Silly String has not been tested by the US military for combat use. Therefore, they cannot make it standard issue. It is also flammable. The string itself is flammable and the contents of the can, under pressure as they are, are explosive.

I'm not saying troops shouldn't be allowed to be field expedient. Adapt, improvise and overcome, they say. I'm just giving two good reasons why Silly String isn't issued with a new pair of boots.

Your suggestions are very good, Law, and mirror Chris's in many ways. Chris was in Afghanistan and the troops got very little; for example, it took Chris 3 mo. after his deployment to get body armor and even longer before they got anything to use to armor their humvees.

But that's beside the point. My point with this thread is, just because we have an election coming up, we still have troops in the field and they still need to be reminded that we know they're there.

You mention things that can be slipped into a soldier's pocket when he goes on a mission and use completely when he has the time. Without revealing too much, can you tell me what the average time is for a mission. In other words, does everything sent need to be wrapped in individual packages?--or can we send Zip-Lock sandwich bags so the soldier can take what he needs, slip it into his pocket and go?

There are a lot of things such as the pull-top food items--oftentimes fruit (so they fit into your kids' lunch boxes) that are sold in bulk at places such as Costco. Should we buy the Costco-sized box and send that, or should we break the box down into the individual servings?

I guess I'm asking if things are sent to individual soldiers or if they're sent to a unit so that the individual soldier can draw from them, as needed. After all, not all soldier's need acne medication, do they?

Finally, dear Law, didn't you realize that my last sentence wasn't anything other than a snide comment against your using your bastardized quote of something I said when you suggested an attack against Iran after Iran harrased an American war ship in the Straights of Hormuz. You used that bastardized quote for months--as your signature.

I'll save what the military expects--and counts into its projected outcome of a given military excercize--for another thread.

And yet Law says

SillyString comes in an aerosol can with a propellant that the government determined could deplete the ozone layer. Why do you think there are no more aerosol spray deodorants or hair sprays?

The USPS has gone along with the government and will no longer air-ship anything in an aerosol can.

So is there anything else we could send to the troops that could provide the same protections against booby traps?

I don't think that the ozone depletion is the reason why they don't officially back the string Liz; the military uses much more environmentally unfriendly devices in their work.