Edward53

Dont know if this picture upload has worked but if it has it may be of interest. Its a version of the old British Army 60 pattern smock made for the Bahrain Defence Force in the 1970's

One of these is for sale here if anyone's interested:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bahrain-middle-east-1970s-dense-spot-camo-jacket-RARE-/390952314345?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item5b0692e5e9

HMVF members might be interested to see this posting on another forum, of which I am also a member:

http://iacmc.forumotion.com/t9823-identification-guide-to-gulf-war-one-militaria

I hope I'm not breaching forum etiquette here. I really don't want to post the whole thing again, and it's so much simpler just to link.

Some really nice kit there.Thats an unusual maker,(to me anyway)for the metric sized windproof smock.GQ Defence equipt,another one I hav,nt seen before.Thanks for sharing.

There's this one:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30093341

Finally, a couple of DPM caps with brown neckflap lining and typical 70s markings:

A used Size 2 arctic smock (cropped label image to omit owner's details):

An unissued Size 7 arctic smock:

A metric arctic smock, but I think it's quite an early one:

Some of these are recent acquisitions, some I've had for a while but not posted.

Size 3 "SAS" windproof with early white label, well-used:

A slightly later "SAS" windproof, also Size 3, lightly used:

Some well-used Size 03 "SAS" trousers:

The blue-green older one is a 1968 pattern combat smock, identifiable from buttons on the cuffs (later ones have velcro), probably about 30 years old, in Size 04 which I believe is a special Gurkha size. The one with the taped-on buttons is from 2000-ish, a bit late for me to be sure but I presume it's Soldier 95 clothing.

The Tam is 1990 or thereabouts.

He is also bidding on all the para helmets. Since it takes more than one bidder to force prices up, unless there are two people in a devilish conspiracy (sorry but I can't be bothered to check completed listings to find out), this means other collectors are prepared to pay a high price for a Mk6. Luckily for me I also have a few of these and don't need any more, but if I wanted one I'd have to either pay what they are making, wait and see if prices go down, or hope to turn one up somewhere other than ebay.

One might expect collectors' items to roughly follow inflation like everything else, but they are not consumer goods and have a strange dynamic of their own, prices sometimes remaining static for years and then suddenly shooting up (and occasionally down).

Hi Marc, welcome to the Forum, good to see you here. Cheers, Ted.

I've been wondering about this too. It seems to started about three months ago for no apparent reason. I thought it was a blip at first, but it's gone on too long. I haven't noticed anything else going mental. Scruffy para helmets seem to have got a bit stronger, but not as much as Mk6s. :???

I saw this and thought about bidding, but in the end I didn't as I thought it was a 53 pattern and I already have a NOS example. It seems I missed out on something really good! I don't mind too much though, as it has gone to the right person and will doubtless appear in his book....(did you spot the unsubtle hint there?)

Just my opinion from watching ebay, but I think a realistic value is about £30-35, maybe a tad more on a good day. If it had the old Imperial sizing it would be about five times that.

Will

Metric sizing came in about 1980-81 for the windproof garment range. A nice early smock, and externally correct for the Falklands, but a tad late if you want it to be just so.

Rgds, E.

Good to see you back on here WD.

Good work, now you only have to find the first, "autumn leaf" and "banana" prints... You've probably seen the first print one here, very nice but not exactly cheap.

Not to worry, ebay is like that and I won't take it personally! I had hoped there might be some little extras in the pockets, but only found an ancient tissue, lovely

I bought this smock on ebay in the hope that the "completely faded label" might actually be decipherable with a bit of an effort. It turned out that it can't, but at £22 all in I can live with that. No FFD pocket, bottle green backing to NZ zip, and Newey studs appear to put it between 1977 and 1984. There is a para wing, but never any other badges that I can see, so presumably a qualified non-Para.

I've covered the name and number to avoid sensibilities, and included a pic to show the colour bleed through the material. The black object at lower right on the first photo is our cat.

Nice buy for a fiver! A shame the label has gone, but then it might have cost a good deal more... Great though that there is a 5 sizing on the small label. A really hard piece to find in any condition.

Just to keep things going, here are two items I bought recently. The bush hat I think is mid-late 70s, the arctic trousers a year or so later. The hat is unissued, the trousers are issued but good with no faults. Still looking for the elusive 70s arctic smock.

Proves a point I suppose:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30093341

Theres no makers name in the label,but it came from Stringtown supplies a long time ago,they no longer do them now.I actually brought this off ebay some time ago.I have seen another in medium on e bay and it went for about £50.00.The smock is still very waterproof as it has the same material and treatment as the issue ones used to have,even down to the distinctive smell of newly issued dpm kit,even though its og.If I see another I,ll let you know.Sometimes sass smocks appear in og they were bespoke made and pretty good,but sadly he no longer trades.

Thanks Boots.

Thanks Boots, and if you ever run across another of those green smocks in XL, please let me know as I also think the design is perfect for walking and was wondering why nobody makes a green one!! It must be ideal to keep off moderate rain while not overheating. Does yours have a maker name? I suppose I could buy a late dpm one, but I'd rather not wear dpm out and about.

I've posted this on another forum as well, but am still not a lot wiser. SASS has been suggested as the maker but nobody actually recognises it. I would have confidently said 1990-ish but for the slotted rank tab buttons.

I recently bought this smock for a very reasonable sum indeed. It's a ringer for the 80s-90s SAS windproof except for front and rear rank tabs and some very minor details of construction. The unwired hood has a strip of cloth, serving no apparent purpose, at rear where you might expect velcro to roll it up. The velcro cuffs are missing the small halves - can't say if they were taken off or never on. The buttons aren't very firmly attached, all of which to me speaks of rushed production. Black fixlock cord pull so presumably early on before they started making them in sand. Buttons are four-hole except slot-and-tape on rank tabs. The XL tab is the only labelling.

I don't think the smock has ever been used, as apart from being creased, it's NOS. Material feels like a polycotton mix. Anyone else have one of these or can suggest a date of manufacture? Great if it's GW1 but I like it lots whatever it is. Sorry for crap photos - top one is the best colour match.

Great buy for £2, nice boots as well. They seem to be about twenty quid a time on ebay for decent ones now, plus there's the postage of course which usually adds on a hefty chunk.