R-Day Luggage

D

DD2021TX

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2017
Messages
49
Once they report to Eisenhower Hall how time will pass before they transfer personal belongings to army duffle bag? Once the transfer occurs does the old luggage stay at the Academy with them for future use?

I'm trying to figure out what type of luggage to send with DD (

Thanks
 
Small duffle bag or backpack.
Everything in ziplock baggies--big big two gallon n ziplock baggies for the transfer to the Army bag--in a small room with his squad while being yelled at. He will get the bag back at the end of the summer. You can bring or send or he can buy a larger suitcase later.
 
I am not sure exactly how it works with the bag transfer, but I do know that basically there are many different stages of the R-Day process for the cadets, and it starts immediately as they exit the door in Eisenhower, but they don't all do everything in the same order. They group them up, and then some run off to get haircuts, some do fitness test right away, some fill our paperwork, and many other stages. What I'm not certain of is whether the bag transfer happens for everyone right away. It might.

As stated above. Ziploc items together for easy transfer. Makes huge difference. A basic open bag (backpack) is best. My son had zero problems with his. Don't over think things though. It all works out.
 
She is a NCAA athlete which requires travel. Do they use Army provided luggage for that or what I send on R day?
 
It's posted on the portal
Memorandum For Cadet Basic Training 2017, paragraph 1, last 2 sentences states, 'For this reason, each Cadet Candidate is authorized one piece of FAA approved carry-on luggage on R-day. All possessions must fit into that one piece of luggage(please reference Annex B)'
They don't want CC showing up with too many items!
 
We ordered the "Bug out " bag from Sandpiper of California. It's 99 bucks, meets all requirements, and its a top notch bag!! Read the reviews, and it seemed to be a great bag so we got it. It did not disappoint!
Beware of imitation bag offered on amazon for a few bucks less, sounds like they are lame.....
 
Am current Plebe, I want to shed light on this to help out future teammates.

Bag doesn't really matter, whatever works best for you. Key thing here is to not over-pack. Bring 2 weeks worth of socks, (white PT socks) and at least 10 pairs of ACU socks, however many black they recommend should be fine. Make sure they are comfortable socks. You need to put everything in zip loc bags otherwise you will certainly not be able to transfer everything to your flight bag in time.

Other essentials: lots of underwear, 2 weeks worth is ideal, multi-tool is very helpful, make sure your boots fit nice and snug and are broken in (not too tight, but if your feet/boots are soaked, your foot shouldn't move a lot in your boots, otherwise very blister-prone), quality razor that will last, a good pair of running shoes (Nike Freeruns and most other nikes are not best), a watch that won't break (shouldn't be fancy, don't buy gps watches or smartwatches), lighter is nice, 10ft or so of 550 cord is nice (this can be obtained during beast though, mostly needed for field operations at Buckner), address book, envelopes, stamps, they give some paper, but bring a little more and another writing utensil, roll of army green duct tape, bring a little soap that you can wash clothes with, you will want to do this when you can't do laundry service

Those are all the things that I can think of off the top of my head, now for some things you don't need:
Court shoes (these MUST be acquired immediately following beast during re-orgy week, however), don't need a lot of extra nametapes (they issues two of each, it is nice to have extra, however), don't bring a picture frame, just some pictures,

The thing about CBT is that it is a very short portion of your West Point experience and although challenging, it will prepare you for what comes, just focus on getting through beast and all the things that you may need during the academic year, you can get after A-day, for now, focus on getting through beast and worry about everything else later.

Best of luck
 
shock-n-awe said:
We ordered the "Bug out " bag from Sandpiper of California. It's 99 bucks, meets all requirements, and its a top notch bag!! Read the reviews, and it seemed to be a great bag so we got it. It did not disappoint!
Beware of imitation bag offered on amazon for a few bucks less, sounds like they are lame.....
Click to expand...
We just ordered this bag. It looks great. Thought about buying one for myself.
 
My son just carried his nike gym bag...it's sturdy. I'd add moleskin and blister bandaids to the list above...baby wipes, and monkey butt, and you're good to go.
 
texas05 said:
Am current Plebe, I want to shed light on this to help out future teammates.

Bag doesn't really matter, whatever works best for you. Key thing here is to not over-pack. Bring 2 weeks worth of socks, (white PT socks) and at least 10 pairs of ACU socks, however many black they recommend should be fine. Make sure they are comfortable socks. You need to put everything in zip loc bags otherwise you will certainly not be able to transfer everything to your flight bag in time.

Other essentials: lots of underwear, 2 weeks worth is ideal, multi-tool is very helpful, make sure your boots fit nice and snug and are broken in (not too tight, but if your feet/boots are soaked, your foot shouldn't move a lot in your boots, otherwise very blister-prone), quality razor that will last, a good pair of running shoes (Nike Freeruns and most other nikes are not best), a watch that won't break (shouldn't be fancy, don't buy gps watches or smartwatches), lighter is nice, 10ft or so of 550 cord is nice (this can be obtained during beast though, mostly needed for field operations at Buckner), address book, envelopes, stamps, they give some paper, but bring a little more and another writing utensil, roll of army green duct tape, bring a little soap that you can wash clothes with, you will want to do this when you can't do laundry service

Those are all the things that I can think of off the top of my head, now for some things you don't need:
Court shoes (these MUST be acquired immediately following beast during re-orgy week, however), don't need a lot of extra nametapes (they issues two of each, it is nice to have extra, however), don't bring a picture frame, just some pictures,

The thing about CBT is that it is a very short portion of your West Point experience and although challenging, it will prepare you for what comes, just focus on getting through beast and all the things that you may need during the academic year, you can get after A-day, for now, focus on getting through beast and worry about everything else later.

Best of luck
Click to expand...

Texas05 - thanks for the good first-hand information! I have a few questions for you regarding what my son should bring on R-Day. The packing list from USMA says that new cadets will be issued 12 pair of white crew socks, 16 pair of black dress socks and 9 pair of boot socks. Should he bring additional pairs on top of those that will be issued (he is planning on bringing sock liners)? The issued quantities seem like a lot, but its also not clear on how frequent laundry is done?

You also state to bring 'lots of underwear'. Are there any restrictions on what kind of underwear they can bring (type, color, etc.)? The packing list only mentions about sports-type for physical fitness, but does not specify anything around everyday underwear.

Thanks!
 
You cadet can use the black dress socks as sock liners. The cadets are partial to compression shorts for underwear. They dry quickly and can be hand washed easily. Mine has black ones but I don't recall if a color was specified. Extra compression shorts are a good idea to bring and also extra boot socks if possible.
 
I will offer a comment regarding purchases for R-Day. As parents we go into this knowing a few things, like that our kid (who is almost necessarily a great kid) is heading off, not just to college, but to a service academy, and that his/her time at "home" from that point forward to the rest of his/her life is limited to say the least; and, that you are not going to be paying for college for that kid; and, you are already missing him/her in a way which makes it feel like he/she is gone already. What happens is that you start making up for the sadness and , for lack of a better term, "guilt", buy thinking of anything and everything you can buy for the kid to take to R-day. Brand new, super nice backpack is one example. I would only suggest that you check yourself a bit. Obviously buy the stuff that you need to buy, which is on the list. I wouldn't spend a ton on a backpack. they need something to essentially hold their stuff until they hug you and walk away. Almost right away they dump the stuff in a big green sack, and the backpack is stuffed away someplace. They could actually get away with a plastic garbage bag (although I don't necessarily endorse that option). We went and shopped for a fan, after getting all the acceptable measurements, and my son didn't really use the fan. Maybe yours will, but just saying don't just buy anything and everything, and spend wisely. There are other things to spend money on later, like visits to WP, which will provide more value to your cadet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top