Submitted by Eric Daniel
Back in the day, everyone had one. It didn't matter if you were going to the field for 45 days of gunnery at Grafenwhoer or maneuver training in Hoenfels, or day tripping out to the LTA, it was the one thing you always took with you. It was versatile, reliable, indestructible, and would do everything you asked of it, though I must admit I never once saw it used for the purpose for which it was intended.
I am, of course, referring to the helmet bag. Intended, I suppose, given the bag's padded liner, to protect an aviator's helmet from scratches and damage, the nylon bag was an almost universal accessory in the Armor community (where we called it the CVC bag after the Combat Vehicle Crewman helmet we wore.) Large enough to hold an MRE or two, your half-gallon coffee thermos, binos, a notebook, pogy bait, and your nomex hood and gloves, the CVC bag was a universal carryall. Moreover, it was also your traveling companion and record keeper as many folks would have the patches of the various units they'd served with sewn on to the bag (I've seen many a seasoned campaigner in the airport with ten or more unit patches on their bag.)
Constructed of padded nylon fabric and featuring two internal and two external pockets, the bag had a single zipper across the top as well as an external clip, which is where you probably actually put your helmet, since I don't think I ever say anyone actually put a helmet into one of these. Never an issue item in the units I served with (again, this may just be an aviator thing) the bags were cheap enough to buy such that if yours got lost or destroyed you didn't sweat buying a new one.
