G'day all,
A crappy mate traded this to me for a mothed out Aust 42 greatcoat!
Just asking if any one can roughly date it? guess it goes into the patt 58 roll?
G'day all,
A crappy mate traded this to me for a mothed out Aust 42 greatcoat!
Just asking if any one can roughly date it? guess it goes into the patt 58 roll?
Were still in service with Army cadet forces in 1970's. They got superseded by pull on smocks then dpm pattern zipped ones. I've still got a dpm one somewhere, sweat like a good 'un when wearing it!
Big Cheers BCat Mate
Still in service 86 - 87 and yes meant to fit in the '58 poncho roll, good luck with that when its wet ... you need arms like Arnie to get that closed ... especially having an NBC suit in there as well.
"Per Ardua"
These were still in use well after the demise of '58 Patt webbing and until the DPM groundsheet came on-line. They were almost never used as a poncho (very tactically unsound!) but to make yourself a "basha" or improvised tent/shelter. It was intended to live in the '58 Patt Ponch Roll but the NBC suit was also shoe-horned in there as well which as Paul says could be real pig to achieve and many would roll it and slot in-between the rear yoke straps. another popular method was to "blag" a spare poncho roll and attach it above the kidney pouches. When I have a spare hour and the weather is good enough I will dig out a set and rig that up to show you what I mean. The poncho itself was actually a useful bit of kit albeit not as a poncho.
Another delightful use was to make a flotation pack to cross water obstacles. I remember standing in the "pink and crinklies" except for my boots DMS (very good look that was) beside a very cold river with all my kit wrapped up in a poncho with tree branches as handles and rifle on top before casually stepping off the bank and paddling furiously accross. Laugh? I nearly did
As for dating yours, it has the familiar NATO Stock Number which if I recall correctly came fully into use in the '70s some time and before that British kit had the appropriate UK Vocab number. I am sure I have seen later ones with an actual date stamp but I'm not totally sure. So I would say from the appearance of this one late '70s - mid '80s. I still have one somewhere so I will look for more clues.
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Watchdog: "These were still in use well after the demise of '58 Patt webbing and until the DPM groundsheet came on-line."
Mark,
How true, I still use one as a Basher. 4 Bungees and my poncho and I get to laugh at the youngsters being soaked while I'm still nice and dry. Combine that with rubble sacks to put your Bergan in and - No Problem! The new DPM or MTP versions are thin and weak. If you need to rely on something then heavy duty always wins.
R
Cheers Fellas
Looking forward to see what you can rig up Mark Mate
For sure!
I still recall the very first night I put one up as a raw recruit and a rabid instructor yelled at me "WTF is that ? A F******G TeePee? The enemy could see that from the bleedin' moon! - Get it no higher than 15 inches". I didn't think that was possible but it was and I stayed dry in the pouring rain. Yep sometimes the old way and the old kit is by far the best
Regards
Mark
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
Its a Poncho, Lightweight, which replaced the heavier 62 Pattern, which replaced the 44 Pattern.
British 1962 pattern poncho
44 Pattern Uniform
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