Gumby suits... Quick story
My outfit was scheduled for survival training at Eglin AFB, in the mid 60's.Since we were a rapid deployment unit, transport over oceans was common. Well sir.... we were given these survival suits .... or gumby suits as they're
called here, and the picture in one of the postings looks similar to what we had to climb into.
Ok, we get into one of these getups, get dropped off a CH 46, hit the water, pop back up again out of the water like a jack in the box, then inflate a one man raft... paddle over to a 21 man lift raft... built for six. As time goes on, one after another decides.. hey, I gotta relieve some boldly liquid. Now here's where things really get interesting. Some general assigned to the department fun and jolly activities, designed a portion of this suit to accommodate a guy needing to ... you know. So, I undo that portion of the suit, after sitting in cold water for about 8 hours, only to unravel about 6 feet of tubbing. Now I really appreciated to pre-thought of my manly presence, but it got me, and 21 other guys, trying to knee on the outer edge of this life raft, unravel this tubing, trying to fit a 1 inch... you know, into the tubing and finish what we each started. I, and about a dozen other guys,
lost our balance, trying to manage this joke, and ... splash.
We also found plugs.. just in case the raft got a puncture in it, which it did, about 4 times, from the gadgets attached to the suits. For those of you so fortunate to suit up in one of these things, then pile into a raft with other people, you're about to test you tolerance to the little personality traits, quirks, and behavior patterns of other people. Think I'm
kidding.... just wait till someone says.... " Excuse me, I gotta .... you know."