Winter basic

[betrand]

Did anyone do theirs in the winter months? Does it vary much with the weather?

Any amusing anecdotes?

[Cpl K]

I do mine in bed it's much warmer

Cpl K....

[joette]

hehehehhe hahahahha hehehhehahaha..

[Venus]

Lmao

[Biggles]

hahahaha.. nice


I think i would prefer winter. You get ski training instead of rock climbing.
Also being the pasty white scot that I am, I would probably get kicked out for getting 3rd degree burns after 5 minutes in the shade at the height of summer.

[Sugardaddy]

hahahaha.. nice


I think i would prefer winter. You get ski training instead of rock climbing.
Also being the pasty white scot that I am, I would probably get kicked out for getting 3rd degree burns after 5 minutes in the shade at the height of summer.

Ha Ha burns in a shade oh come on cant be that bad, I would rather have rock climbing seems like great skill imho.

[betrand]

Skiing appears to me more dangerous than sword swallowing right now for some reason. Not entirely in good taste I know, but crickey, the mortality rate among middle class wankers is mind boggling. I wonder what they are sprinkling on the piste ..

Looks like I'm going to Mr. Shrivelled Nob End this year. Aiming for July but Sept seems more likely. Want to clear the credit cards entirely before I bugger off.
Couple of extra months of French won't hurt either.

Whats winter like Aubagne? It looks pretty low on the Equator, I mean its practically the south of France. (Lie to me, please).

Being almost offensively white myself, I know the feeling Biggles. I can usually go from packet fresh to char grilled in about fifteen minutes. Doesn't help I cant STAND the smell of sun cream.

[Ghost]

I did basic training in Quebec in the winter and it was the most miserable time of my life. It rained the first couple of nights so we were sleeping in a couple inches of water with a leaky. Then the temperature went down to about -25 C and we got dumped on with a ton of snow for the next few days. Our gear was frozen solid and everybody kept falling on the icy roads so it turned into a gong show when it was time to move. Thanks to the wisdom of my instructors who kept ordering me to remove my warm layers of clothing I finished the exercise with a really bad lung infection and taste of hypothermia. After that experience I would be happy living in a volcano for the rest of my life. When its wet and cold its not very much fun and ice cold rations for breakfast don't help the situation .

Go for summer training if its possible.

[corvee de chotte]

MMMMMMMM, i was pondering but i think it would be easier to pass the"induction" in winter as there are less bodies attempting to join as opposed to the summer months....................of course i might be completly wrong....................it snowed in Calvi Corsica once..............only time i seen snow..............if you are in 2eme cie 2 rep then snow,snow,snow.....and lots of fun skiing,.........rock climbing...in fact great sounds like real fun............one of the reasons i joined ..........damn those sand monkeys.

[FreeThinker]

Did basic training during the winter months in Sweden which was tough since you are eaither freezing or sweating profusely because of all the clothes you wear. On the other hand its easy to dress for the cold but you cant undress for heat. Worst part was digging foxholes etc in the frozen earth.

Winter aint bad though but i suppose im used to the cold.

[Biggles]

I have no idea what it would be like in France, or basic. I don't think it would be that harsh though.

Just did a quick google search.
This site : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
said:
The weather in Atlantic Pyrenees is characterized by a gentle winter and a rainy spring . Sunny days are spread more or less evenly throughout the year making winter seem a little less harsh.

Average temperature 8, minimum 5, maximum 12. For winter.

Sounds like a scottish summer... but with more sun.

France is next to the gulf stream which is some sort of current running across the atlantic bringing warm water from the caribbean to western europe. This warms the whole of western europe, which is why the uk doesn't have the same sort of winter as russia despite being further north than moscow i think. Also it is pretty far south. Not that far from the mediterranean. So nothing whatsoever like even a winter in London, and certainly not like Sweden.

I've never been a fan of sweltering hot temperatures and I think I would find it easier. Tabbing (Marching) in cold weather is easier, you won't sweat as much, and much less discomfort (I would guess). Much less chance of Sunburn (although knowing me, I would probably still get a little). I read somewhere that is you do get severe sunburn during selection, you'll get send away. It is a little colder. But nothing unusual unless you are from a hot country. Even if you are, adapt.

Plus as Corvee saids. Less bodies = better chance

[betrand]

Average temperature 8, minimum 5, maximum 12. For winter.

Sounds like a scottish summer... but with more sun.

Hell yeah! That's ideal weather as you say, perfect for us Brits since its pretty much like that year round here, barring the ocassional year when we get 3 months of 90 degrees days and even those have become a distant memory ..

Doesn't get any better than that for tabbing eh? Perfect.

PS Top post btw.

[Ghost]

When the temperature is around 0 C its wet and damp and not much fun. Once the temperature drops further its more comfortable because the water freezes and you don't get soaked right away. As for mobility try running in snow pants with a winter coat and doing everyday tasks with a pair of winter gloves on and you'll find its much easier without them. I hope the pockets are a little better designed than the ones here in Canada because I was ready to throw the the radio into the sun when I got stuck with it because it didn't fit in my pocket on my coat and neither did the ration packs.

[Biggles]

I am not saying it is easy in Canada, more that a French winter is barely as harsh as a Canadian Autumn.
I mentioned the Gulf Stream , the Atlantic current which keeps western Europe warm. It has two effects which lessen the further away from it you get. The first is it keeps the summers cooler than they would otherwise be. The second is it keeps the winters warmer than they would otherwise be.

This is why this winter in Scotland, I saw maybe 2 inches of snow across the whole winter with snowfalls for me being a few millimetres. In other parts of the UK, they had more but nothing excessive, and nothing even close to anything in Ottawa. The UK is actually further north than Canada, and would get similar winters if not for the Gulf Stream. Likewise, we would get much warmer summers too.

I can say that the situation you describe in your exercise, will occur perhaps once every 25 years if that. The website said it will rarely dip below 4C. Snow is very rare, as Corvee said. The only problem might be getting wet, and having to stay in the wet clothes for some time. Ocassionally you'll get nightmare conditions but most days will be nothing awful. Compared to Scotland, a quick search on this site ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) an average winter is warmer and dryer. Compared to Canada, a lot warmer and a lot dryer. In otherwords, a French winter is not the same as a Canadian winter. You'll find it a doddle in comparison.

[Kaiser]

Its not basic in general thats bad in winter its the farm, be ready to get up at 5 go for a small run in short shorts and a t shirt - its freezing, im english and id consider myself used to cold weather. Its not because its really cold its because your either wearing very little or standing out in the cold for hours on end learning deposition de combat with you famas. Either way go in spring its perfect then.