Today we had some hands on training. We learned how to make rafts out of our
Poncho's and Ruck sacks. We also learned a little basic Drill and Ceremonies.
We met out at Lake Claire on the North side of U.C.F. Due to the recent rain,
there was a health warning that advised against swimming in Central Florida lakes.
As a result, we did not actually get to go into the lake. It's too bad to, because
I was looking forward to going swimming. I wanted to get wet, and I got my wish.
It rained pretty hard for about 20 minutes. Just enough to cool things off a bit.
Making a Poncho raft is fairly simple. All you need are:
To begin, take the hoods of the poncho's and roll them up into a tight ball,
then tie them off with the attached cord. Spread open one of the poncho's and
lay it on the ground with the hood part facing up. Now take one of the ruck
sack liners and place it into the ruck sack. Hold the end of the liner and blow
into it, filling it with air. Roll up the end of the liner and tie it off. Close
up the ruck sack and place the butt end of the ruck sack in the middle of the
poncho. Repeat this process for the second ruck sack.
Now you are ready to close up the poncho. As an option, you may place your M-16's
on top of the ruck sacks before you close up the poncho (but this is not recommended
if you are in a hostile situation). To close the poncho, simply snap all the
snaps together, then begin to tightly roll the newly snapped edges of the poncho
starting in the center and working your way out to the ends. Roll up and tie off
one end of the poncho with one of the 550 cords. Now pull the end of the cord to
the other side of the poncho and tie the end off.
Now take the other poncho and place it on the ground the same as you did with the
first one. Take the rolled up ruck sacks and place it on top of the poncho on the
ground, make sure that you turn the ruck sacks up side down. In other words, line
up the seem of the tide up poncho with the hood of the poncho on the ground.
Now all you have to do is close up the poncho the same way you did earlier. Snap it
up and tie it off as before. Congratulations, you have just made a poncho raft.
Take it to a pond or lake or pool and throw it in to make sure that it floats.
Don't worry, it will float. Well, see you next week.
