A personal equipment standard is a written list of what each militia member keeps ready to carry on an alarm, with a reason for every item and a monthly check. The parent kit of footwear, clothing, water, food, first aid, whistle, knife, fire kit, cordage and light comes to roughly 4.4 to 5.2 kg before any defensive tool, which is well below an evacuation bag and leaves room for role-specific extras.
Part of Community Militia Training
Personal equipment standards define the kit each member holds ready, so that every volunteer arrives at the alarm with the same basics.
Not The Go-Bag
The parent separates this kit from the evacuation go-bag: it is what a member carries when responding to an alarm, whereas the go-bag is for leaving (Go-Bag Contents). The two should not be confused or merged; a militia member who grabs a go-bag has the wrong kit for a watch.
Worked Example: A Weight Budget
The masses below are typical estimates, not measurements, taken from the same approach and values as the go-bag article; weigh your own. Food is 24 hours at an assumed 2,500 kcal: 2,500 / 6 kcal per gram (nuts, a recalled figure) = 417 g, and 2,500 / 4.5 (mixed foods) = 556 g.
| Item | Mass |
|---|---|
| Water, 1 L, plus bottle | 1.0 + 0.2 = 1.2 kg |
| Food, 24 hours | 0.42 to 0.56 kg |
| First-aid pouch (bandage, tourniquet, antiseptic) | 0.3 to 0.5 kg |
| Whistle | 0.05 kg |
| Knife and sheath | 0.25 kg |
| Fire kit | 0.2 kg |
| 15 m of cordage | 0.15 kg |
| Light source | 0.3 kg |
| Spare clothing layers | 1.5 to 2.0 kg |
| Total | 4.4 to 5.2 kg |
Low: 1.2 + 0.42 + 0.3 + 0.05 + 0.25 + 0.2 + 0.15 + 0.3 + 1.5 = 4.37 kg. High: 1.2 + 0.56 + 0.5 + 0.05 + 0.25 + 0.2 + 0.15 + 0.3 + 2.0 = 5.21 kg. This excludes footwear worn, the clothes on the body and the defensive tool, whose mass depends on what it is. The corpus’s survival minimum of 2 L of water a day means 1 L covers half a day of an active member; for a long shift, water comes from a post store (Sustainment and Resupply).
What You Need
- A list, one line per item: what, why (the task it serves), mass.
- A scale to weigh the loaded kit.
- A storage place by the door or in the member’s quarters, in one bag or belt.
- A checker: the squad leader or a peer.
Method: Writing And Keeping The Standard
Step 1: Start from the parent list and test each item against a task: footwear and clothing (stay on your feet in the weather: see Footwear), water and food (a shift), first aid (the first minutes of a casualty), whistle (signal), knife (cut cordage), fire kit (warmth, signals), cordage (many uses), light (see in the dark, shielded).
Step 2: Add role extras. Sentry: a seat pad and a warm layer. Patroller: map and compass. Signaller: the code card. Medical: the larger kit.
Step 3: Weigh the loaded kit and record the mass.
Step 4: Inspect monthly. Check dates on food, charge of any lamp, condition of cordage, edge and sheath of the knife.
Step 5: Replace what fails from the shared store (Shared Equipment Management).
Common Mistakes
- An unweighed kit. It grows until it slows the member.
- Water only at the start. Members forget to refill.
- A fire kit with no fire discipline. Carrying one does not authorise a fire; see Fire and Smoke Management.
- A defensive tool added without a rule. See Use of Force Guidelines for what a member may do with one.
Safety
Edges, fire and impaired carriers
A knife is carried in a sheath and kept out of reach of children. A fire kit is used only on cleared ground. A member who has been drinking or is impaired carries no defensive tool and does not stand watch; the substance policy applies on duty (Community Substance Policies).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Shared Equipment Management — what the group holds in common
- Combine with: First Aid and Casualty Care — what the pouch is for