PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-599
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 599
OCTOBER 2002
PS 599
OCT 02
53
OCT 02
52
Heaters
Make sure you’re familiar with the
operation and maintenance of your
tent heater before you go into the field.
Used incorrectly, heaters can cause
fires and leak dangerous fumes.
Snow
Snow on the roof can bring a tent
down on top of you. When fiberglass
poles are cold, they can bend and
break under the weight of snow. So,
shake the snow off the canvas before it
gets too heavy. Better yet, clean the
snow off with a snow rake, NSN 5120-
01-464-6340. It has an aluminum tele-
scopic pole that extends your reach to
18 feet. The headshed is working to
add the rake to all tent TMs.
Field Manuals
Finally, read FM 31-70,
Basic Cold
Weather Manual
, for tips on tent
placement and cold-weather informa-
tion. See FM 10-16,
General Fabric
Repair
, for the facts on tent repair.
Canvas
On frame-type tents, sometimes it’s
hard to stretch cold canvas completely
over the frame. Never force it. Lay it
over the frame and secure it. When heat
from inside the tent warms the canvas,
finish tying it down.
Careful when you go in or out of your
tent wearing extreme cold-weather
clothing and boots. The bulky winter
gear catches on the door and zipper and
can tear the canvas.
Ropes and Fasteners
Draw tent ropes tight to stand up to
high winds. But when the weather’s
wet, they need some slack to allow
for shrinkage.
Tent Pins
Use 12-in steel
pins, NSN 8340-00-
823-7451, instead of
the usual aluminum
pins. If the ground’s
frozen hard and you
can’t pound the steel
pins in,
here’s a
solution: Chop small
holes in the ground
for them. Then fill
the holes with slush
or water. It’ll freeze
and anchor the pins.
Remove pins from frozen ground by chopping the
ground around them until they loosen up. Never pound
them sideways to loosen them. You’ll just bend them
and make them unusable.
Protect
it
and it’ll
protect
you.
During winter,
use steel pins
Don’t get stuck with a slide fastener
that won’t slide. Slide fastener lubricant,
NSN 9150-00-999-7548, unsticks them.
Loosen lines
when it rains
Use extra caution
when wearing
bulky winter gear
Lubricant
helps
fastener
slide
easily
Sometimes the
only
thing that
stands between you
and a hard winter’s
night is your tent.
599. 52-53 (C)
8/28/02
3:10 PM
Page 1
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