Hikersupply.com goes to the Sandbox!

[Twofiddy]

I had a few orders for Jet Boil stoves come in from APO addresses. The last order, I figured that I would toss in a few bumper stickers, and bribe the recipiant with a few XXX mags to place a few ads (bumper stickers) on some of our country's finest equipment.

Well here ya go

I dont know exactly what that vehicle is called, but the equipment inside, and the guys that drive it clear the road side bombs and IEDs. These guys are in danger every day.... Anyone who wants to send them a few titty mags, a lb of coffee for their jet boil stoves, or a backpacking meal or two to cook in the jet boil, the APO is...

xxxxx xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxx xxx xxx xxxx
xxx xxxxxxxx
xxx xx xxxxx

CONTACT TWOFIDDY FOR ADDRESS

PS, these guys love hot sauces, and other unique spices etc to spruce up the ramen that they normally cook in the stoves.

Let show em what the hiking community calls trail magic!!

[Blissful]

Not sure why you are asking to send our guys those kind of mags ---????
but I honor what they are doing for sure and hope there are other things better to send them literature-wise. Thanks for listing the other items.

[max patch]

Not sure why you are asking to send our guys those kind of mags ---????

Alcohol, pork, and porn were specifically prohibited to be mailed to the troops last time I checked.

[Appalachian Tater]

Not sure why you are asking to send our guys those kind of mags ---????
but I honor what they are doing for sure and hope there are other things better to send them literature-wise. Thanks for listing the other items.

I doubt that the xxx mags are to satisfy their need for literature, they want to look at pics. No doubt they have sexual frustrations and it is very unlikely that there is much dating with the local women like there might be in a non-Muslim country. They could look at porn on the internet but wouldn't have any privacy while doing so.

Women's brains respond differently to nude photos of potential sexual partners so it is difficult for them to understand why men like porn. it is a very interesting subject.

[Jack Tarlin]

Oh, for heaven's sake, folks, let's get past the remark about periodicals and focus on the big picture: Fiddy's doing something very nice for some of the troops, and I hope some folks here are inspired to help him out with this.

Way to go, Fiddy.

[Lone Wolf]

I doubt that the xxx mags are to satisfy their need for literature, they want to look at pics. No doubt they have sexual frustrations and it is very unlikely that there is much dating with the local women like there might be in a non-Muslim country. They could look at porn on the internet but wouldn't have any privacy while doing so.

Women's brains respond differently to nude photos of potential sexual partners so it is difficult for them to understand why men like porn. it is a very interesting subject.

he's an expert on porn, soldiers and women's brains now too. christ

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

My grandson-in-law is in Iraq and porn & alcohol are items the armed forces has asked not be sent. Pork is served on the bases so I doubt it is a problem. I have not seen pork listed as an item not to send.

[Alligator]

I'm not trying to add any more rain to this parade, but should a soldier's address be posted like this? I was personally told by a civilian working overseas to be tight-lipped about this type of information.

[StarLyte]

If someone put my bumper sticker on their machinery like that I think I'd be jumping up and down and they wouldn't be able to shut me up for a year.

I'm going to mail him and his friends a real sweet package.

Thanks for posting this...it made my day.

I'm from a big military family and they appreciate it too.

Love to all

[theinfamousj]

Not that I'm advocating breaking the rules or anything, but when my boyfriend was over in the sandbox (Iraquistan as he calls it since he was deployed to both fronts), he said that folks from home would frequently re-cover adult magazines with Popular Mechanics or Newsweek covers.

For those not understanding why XXX are being requested to be sent: they are a form of currency. And the way he explained it is that at least the females in the magazines know that they are going to be oggled by the masses. I'd suspect that the wives/girlfriends/etc who sent risque photos of themselves to their SOs did not know that those would be passed around as well. And he assures me that they are. (Mind you, I did not take kindly to the invasion of privacy that he was informing me of.)

[River Runner]

Great idea to send on some 'sandbox' magic. My son-in-law was over there, and I know one thing he appreciated was energy drink mix (the individual sticks that come in a box of 10 or so and can be added to a bottle of water).

I won't be sending any XXX magazines, but will try to get together a box of drink mixes and a few other things. I donated some things to go to the troops at Christmas, but it's about time to express my appreciation again. Thanks for the reminder.

[Panzer1]

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq.[1] There is no common design; there are several vendors, each with a competing entry.[2] Brig. General Michael Brogan of the United States Marine Corps is in charge of the MRAP program, for which the Marines are the lead service.[3] The Marine Corps had planned to replace all HMMWVs in combat zones with MRAP vehicles, although this appears to have changed.[4][5][6][7] As armored vehicles are considered an "urgent need" in Iraq and Afghanistan, this program is primarily funded under an "emergency war budget". On 2007-05-08 Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that the acquisition of MRAPs are the Department of Defense highest priority, [8] so for fiscal year 2007 US$1.1 billion is earmarked for MRAP .[9]
Several criticisms of the MRAP program have been its lack of a common design, which presents a wartime logistical challenge, the vehicle's inability to withstand EFP attacks, and the relatively few number of units which have been delivered to Iraq and Afghanistan, despite large orders.[10] However, some analysts see the diversity of MRAP vehicles as an advantage.[11] Other criticisms include the vehicle's weight and size, which severely limit its mobility off main roads, in urban areas, and over bridges.[12] Its heft also restricts several of the vehicles from being transported by C-130 cargo aircraft. Although three MRAP vehicles will fit in a C-17 aircraft, airlifting is extremely expensive at $750,000 per vehicle, estimated by the U.S. Transportation Command.[13] For comparison, sealifting costs around $13,000 per vehicle, but takes between three and four weeks for the vehicle to arrive in theater.[14][15] For these reasons, in December 2007, the Marine Corps reduced its request from 3700 vehicles to 2300.[16] The Army is also reassessing its MRAP requirements in Iraq although there is no sign that they intend to reduce the number of vehicles it intends to procure as additional vehicles may be sent to Afghanistan where commanders are requesting them.[17][18]

[Skidsteer]

Temporarily closed until we can figure out if it's cool to publicly list addresses of service people.

Anybody that wants to send care packages can PM Twofiddy for the addresses. Sorry for the hassle.

[SGT Rock]

Yes, I hate to rain on the forum, but DoD policy is to not have soldier's addresses made public for security reasons. Here is what I suggest:

1. Change the original post to say "contact me via PM for his address"

2. Re-open the thread. If someone wants to get the address they should say something like: Twofiddy, check your PMs for message sent.

This solution is similar to how we handled it when I was over the last time.

As to shipping items. Alcohol is forbidden, so is porn. Pork is discouraged, but you can get pork all you want over there these days. In fact, you can get almost anything over there these days - candy, food, gear, clothing, etc. It isn't like OIF 1. My recommendation is to find out what the specific soldier wants or needs. I got lots and lots of general care packages full of candy. Luckily I was an advisor to the Iraqi Military and they love candy so it helped me get wasta.

I'll also say that if you send a guy porn or alcohol and he gets caught - he can get into big trouble depending on his chain of command. Be very careful if you plan to violate this as I am sure you wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble.

[Jack Tarlin]

Thanks, Rock for clearing this up, and thanx also to anyone who follows thru and contacts Fiddy and sends along a package.

[SGT Rock]

Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks and ambushes. IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq.[1] There is no common design; there are several vendors, each with a competing entry.[2] Brig. General Michael Brogan of the United States Marine Corps is in charge of the MRAP program, for which the Marines are the lead service.[3] The Marine Corps had planned to replace all HMMWVs in combat zones with MRAP vehicles, although this appears to have changed.[4][5][6][7] As armored vehicles are considered an "urgent need" in Iraq and Afghanistan, this program is primarily funded under an "emergency war budget". On 2007-05-08 Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that the acquisition of MRAPs are the Department of Defense highest priority, [8] so for fiscal year 2007 US$1.1 billion is earmarked for MRAP .[9]
Several criticisms of the MRAP program have been its lack of a common design, which presents a wartime logistical challenge, the vehicle's inability to withstand EFP attacks, and the relatively few number of units which have been delivered to Iraq and Afghanistan, despite large orders.[10] However, some analysts see the diversity of MRAP vehicles as an advantage.[11] Other criticisms include the vehicle's weight and size, which severely limit its mobility off main roads, in urban areas, and over bridges.[12] Its heft also restricts several of the vehicles from being transported by C-130 cargo aircraft. Although three MRAP vehicles will fit in a C-17 aircraft, airlifting is extremely expensive at $750,000 per vehicle, estimated by the U.S. Transportation Command.[13] For comparison, sealifting costs around $13,000 per vehicle, but takes between three and four weeks for the vehicle to arrive in theater.[14][15] For these reasons, in December 2007, the Marine Corps reduced its request from 3700 vehicles to 2300.[16] The Army is also reassessing its MRAP requirements in Iraq although there is no sign that they intend to reduce the number of vehicles it intends to procure as additional vehicles may be sent to Afghanistan where commanders are requesting them.[17][18]

Yes, and given that this guy is Navy and is in an MRAP I will assume he is EOD attached to an Army route clearnance team. I trained some of these guys up last summer in Wisconsin. They are doing some crazy dangerous stuff.

[TFin04]

You may not be 'allowed' to send it but it is one of the most requested items. Wrap the mag in another cover and stuff it into a box with other stuff. It may or may not get there. Not that I've ever sent them or anything.......

Good on hikersupply.com for taking care of the men and women who are fighting for our freedoms.

[Micky]

Thanks for thinking of our troops over there. It's a great job they do.
My son is supposed to be on his way home for an 18 day leave. He was to leave yesterday and said it may take up to a week to get home.
Thanks agian
Micky

[Bulldawg]

Tell your son Thanks from me and my family Micky!

Thanks to you as well Rock. I for one appreciate what you and many others have done in defending our freedoms here at home.

[TFin04]

Tell your son Thanks from me and my family Micky!

Thanks to you as well Rock. I for one appreciate what you and many others have done in defending our freedoms here at home.

Let him know that there are men and women all over who want to thank him for his service, regardless of what our liberal media says.

Shake his hand and cook him a good BBQ dinner for me.