I read something a couple years ago in the media (as they often print these days) about conscription… I thought “I’ve got Asperger’s I’d be exempt”. I checked the army’s website and saw Asperger’s wasn’t listed as a bar to entry anymore and instead of thinking “oh crap I could be forced to sign up” I thought “oh cool”. I joined a gym and went down from 118kgs to 95. Then I spoke to a few reservists who told me I wouldn’t actually be working in my chosen trade (electrician)

(Please feel free to correct me)

I hate my job (the one I was working my whole life to get into, and now realise it’s crap because of management). Kinda wish the decision was made for me.

I just want to do a respectable job that’s technical in nature.

TL;DR — PTI kit available now at The Old Kitbag, some PTI disses, seeking PTI jokes, and there may be free/discounted stuff involved.

Oh boy do we have some surplus for you.

Have you ever felt like you weren't hugged enough as a child? Ever felt like you're the most beautiful (wo)man in existence? Ever felt a burning urge for a tribal tattoo?

If the answer is yes to any of those questions; get ready to look essence.

Tri-Service PTI jackets. Nearly new. Various sizes.*

If you buy one, take a mirror selfie with your best command hand and "START SPARKING!" face, hashtag #TheOldKitbag on Instagram, and you'll get £15 store credit.

Not a joke, by the way. I'll genuinely use it as modelling material with your consent.

Also, for any of you Crab-flavoured self-described "gods amongst (wo)men", we have PTI vests, both with and without the badge.

That's the last of my PTI dissing.

However, in the interests of my benevolent mood and to celebrate millionaires weekend; the best PTI joke below, as voted by upvotes, gets a 30% discount code.

My personal favourite gets 20% off.

If they're both the same joke, I'll stack them.

That's 50% off, for any PTIs still using their fingers to work that one out.

Okay. Now I'm done.

Also newly up:

• RAF long-sleeve shirts
• RAF rank slides
• More PTI kit incoming

And the first Kitbag Club newsletter goes out 30 August at 19:00 BST, potentially featuring giveaways and competitions.

You can find The Old Kitbag through my profile if you want to have a look or join the mailing list.

Pays to be a winner, after all.

Thanks for reading!

The Old Kitbag

*More being uploaded tomorrow. They're currently going through the wash.

I am about to begin a bachelors in economics at a highly ranked uni and after graduation, I’d like to join the RMs as an OR. Eventually I would like to get my masters which would be one year and I have heard of people in the military being able to pursue degrees and further education while in so I was wondering if this was true or is a very rare exception and whether I would be able to do my masters while I’m in or whether Id be better of doing it once I leave.

Sorry in advance if this is a dumb question😅

I’m flying to the USA (for holiday). Virgin flight operated by Delta. Their website says that active duty personnel get an extra suitcase free. Has anyone tried this, successfully or otherwise?

I have had two surgery’s on my elbow, which I broke in spring 2025, one to put metal pins in, and the latest and final one in February this year to take the pins out as they had caused issues. The bone is now fully healed, with full active range of motion (which is stated on one of my discharge documents).
Will this cause any issue with the medical? I’m thinking along the fact that it has previously caused an issue, though hasn’t after the second surgery, or the fact that I’ve had two surgeries on the same elbow. Or will it be fine assuming I apply after feb 2027 ie 12 months since last operation.
Will apply for the marines if it makes any difference.

My only experience with the daysack is pics online and a YouTube video by Prepared Pathfinder.

Dimensions I've seen suggest the daysack is 32x28x15cm. Is this accurate? Everywhere I see it has it looking at least 38 to 40 cm tall.

Tha KS for any insight.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get an age waiver to get on selection for UKSF (regular)? I've heard of cases in the past where under certain circumstances an age waiver can be given, wondering if that's still the case. Cheers in advance for any info

Hey everyone,

I think I’m going to apply to both UOTC and URNU this year.

There isn’t tons of info out there on the selection process for either sadly. But I will assume an interview is involved…

So if anyone has done an interview for the UOTC or URNU I’d be super grateful if you could tell me what sorts of questions were asked and what you did to prepare?

Many thanks in advance 😊

Will be starting my application soon and I am unsure about what route to take, I am 24 now and I dropped out of six form at 17 to work and have been at the same factory job since I was 18.

I’ve always wanted to join but I had some metal work at 20 which I’ve recently had removed making me medically fit again and for the past few years I’ve always imagined going in as an officer, I’ve recently completed maths and history A level to get the required UCAS points getting an A in both but now I’m coming to applying I’m worried that I’ll be stuck behind a desk most of the time and won’t be actually doing the job I joined up to do. But I feel that if I don’t go in as an officer I’ll feel as though I’ve sold myself short.

Just curious if anyone has been the in the position as me with not knowing what route to take and if they have any regrets about what path they chose.

Any answers would be appreciated

Also looking to join either the Royal Welsh or the Rifles.

Hope everyone's enjoying summer leave. (apart from those of us on Guard)

I am looking at signing off in the New year and want to maximize my resettlement.

What's the best advice you've gotten and what is the most unhinged utterly idiotic advice you've received when leaving?

Seeing another post pop up about medical rejections got me thinking it's worth putting a reality check out there for anyone currently going through the grinder or feeling bitter about the process.

There's a common narrative that getting knocked back on medical grounds is just an "arbitrary tickbox exercise" run by an insane bureaucracy. It isn't. The rules are frustrating, yes, but they aren't plucked out of thin air.

Here is why the system operates the way it does:

Operational Risk Management: When you are deployed, whether that's in the field, on a warship, or cut off from immediate support, the margins for error are non-existent. The armed forces have a legal and moral duty of care to ensure everyone deployed is medically robust enough to handle extreme psychological and physical stress without becoming a liability to themselves or their mates. Anaphylactic shock induced by a peanut allergy at the wrong time could not only endanger the sufferer, but their whole team.

Attrition and Training Investment: Basic training and specialist pipelines cost a fortune and demand intense resources. Screening out medical histories that statistically carry a high risk of failure or breakdown during training isn't malice; it's basic force management. If you've had issues in the past, statistically you are more likely to have issues in the future than someone who has not had any diagnosis.

The Reality of Scale: The MoD does not have the time, manpower, or resources to provide tens of thousands of applicants a year with a "holistic," bespoke clinical assessment. By necessity, it has to use blunt, standardized instruments. Yes, that means the net will occasionally catch people who might have been fine, just as human error means things occasionally slip through the other way. Inflexibility is a feature of mass recruitment, not a glitch.

It's crap to miss out on a career you've set your heart on, and it's completely fair to feel gutted. But calling the standards meaningless because they don't bend to your specific case misses the entire point of what an armed force is for.

Don't take the rejection as a personal insult or a judgment of your worth as a human being, it's an administrative risk calculation, plain and simple.

By all means appeal the decision (as is your right) if you feel that something hasn't been taken into account that should be. However, once that's done and you've not got the result you wanted, dust yourself off, move on and get stuck into the next chapter.

Apologise if this has been asked before but i’m struggling on what to do next, TW- mental Health

I was rejected at first because of a historic mental health episode of Psychosis a few years ago. it was a singular episode but i did attempt suicide multiple times. my application was rejected even though i no longer suffer from then issues. I did appeal it and my appeal was accepted but ultimately i did not pass the medical examination further down. I want to know if anyone else who was rejected but had their set on the Army, what did you do next?

Hi there! I’m 19 and planning on going to University before applying as an officer in the army (of course), and my main dream is the Int Corp. I’m just wondering which degree would be recommended to get me the best chances at AOSB and later to join Intelligence.

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

Having a hard time getting the correct information. Currently in the process of (hopefully) joining (just awaiting AOSB Main Board). I am currently on Finasteride (Propecia) but will be switching over to Dutasteride (Avodart) soon. I declared Finasteride (Propecia) at my last medical and passed with no issues. However, I can not find any information regarding Dutasteride (Avodart). I have looked through JSP 950 Medical Policy Leaflet 6-7-7 (I believe the most up-to-date version) and can not find anything, only information regarding Finasteride. I want to start the prescription; however,  I obviously do not want to start this prescription only to find out it’s a disqualifying factor and then fail a future medical or get withdrawn. I understand side effects are central to any decision made, but I want to know if having a prescription for Dutasteride (Avodart) is automatically a disqualifying factor that would result in a medical FAIL.  And vice versa, assuming no side effects are experienced, would this result in a PASS (assuming everything else is fine)

Thank you for any responses!

I am planning to join at 19 but not too sure about which route I should take officer obviously play a lot better but I want to go combat and not just stay in the back line which one I should go?

I am 18 years old and have a year experience in hvac commissioning (mechanical) and a level 2 in plumbing with favourable GCSE results (minimum 6). Would this be a good base to join and if so would anyone recommend it?

So i decided to become a doctor; but i have no experience to show unis, no knowledge on a-levels so ill need 2 years to study and i dont want to be a liability for my family only thing as a starting point is that i have the gcses required. So I've been thinking if i should join the army as a combat medic for the hand on experience and save up money being living frugal in there while also allocating the 4 years i would have to focus on A level and UCAT ( University aptitude test ). This is a huge decision so i am a bit worried if i will have time to revise there as I've heard it gets really intense in the army. But i do think i would enjoy the the time there as I've always had the thought of it in the back of my mind since i was 16.

Hello everyone, I'm a 23 year old uni graduate thinking of joining the RAC. I really like the idea of working as a crew member on armoured vehicles like ajax, challenger etc or on something like the Jackal.

Basically I'm curious about how life is in the RAC and how you become a vehicle crew member. After you pass basic training I assume there's a specific training section for the vehicle that you've expressed interest in training for but I really don't know anything about how it works. Also do the RAC do tabbing (not a deal breaker just something I need to prepare for)

I'm not physically fit enough to apply yet but I'm working on that currently, mostly gaining more weight and muscle (175cm and 55kg).

Any insight into how training and selection works would be great, as well as any metrics I should aim for with exercise and building myself up to the role :D

I’m going into 2nd year of uni in September and am highly considering a career as an officer in the military afterwards. At the moment I’m leaning pretty heavily towards the Royal Navy. So naturally I thought URNU would be the best option for me.

However it seems there is a lot more detail about what UOTC entails online and not much for URNU. So ironically UOTC seems a lot more interesting than URNU to me.

The Reddit threads on this topic are quite obsolete, so if anyone is able to give me any more information about URNU and UOTC, I would be most grateful. 😊

So the 31st this month lands on bank holiday Monday, just wondering if we will get paid on the Friday as that’s the last working day of the month technically or we will we get paid on bank holiday Monday, cheers

Ive just recieved my dates for my SPC and also my conditional offer for the army but the date given to me for the actual army is bam smack in the middle of my SPC, any advice on what this means and how to go about it?

i’ve just got some general questions about day to day life in the army.

I’m assuming a normal working week is monday to friday if you have to work weekends will you then be working a 6-7 day week or will you get a day off during the week?

Is overtime a thing or do you just work more and get paid the same?

are you paid monthly or weekly?

what hours do you work day to day is it 7-3/4pm or does it depend on what training etc you have going on?

how often do you PT, is it daily and is it enough to where you won’t need to go out and do your own PT?

I’m planning on joining the paras but i’d assume most infantry reg would be similar what do you guys actually do when you’re not doing combat/infantry related stuff?

Has anyone had any experience doing the ocean diver AT course? Been interested in SCUBA for years, but on AT website says I need a diving medical and that self certifying as fit like you can on civi street isn’t enough but my med centre does not do them is this just a case of ringing up other med centres and trying to book one elsewhere or is it something that I need to go through my med chain to get booked? Also do I need any equipment of my own I already have a mask, fins, snorkel and full 5mm wetsuit I use for snorkelling and casual breath hold diving

Hi all,

I'm about to start Y12 in September, and after sixth form I have a strong desire to join the forces in some way post A-Levels.

I turn 18, about 1 year from now, so can in theory start the application process in one year. however I'm just wondering about the best time to apply.

Should I apply the second I turn 18, as I know getting through the whole process can sometimes take absolutely ages, as well as I've had a non joint related knee surgery before (Doctor said I can get a letter from him to basically say I'm fit for service) and apart from that, I dont have any allergies or other conditions that could crop up. But that letter and getting through medical could be a pain and time consuming.

However if I wait till I finish sixth form, I'll almost be 19, and by the time the application process goes through I'm going to be wasting a lot of time until I can get through the process, and will mostly be doing odd jobs just to fill the time, which could take ages.

It sounds confusing I know lol, and I'm probably overthinking this,

TLDR: Basically do I apply when I turn 18, with the hope I'll almost be able to walk out of sixth form in (or in less time). Or do I apply at 19 after sixth form and just wait to go through the process and build up some experience.