there. Most jarheads found that a little weird.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

An E-Tool is a pick and a shovel (and a really dull axe, and a rake, and a hoe...).

Hmm. Good point. (I'm assuming the one on High-Tech p. 25 counts?) Should the rule that with a 'pick-and-shovel', one only digs 0.6×BL cf/hr in hard soil due to changing between picking and shovelling be relaxed or ditched entirely?

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I sharpened the edge of mine to the point where I could thunk it into a tree and it'd stay there. Most jarheads found that a little weird.

Where I come from, that's normal for an infantryman - they also make a decent melee weapon, especially given the tendency of the bayonet (and other bits) on the L85 to come off more or less at random.

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Hmm. I imagined that such an option is very, very situational: it takes time and effort to dig a trench large enough for a person. Let's say 2 ft × 6 ft × 1 ft, a very minimalistic deepness in the ground, will take half an hour in loose soil, an hour in ordinary, and can't meaningfully be done without a pick or an improvised equivalent in hard soil. It also might have the problem of getting flooded if there's a rain. How are these issues solved?

You deal with flooding by putting a sump at one or both ends (also a good place to kick foreign objects landing in the trench), which will at least head off some of the groundwater. Prolonged saturation involves giving up and moving above ground. Digging is part of life in the infantry in particular (hence "The Army dig in, the Airforce check in and the Navy take their accomodation with them") ... and you generally get shown a film quite early on which explains to you why its' better to be below ground level when artillery fire arrives.