British DPM Camouflage

[Hawkeye5723]

Hi, nice kit.. I remember wearing it well..

As such, I have a few tips for you..

1st/ don't wear it up so high, under your chest.. you are supposed towear the belt on top of the hips for comfort & ease of access to the pouches.
2nd/ I see a pouch to the side, I am guessing it's a waterbottle pouch as I can't see all, get another for the other side to use as a utility pouch.
3rd/ take the respirator off, it was rarely ever worn as part of the belt kit as it's a pain to put on & off by having to remove other pouches first (when you use the belt/puch hooks you'll see when I mean), plus otherwise you are carrying around a load of extra kit that wasn't being used.. The respirator case has a long strap & clip, so if you want to wear it use that around your waist so the pouch hangs blow your right hip, the case should also have a leg tie in a little pouch on it's outside, use that to tie around your leg to stop it bouncing around.
4th/ don't have grenades, flares etc etc hanging off the "D" clips or poking out of open pouches. If you are using a Mk5 instead of an SLR you can use your ammo pouches or an extra utility pouch,
5th/ bungy cord.. get a green bungy cord & clip it to the poncho roll clips on the ammo pouches, then feed it across the outside of the other pouches (Waterbottle, Kidneys, Utility etc etc) through their front access straps.. This will do a few things. It will pull the webbing tight to you so it is more comfortable to wear & stops it bouncing when you run. It will pull the front ammo pouches back at the bottom without crushing the pouch so it is more away from your front without hindering pouch access. It'll make it more comfortable when laying on the ground. It squeezes the extra space from the other pouches & greatly helps remove pouch rattle. It adds attachment points for cammoing up your webbing, whether with grass or scrim.
6th/ Personnal preference, but if you find the poncho roll is hanging to far down for your comfort, so can reduce the kit profile by unclipping the roll & placing it on top of hte kidney pouches then reclipping it. I personnaly liked it below as if you pack the roll properly it will make a comfy built in seat if you down after a tab, & if the gound is wet, it stops your arse getting wet )
7th/ trying to figure what you have around your neck, looks like a lightweight life vest.. if that is the case, lose it unless you're actually in a landing craft, ditched as soon as on land.
8th/ Another little tip if you reenact.. ditch your glasses.. try & get a pair of old school NHS tortoise shell frames & put your own lenses in.. the actual MOD issued ones had the same NHS front but had sprung wire wrap arms so they didn't fall off when running.. but regular old NHS ones are fine.

Hope that helps, just tell me to bugger off otherwise hehe )

[James C]

Love the modification on the Dpm Jacket Hood Mark and how nice of you to send Rene the cover ..all good stuff

[reneblacky]

Hi, nice kit.. I remember wearing it well..

As such, I have a few tips for you..

1st/ don't wear it up so high, under your chest.. you are supposed towear the belt on top of the hips for comfort & ease of access to the pouches.
2nd/ I see a pouch to the side, I am guessing it's a waterbottle pouch as I can't see all, get another for the other side to use as a utility pouch.
3rd/ take the respirator off, it was rarely ever worn as part of the belt kit as it's a pain to put on & off by having to remove other pouches first (when you use the belt/puch hooks you'll see when I mean), plus otherwise you are carrying around a load of extra kit that wasn't being used.. The respirator case has a long strap & clip, so if you want to wear it use that around your waist so the pouch hangs blow your right hip, the case should also have a leg tie in a little pouch on it's outside, use that to tie around your leg to stop it bouncing around.
4th/ don't have grenades, flares etc etc hanging off the "D" clips or poking out of open pouches. If you are using a Mk5 instead of an SLR you can use your ammo pouches or an extra utility pouch,
5th/ bungy cord.. get a green bungy cord & clip it to the poncho roll clips on the ammo pouches, then feed it across the outside of the other pouches (Waterbottle, Kidneys, Utility etc etc) through their front access straps.. This will do a few things. It will pull the webbing tight to you so it is more comfortable to wear & stops it bouncing when you run. It will pull the front ammo pouches back at the bottom without crushing the pouch so it is more away from your front without hindering pouch access. It'll make it more comfortable when laying on the ground. It squeezes the extra space from the other pouches & greatly helps remove pouch rattle. It adds attachment points for cammoing up your webbing, whether with grass or scrim.
6th/ Personnal preference, but if you find the poncho roll is hanging to far down for your comfort, so can reduce the kit profile by unclipping the roll & placing it on top of hte kidney pouches then reclipping it. I personnaly liked it below as if you pack the roll properly it will make a comfy built in seat if you down after a tab, & if the gound is wet, it stops your arse getting wet )
7th/ trying to figure what you have around your neck, looks like a lightweight life vest.. if that is the case, lose it unless you're actually in a landing craft, ditched as soon as on land.
8th/ Another little tip if you reenact.. ditch your glasses.. try & get a pair of old school NHS tortoise shell frames & put your own lenses in.. the actual MOD issued ones had the same NHS front but had sprung wire wrap arms so they didn't fall off when running.. but regular old NHS ones are fine.

Hope that helps, just tell me to bugger off otherwise hehe )

Cheers Hawkeye5753, Welcome aboard Mate.
Great helpful tips there and they are certainly noted by me. Thank You

[Watchdog]

Yes welcome indeed. Does the user name Hawkeye have anything to do with the old system of appointment titles by any chance?

As for the variations in methods of wear of the '58 patt webbing I think it important to understand that in some cases the differences were totally subjective examples of an individuals preference, sometimes it was almost a "semi official" unit policy whilst in others no deviation from the official was permitted at all. It did not make much difference whether the unit was a single almost independant section of 6 men or a battalion of 600. In the end it came down to what you could get away with and the tolerance / approval or otherwise of the CO.

In respect of the respirator haversack (to use the official nomenclature!) I can honestly say that in 24 yrs service I could count the times I saw it not worn on the waistbelt on the fingers of one hand. Those few examples were HQ personnel who at times would not be wearing the webbing and the respirator needed to be closer than hanging on the back of a chair or under a desk. This is a good example of my above point because although the haversack has a belt loop the primary intention in the design was clearly for the shoulder strap to be used. This is not to say that it wasn't worn like that just that in my experience it was extremely rare. A point to note is that the very earliest haversacks did not actually have a belt loop. That was added subsequently. We could perhaps deduce something from that?

The poncho roll being worn above the kidney pouches was fairly common but when , as was nearly always the case, the NBC suit is also carried in the roll (this was not in the original design spec because NBC was not such an issue when the design was produced) it becomes quite difficult to do. I will do a mock up on a dummy when I have a minute and post a pic. This brings to mind a few examples of soldiers using an additional poncho roll for the NBC suit. This was a rare occurrence though I have seen it.

Another thing that is often not known to collectors without personal experience of using the pattern is the attachment of the large pack. The design is for the shoulder straps to be passed throught the yoke loops. This was virtually never done because it meant you could not remove the pack without taking off the whole set of webbing. The preferred method was to hold the pack in front of your body with the straps uppermost and the front towards you. The shoulder straps were then hooked onto the 'D' rings. The pack now hanging in front of the body a bit like a reserve parachute. Then with both hands the wearer swings the pack over his head onto his back and attaches the side spring clips as normal. The shoulder straps will remain on top of the yoke and the pack can be quickly dropped without removing the fighting order!

I will attempt to illustrate this too on my next Rest Days.

Regards

Mark

[Hawkeye5723]

Hi, & thanks all

No, I was never in Aviation.. I was Infantry & RAMC...

Hawkeye was a nickname from MASH hehe, I was always a huge MASH fan, & the only names people could remember from the show was Hawkeye & Radar, & as Radar was about 5ft & Alan Alda who was Hawkeye was tall & I am 6'8" plus I had the same salt n pepper hair as Alan (I started going grey at 14 hehe), & as people said I looked like Donald Sutherland who was Hawkeye in the MASH movie, The name stuck.

What you said about the large pack is totally correct, people very quickly stopped using the yoke loops, a lot also cut them off, as well as the attachment on the back of the yoke.
Also personal preference.. within reason, such as some people carrying 1 or 2 waterbottles etc, the customisation of the kit definately had some leeway in that regard, but most tried to keep it simple to keep the weight down.. I loved 58 but could get as heavy as hell when it got wet hehe.

The Resp haversack.. I still have my old S10 with DPM case somewhere hehe.. first one I had was the S6 with the OG nylon case. I never really used the strap personally, I was always a fastidious sod so popped off my pouches & re-rigged to have it on my belt kit through the belt loop.. but this was only when we were required to carry it which wasn't very often.. other than that I never had it on my webbing. No point carrying extra weight that is not required.

[Hawkeye5723]

Reneblacky, you're in Melb... I now live in Shepparton, moved out here from UK in 2000

[Watchdog]

Hi, & thanks all

No, I was never in Aviation.. I was Infantry & RAMC....

Haha, nice to see a recollection of the appointment titles though!

So, Foxhound (Inf) and Starlight (Medical).

I laboured under; Foxhound and Watchdog (Provost) hence my own u/n.

A litle off topic but I suppose no harm in explaining for those who might think WTF?

NATO appointment titles were used to identify the employment area of a callsign whilst disguising the level of command (ie could be anything from a Pte soldier to a Brigadier).

As I recall them;

ACORN - Intelligence Staff
BLUEBELL - Marine eng/REME/Engineer
BOXWOOD - NBC Staff
BRIMSTONE - Padre
CRACKER - Locating incl artillery int staff
CONROD - Direction officer/air defence rep
CONTRACTOR - Movements
FELIX - Ammo tech officer
FIREGUARD - RAF Regiment
FORTUNE - Forward air controller
FOXHOUND - Infantry
GLOWWORM - Ground liaison / air liaison officer
HAWKEYE - Aviation officer
HOLDFAST - Engineers
IRONSIDE - Armour
KESTREL - Infantry ops off.
KINGFISHER - Air Liaison off.
MOLAR - Logistics / QM
MOONBEAM - Chief of Staff
NUTSHELL - Q Staff
PLAYTIME - Transport
PRONTO - Signals
RICKSHAW - Ordnance
SEAGULL - Air staff (ops)
SHELDRAKE - Gunnery staff
SPINDLE - Airborne forward air controller
SPYGLASS - Air recce
STARLIGHT - Medical
SUNRAY - OC
VESTMENT - Air contact officer
WATCHDOG - Provost

There were more but these are the main ones at "grunt" level!

Again, sorry for going off topic but it just "fell in".

Regards

Mark

[Hawkeye5723]

I did my Sigs course on the old Clansman kit, I actually didn't mind it.. but the PRC349 section radio looked like a concrete block on my chest compaired to the personal issue ones they have now lol..

[reneblacky]

Reneblacky, you're in Melb... I now live in Shepparton, moved out here from UK in 2000

Nice place to be, Shepparton is a lovely town. I hope you are loving it up there?

[Hawkeye5723]

Nice place to be, Shepparton is a lovely town. I hope you are loving it up there?

Been here since I moved here in 2000, the wife is a local girl.. & as I always say to her.. "Why couldn't you have come from the Gold Coast"