wdbikemad Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 I recently acquired a lightweight shirt/jacket and matching trousers in DPM very similar in design to the CS 95 issue kit. Both items are new and genuine MoD issue, and carry labels.....<br><br>However, both jacket and trousers are made from a rather stiff, heavy-duty ripstop material printed in DPM camouflage totally unlike that found on the standard CS 95 DPM garments......<br><br>The jacket is styled the same as a CS 95 shirt, but is fitted with the RAF aircrew-style taped buttons, similar but not identical to the CS 95 standard items.....plus, the jacket is fitted with a full-length steel/alloy zipper beneath the front buttoned flap AND has velcro fastening strips underneath the front pocket flaps to secure the contents.......The trousers are also similar to CS 95 and with similar additional features as per the jacket........<br><br>I've done a bit of digging, and apparently and even heavier pair of trousers were made PLUS a filed jacket similar to CS 95 but in a very heavy, ripstop DPM fabric with a "waxy" feel to it........<br><br>Both my jacket and trousers are fitted with white-colour labels bearing the name "Beaufort" and the MoD arrow.....both garments are dated 2002......both carry NSN's plus a "22c" stores reference number......the jacket is refered to as "NFJ Jacket lightweight".......<br><br>What are they ??? The name "Beaufort" is associated with aircrew clothing, plus the "22c" number is a RAF/AAC number identifiyer for flying clothing........and "NFJ"..."New Field Jacket" ???<br><br>"Surplus and Outdoors" (check on the web) advertise these but are out of stock of all items except for the lightweight shirt and trousers...but their website does show illustrations of these garments......<br><br>As far as I know, RAF/AAC aircrew still wear standard issue garments in DPM plus the MK2A DPM aircrew combat clothing if required......are these items rare trials garments...???? Anyone know...? Quote
wdbikemad Posted June 23, 2011 Author Posted June 23, 2011 (edited) any pics? Not at the moment...I'm in Cornwall and the gear is in Wiltshire !! Check out "Surplus & Outdoors" website for some good images of these garments....ps: apols for the quality of my earlier post...done on a mobile that my fingers are too damn large for !!!! Edited June 23, 2011 by wdbikemad Quote
Enfield1940 Posted June 23, 2011 Posted June 23, 2011 Here's the link: http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/outdoor-clothing/combat-jackets/new-genuine-beaufort-woodland-639680.html Quote
Tony B Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 Both Beaufort (More known for naval and sea survival kit) And Barbour made approved 'private purchase kit'. Quote
wdbikemad Posted June 24, 2011 Author Posted June 24, 2011 Both Beaufort (More known for naval and sea survival kit) And Barbour made approved 'private purchase kit'. This is definitely issue kit Tony.....the labels carry correct contract, stores reference, NSN's and the crows foot MoD mark, the latter confirming MoD property. I strongly suspect that these garments were intended for aircrew use by the "22c" flying clothing marking plus the various other features normally associated with flying clothing such as metal zips, extra velcro to secure pocket contents, etc.....the shirt I have actually came in the issue MoD packet complete with paper label and barcode...! Quote
Enfield1940 Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 Both Beaufort (More known for naval and sea survival kit) And Barbour made approved 'private purchase kit'. About 5 or so years ago I saw some DPM Barbour jackets in their factory outlet shop near Braintree. They had Union Flag badges on the sleeves. They looked like nice bits of kit, but even at a reduced price of circa £125 they were still a bit rich for my blood. Quote
Tony B Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 This is definitely issue kit Tony.....the labels carry correct contract, stores reference, NSN's and the crows foot MoD mark, the latter confirming MoD property. I strongly suspect that these garments were intended for aircrew use by the "22c" flying clothing marking plus the various other features normally associated with flying clothing such as metal zips, extra velcro to secure pocket contents, etc.....the shirt I have actually came in the issue MoD packet complete with paper label and barcode...! Makes more sense if the kit was Fleet Air Arm than RAF. Out of intrest, is there any flotation built into the jacket? This is a trade mark of Beaufort kit. One thing for sure, it is and always has been ******* expensive! Mind you if you think your life is cheap, buy cheap kit. The obvious that comes to mind is SBS or RM Commando use. http://www.rfdbeaufortmarine.com/ Quote
wdbikemad Posted June 24, 2011 Author Posted June 24, 2011 Makes more sense if the kit was Fleet Air Arm than RAF. Out of intrest, is there any flotation built into the jacket? This is a trade mark of Beaufort kit. One thing for sure, it is and always has been ******* expensive! Mind you if you think your life is cheap, buy cheap kit. The obvious that comes to mind is SBS or RM Commando use. http://www.rfdbeaufortmarine.com/ No flotation in any of the garments.......the only real oddity with them all is the fabric from which made.....it is a ripstop fabric, but far stiffer than the standard CS 95 stuff...feeling almost like card when new.....and the heavyweight field jacket and trousers are apparently very heavy duty and with a waxy-feel to the cloth, although it's not waxed cotton.....I wonder if the items are also fire resistant, which would make sense for aircrew clothing.... All items are very similar in style to the CS 95 standard garments, so I wonder if these were a proposed aircrew version of these ? Quote
Tony B Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) That sounds very like an immersion suit. The picture is very like the civillian type, but dosen't apear to have the pflotation. Is the padding apparently very thick? That would be the mark of a flotation jacket. They are extremly hard wearing and insulating jacket. Top range and them some. Edited June 24, 2011 by Tony B Quote
wdbikemad Posted June 24, 2011 Author Posted June 24, 2011 That sounds very like an immersion suit. The picture is very like the civillian type, but dosen't apear to have the pflotation. Is the padding apparently very thick? That would be the mark of a flotation jacket. They are extremly hard wearing and insulating jacket. Top range and them some. No padding....these are essentially CS 95 garments and in no way sealed or insulated as per a normal immersion suit...we are looking here at combat-type trousers in two weights, lightweight shirt/jacket plus a heavyweight field jacket, but with differences....... I think there was a post recently about aircrew clothing dress regs for the RAF, & mentioning that the DPM jacket was listed as the CS 95 item rather than the usual DPM Aircrew MK2A jacket.....I wonder if these Beaufort items are in some way connected to the ensemble....(they are dated 2002) Quote
Enfield1940 Posted June 25, 2011 Posted June 25, 2011 There's some references here to 'fire retardent CS95': http://www.pprune.org/military-aircrew/440641-flying-suits-scrapped-sh-aircrew.html The same thing? Quote
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