Accoutrements are the personal/individual equipment of service people such as soldiers, sailors, police and

firemen A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

and employees of some private organizations such as security guards, other than their basic uniform and weapons.In American English, the spelling "accouterments" is often used. Se
The Free Dictionary - AccoutermentsMacMillan Dictionary - Accouterments
an
Wiktionary - accounterment
Retrieved January 18, 2016. Accoutrements can be intended for field,

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mili ...

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin '' caerimonia''. Church and civil (secular ...

purposes. Most accoutrements for field use are purely practical in nature. Ceremonial accoutrements may no longer have a practical purpose in modern operations but may be retained to maintain a tradition. Garrison accoutrements will vary in their usefulness and include both practical and ceremonial/traditional items. Some accoutrements such as

lanyard A lanyard is a cord, length of webbing, or strap that may serve any of various functions, which include a means of attachment, restraint, retrieval, and activation and deactivation. A lanyard is also a piece of rigging used to secure or lo ...

s, have both a traditional/ceremonial and a practical purpose. In these cases a different item may be worn in garrison or ceremonial occasions than that used in the field. For example, in the

Australian army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

different corps and units wear different coloured lanyards for service or ceremonial dress, but universally use drab natural fibre coloured lanyards for pistol retention in the field.

Sources of accoutrements

Accoutrements can be issued by the service or employer or obtained privately. Similarly, accoutrements can be commercially produced, government produced or commercially produced under government contract.

Informal names for accoutrements

The forces of various nations have or have had different names for the basic accoutrements issued to most or all soldiers, such as: * TA-50 (

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

) *DP-1 (

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

) In some cases these common or informal names derive from the form number/name that the equipment issue to the individual is recorded on.

Unofficial use

Accoutrements are widely collected by militaria collectors and

historical re-enactors Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...

. Some accoutrements used by re-enactors are reproductions, as the originals may no longer be available or too expensive or valuable to use.

Value

The accoutrements of the modern soldier may include equipment such as sophisticated electronics e.g. radios and night vision equipment and may be worth tens or in exceptional cases, e.g. some special forces soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, accoutrements are expendable or "written off" at the time of issue. Other items must be returned or otherwise accounted (e.g. covered by a loss or damage form) for when the individual leaves an organization. Accoutrements on the private market for collectors can be valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on their rarity and/or provenance. For example, a relatively mundane item that can be proven to have belonged to a historically important figure may cost hundreds or thousands of times the cost of a similar item owned by a non historically significant user.

Examples

Examples of accoutrements include: *

webbing red, blue and black auto_racing.html"_;"title="nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing">nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing_harnesses Webbing_is_a_strong_nylon_webbing_as_used_in_auto_racing_harnesses">auto_racing.html"_;"title="nylon_webbing_as ...

(load bearing equipment) * body armour * helmets * backpacks * whistles * gas masks * equipment for living in the field such as bedding, portable shelters * rain or foul weather gear * hand cuffs * first aid kit * spurs * entrenching tools * navigational equipment, such as compasses and protractors *

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

s - e.g. MP (military police) brassards

References

{{Reflist Military equipment