Posted on 06/27/2012 7:36:08 AM PDT by TigerClaws
Nothing will beat my forest or desert flight suit. Good solid colors.
I think it is funny the Marines didn’t want other services using their pattern. They took it from the Canadians.
The Navy did something similar back in the eighties. Until then, the summer khaki uniforms were made from cotton.
But someone decided that since cotton burns and presents a hazard during a fire onboard a ship, the uniforms should be made of polyester, which doesn’t burn.
When my husband told me he was going to need new summer uniforms made from polyester, I was both horrified and furious. No, polyester doesn’t “burn”, it melts, and sticks to the skin, creating burns every bit as bad. I was rather vocal about the change and discovered that numerous wives knew what a mistake the change was while the men had no idea. We had seen polyester become a fiery black little blob that sticks to the skin when we set manmade fabric swatches on fire in home ec.
A few years later the mistake was corrected and the cotton returned.
You can believe the camo story.
The old Olive Drab Green is about as close to universal camo as there has ever been.
Lining his pockets, as it were.
When it's wet (and that's common too), MARPAT becomes even more effective. I read later that was noted in testing early on.
Problem with MARPAT, well, isn't with MARPAT per se -- it's their construction, at least as the USMC does things. The 50/50 NyCo fabric is comfortable and wears like iron. However, in this climate of 90f temps and 90% humidity, the fabric in these needs to be half the weight to keep you from heat stroke in the first hour. Can't have everything, I suppose. So I keep the trousers and wear 100% cotton above that -- t-shirts are available from all the usual sources, both short and long sleeve, in woodland MARPAT. So they don't have the EGA in the pattern -- oh well!
Please be advised that all this is a result of my own tests on the subject, and individual mileage (and opinions) will vary.
Spot on. In my neck of the woods, that's very true.
bmfl
Nothing was more comfortable than those old olive drab work uniforms.
Using a civilian cleaners and getting the old 3 creases in back helped their appearance though.
On field exercises I would always have an extra set and a fresh pair of jump boots for the last day, I always returned from the field immaculate and crisp.
Unfortunately, you need to be able to “sanitize” your uniform in certain environments.
Geeeeez!
Just go back to khaki for uniforms in the field. The Grunts will get them dirty enough to blend into whatever backdrop is around in no time.
That’s awesome. I could use that setup to hide from my kids when I need a nap!
So.... will the Army return to the Pickle Suit or the Salad Suit
?
Of course the one guy responsible for the $5 billion F-Up has since retired. Isn’t that convenient.
“...it’s natural to ask what went wrong and how they’ll avoid the same missteps this time around.”
OK, then ASK.
-PJ
Give me $5 Billion, I'll see if I can figure out how they do it.
“The old Olive Drab Green is about as close to universal camo as there has ever been.”
Yep. Everything I have is OD. When dirty, dusty, or wet, it takes on the colors of the surrounding area. Of course, no color or pattern is ever perfect in every background, but OD works extremely well is many areas.
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