Opinion Canadian military admits new sleeping bags are not suited to Canadian winters

[LeonardoBjj]

Chris Michael

Soldiers who used bags, which cost army C$34.8m, reportedly found ‘several critical issues … related to lack of warmth’

The Canadian military has admitted that new sleeping bags issued to troops last year were not suited to “typical Canadian winter conditions”.

According to a briefing note obtained by the CBC, the army issued the new sleeping bags in the autumn of last year in Alberta, where several hundred troops were preparing for a joint Canada-US exercise in Alaska.


Soldiers who used the bags reportedly found “several critical issues … related to lack of warmth”, according to the 5 December 2023 note. In temperatures ranging from 5C (41F) to -20C (-4F), troops reported being cold in the sleeping bags overnight, even when they heated their tents with stoves.

The official who authored the note concluded that the bags were “better suited for use in weather conditions that are characteristic of late spring to early fall”. It recommended loaning the troops some of the army’s original Arctic sleeping bags, which were first acquired in 1965.

The defence department spent more than C$34.8m (US$25.6m) on the new sleeping bags to replace those original Arctic bags.

In a statement to the CBC, it declined to answer what cold-weather testing had been done before the purchase, saying only that the bags had been “chosen following a rigorous competitive process” and that the “technical requirements used to make the selection included insulation value, weight of the bags and the packing volume”.

It added that it still considers the new bags suitable for most uses – but now additionally aims to buy new sleeping bags that are adapted for winter in the far north and the Arctic.

“I wonder if they should have just gone to Canadian Tire,” Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary, an expert in Arctic military affairs, told CBC, referencing a popular retail company.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/13/canada-military-sleeping-bags

 

[idrankyourbeer]

somehow canada still remains undefeated at war.

 

[SandisLL]

Canadians in real life are very competent about stuff what is - 30 C° not alone - 20 C° ( then peace of cake ) and they really might be very tough and durable specimens.

Maybe clerks had some mistakes in papers ?

 

[Madmick]

somehow canada still remains undefeated at war.

Canada was part of the losing side in Afghanistan.

You don't get to pawn that off on us. You took part.

 

[Natural Order]

Government stupidity and waste up here is endless. Our tax rates are commensurate with our ineptitude. Just look up stories on the Phoenix Pay System. Muskrat Falls.

 

[Koro_11]

Canada was part of the losing side in Afghanistan.

You don't get to pawn that off on us. You took part.

Technically not a loss, doctah stoppage no contest.

 

[ThaiSexPills]

Everything our country does is such a joke….

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Everything our country does is such a joke….

- Dont feel like that. You guys got some of the greatestin ring performers of all time: Edge, Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Christian.

Avrill Lavrigne is cool, Amy Jo Johnson(The first love of every boy from the superior decade), Jim Carrey. The greatest mma fighter of all time, GSP.

 

[The Big Yin]

A quick Google search shows the Canadian military has 44k active members. That means they've spend around $800 per person on shitty sleeping bags. That's some pro level incompetence there.

 

[Limeade]

A quick Google search shows the Canadian military has 44k active members. That means they've spend around $800 per person on shitty sleeping bags. That's some pro level incompetence there.

Not even close.

The US navy spent over $100 billion on the littoral combat ships. All of those ships were either canceled or will be decommissioned.

And the F35 overall costs by 2 trillion.

$800 per solider but a fixable mistake is not bad.

 

[Cole train]

Wonder how in the hell is this possible since even my retarded country figured this out 40 years ago

Btw our bags hold up to minus 15 celsius (very good bag i used it in wilderness stuff) and also if you are cold with stove on then i dont know what to tell you, our tents were like saunas. I sweat my ass off in just underwear in winter

 

[USA!USA!]

Somebody screwed up or made a deal for themselves. Should be investigated.

I've never seen a Canadian be too cold and never want to - it's like catching your parents put "Santa's" gifts under your Christmas tree. It's not supposed to happen!

 

[Belaya Smert]

A quick Google search shows the Canadian military has 44k active members. That means they've spend around $800 per person on shitty sleeping bags. That's some pro level incompetence there.

You know in an unrelated matter that Justin Trudeau is a real piece of shit.

 

[Protectandserve]

My old mummy bag was awesome. As was my sleep system that was multi piece but someone stole that one

 

[emefer]

But they are future proof for the climate change.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Oopsie

 

[Limeade]

You would expect the government would have an inspection clause or some way to refuse delivery if the order did not pass requirements.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- That's why i love Brazil. Here we invest in things that matter:

Not only Viagra: Brazil military also bought penis implants, says lawmaker​

Brasília (AFP) – After revelations that the Brazilian military had bought Viagra pills for its troops, a lawmaker claimed Tuesday it had also acquired 60 penile implants -- for reasons that were not divulged.

Congressman Eliaz Vaz, who also exposed the Viagra spending, said the defense ministry had "approved the purchase of 60 penile prostheses."

The ministry did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

"The question we ask is: why is the (President Jair) Bolsonaro government spending public money to pay for these prostheses?" Vaz said in a note sent to AFP.

"The Brazilian people struggle to get medicines... and yet a group (of people) is treated with expensive prostheses."

Vaz said the ministry had bought 60 "inflatable silicone penile" implants at a cost of between 50,000 and 60,000 reais (about $10,600 to $12,800) each, for three different military hospitals.

The total cost was more than $700,000.

He said he had obtained the information via government's so-called "transparency portal," which allows access to details on public spending.

The congressman said he would report the matter to federal prosecutors for investigation.

On Monday, the military came in for stiff scrutiny after Vaz revealed a purchase of 35,000 units of "the little blue pill" -- another name for Viagra, eliciting a flurry of jokes on social media.

The order was for sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra.

The defense ministry replied the pills were "to treat patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension," or a type of high blood pressure.

Th explanation did little to stem social media users' mirth.

"This explains why the military's support for Bolsonaro just rises and rises," quipped one, playing on the far-right president's tight relationship with the armed forces.

"Some say these pills are to help the armed forces f*** democracy even harder," wrote satirical news site Sensacionalista.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-ne...tary-also-bought-penis-implants-says-lawmaker

Bolsonaro faces stiff questioning over Brazilian army’s Viagra purchase​

Navy and air force – which reportedly bought over 30,000 pills – claim drug is being used to treat pulmonary hypertension

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Opponents of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, are demanding answers after the revelation that the country’s armed forces had splashed out on tens of thousands of impotence pills.

“We must understand why the Bolsonaro administration is spending public money on buying such large quantities of Viagra,” the lawmaker Elias Vaz declared after Brazilian media reported the seemingly unorthodox acquisitions on Monday.

The navy and air force – which between them had reportedly bought more than 30,000 pills – offered an innocent explanation: the drug was supposedly being used to treat pulmonary hypertension.

However, many were unconvinced. A report in the O Globo newspaper suggested the dosages that had been bought were generally used to treat penises, not blood pressure.

“How do you feel knowing that we’re even paying for Viagra for the armed forces?” the Brazilian singer Zélia Duncan asked her hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers. “I feel impotent,” one replied.

Rio congressman Marcelo Freixo said he would ask the public prosecutor to investigate the erectile “outrage”. “The Bolsonaro administration dallied over buying Covid vaccines but approved the overpriced purchase of 35,000 Viagra pills for the armed forces,” Freixo complained on Twitter.

The president of the Worker’s party (PT), Gleisi Hoffman, slammed the “criminal spending spree” and accused Bolsonaro of destroying the military’s credibility.

Ciro Gomes, a centre-left politician who hopes to challenge Bolsonaro in October’s presidential election, said that while the armed forces deserved respect, their acquisition departments seemed bent on demoralizing the military.

“Unless they’re able to prove they’re developing some kind of secret weapon – capable of revolutionizing the international arms industry – it’ll be tough to justify the purchase of 35,000 units of a erectile dysfunction drug,” Gomes opined.

He added: “It’s no coincidence that these absurdities are taking place during the government of a president … who acts systematically to dishonor the troop.”

Bolsonaro, 67, is a former army captain and paratrooper who has packed his cabinet with military men and repeatedly hinted that he would be prepared to lead a military “intervention” against Brazil’s democratic institutions. Last year Bolsonaro ordered what critics called a “banana republic-style” military parade outside his presidential palace in an apparent attempt to project strength and intimidate foes.

Political observers called the military’s “Viagra binge” an embarrassment to a populist president who frequently boasts about his supposed virility, referring to himself as “imbrochável”. The word roughly translates into English as “unfloppable” or “flaccid-proof”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/12/brazil-armed-forces-viagra-jair-bolsonaro


@Cole train - Now trhat would make your ass sweat!

 

[usernamee]

they shouldn't be sleeping on the job anyways

UP AND AT THEM BOYS

 

[idrankyourbeer]

Canada was part of the losing side in Afghanistan.

You don't get to pawn that off on us. You took part.

canada withdrew their forces from afghanistan in 2015 after they completed all of their stated objectives.

the war in afghanistan was nothing but a complete success for them. they accomplished what they went in there to do, they helped kill bin laden, and then they left with their heads up high. how many captured canadian tanks did the taliban walk away with?

canada is undefeated at war. don't hate. appreciate. if it wasn't for the undefeated canadian army carrying america on their back during the invasion of afghanistan, ya'll would probably be wearing burkas and speaking pashto right now. for all we know, america lost another war because the undefeated canadian army had tactically withdrew. it all went to shit on you guys after canada decided we had better things to do than to bury our heads in the sandcastle and carry you in another war.

and didn't we burn down your whitehouse or something? according to one famous historian we did.



no offense, but ya'll need to step up your war game and git gud scrub. we (maybe) burned down your whitehouse and capitol building once already, and after the hockey game we'll hop on our moose and our snowmobiles, turn up our nickelback and our avril lavigne, and ride over there and do it again if we have to. fook around and find out eh?