wdbikemad Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 As many of us will know, the "84/85" pattern DPM combat smock and trousers were replaced during 1992 by a new pattern suit that looks similar to the subsequent CS95 ensemble.....as the latter was then under early development stage, this pre-CS95 suit can be considered as a true forerunner of the "Soldier 95" outfit..... This particular combat smock and trousers are sometimes referred to as "93" or "94" pattern but I can remember seeing the garments on issue to recruits at ATR Winchester during 1992....... This particular suit is the one with the BIG buttons as found on arctic clothing, plus additional zipped pockets on the chest of the smock....known as "Smock/Trousers, Temperate, DPM"....... The very first issues were in a peculiar "yellow" shade of DPM.....this was due to the MoD now requiring DPM material to be pre-dyed prior to printing......resulting in the rather unusual colour variation, subsequently rectified on later production....earlier production DPM material was natural white on the reverse, and the changeover to unlined combat smocks had revealed the reverse fabric to be a potential camouflage liability in certain field situations....... Garments were made in heavy cotton-modal fabric.......but rumour has it that a few were made in ripstop......anyone seen any of the latter..? Not to be confused with the subsequent ripstop CS95 garments....:-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 As many of us will know, the "84/85" pattern DPM combat smock and trousers were replaced during 1992 by a new pattern suit that looks similar to the subsequent CS95 ensemble.....as the latter was then under early development stage, this pre-CS95 suit can be considered as a true forerunner of the "Soldier 95" outfit..... This particular combat smock and trousers are sometimes referred to as "93" or "94" pattern but I can remember seeing the garments on issue to recruits at ATR Winchester during 1992....... This particular suit is the one with the BIG buttons as found on arctic clothing, plus additional zipped pockets on the chest of the smock....known as "Smock/Trousers, Temperate, DPM"....... The very first issues were in a peculiar "yellow" shade of DPM.....this was due to the MoD now requiring DPM material to be pre-dyed prior to printing......resulting in the rather unusual colour variation, subsequently rectified on later production....earlier production DPM material was natural white on the reverse, and the changeover to unlined combat smocks had revealed the reverse fabric to be a potential camouflage liability in certain field situations....... Garments were made in heavy cotton-modal fabric.......but rumour has it that a few were made in ripstop......anyone seen any of the latter..? Not to be confused with the subsequent ripstop CS95 garments....:-\ A few years ago rummaging in an Army Surplus shop in Southampton between West Quay and (a few yards away from) the Bargate, I found some combat jackets marked 1994 pattern, seemingly essentially identical to the 84 pattern I was looking for but in ripstop. Brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 A few years ago rummaging in an Army Surplus shop in Southampton between West Quay and (a few yards away from) the Bargate, I found some combat jackets marked 1994 pattern, seemingly essentially identical to the 84 pattern I was looking for but in ripstop. Brand new. That's interesting.......apparently, the trial DPM CS 95 field jacket that was in-service under test between 1992 and 1994 was almost identical to the combat smock of 1991-92 but in ripstop and with a built-in hood that could be rolled up when not in use into the collar.....the subsequent CS 95 field jacket had a separate hood, plus the front-zip arrangement was altered to include a windflap, etc.... It is thought that both the trial fleece and goretex liner were the same as the subsequent production garments....but I could be wrong...? I have a mint set of trial CS 95 lightweight shirt/jacket and trousers......both are similar to the subsequent production garments but with sewn-on buttons rather than the "slotted" type....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer nut Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Is this the stuff that I refer rightly or wrongly, to as the 90 pattern???? That there are two types, the normal temperate in the darker DPM then the weired coloured one which I have heard refered to as Tea pattern, which is a orangy in colour. It was rumoured that this colour of dpm was brought in for bosnia. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) Is this the stuff that I refer rightly or wrongly, to as the 90 pattern???? That there are two types, the normal temperate in the darker DPM then the weired coloured one which I have heard refered to as Tea pattern, which is a orangy in colour. It was rumoured that this colour of dpm was brought in for bosnia. Jon Jon, exactly.....the combat suit introduced during 1992 to replace the unlined suit introduced during 1984 (the type where the pockets regularly fell off !)........it was introduced partly to replace the latter suit prior to CS 95 being finalised, but also as a useful test-platform for many features of the CS 95 ensemble.....not all troops received it, as it was issued on a maintenance basis and with CS 95 coming into service during 1996-7 many went straight from the 84-issue garments to CS 95..... It's important to note that "official" year patterns only affected the 1960 Pattern suits in green and DPM, the subsequent 68 pattern, and CS 95.......the original Korean-era combat suits did not have any year-designation, as did the 1977-78 revision of the 68 pattern (with different "8415" NSN), nor the 84 and 92-issue suits.......but for collector purposes, an informal year/pattern designation can be useful....! The suit was indeed seen in Bosnia, and initial issues were in the very yellow-shade of DPM, later production up to 1996 reverting to a more conventional shade of cammo.... You can always identify this suit by the zip chest pockets and big sewn-on buttons..... Edited January 7, 2012 by wdbikemad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer nut Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 (edited) Yes I wholey agree. There is the official designation and the collectors pattern, I am so used to using the collectors terminology that it will be a while before I get my head around it. Jon Edited January 8, 2012 by Panzer nut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglehurst Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Welcome back Jon - have not heard from you in a while! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer nut Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Been very tired mentaly, just getting back into the spirit of things. Some of you guys may want to pop over to the Forces 80 facebook page, some interesting stuff crops up there as well. So going back to designations: official vs Collectors Smock Combat (1960 Pattern) / 1960 pattern (60 pattern DPM?? Not got a label to hand) / 1966 pattern Smock Combat (1968 Pattern) / 1968 Pattern Smock Combat / 1968 Pattern Smock Combat DPM / 1984 or 1985 Pattern Smock Combat Temperate DPM / 1990 Pattern ?? Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panzer nut Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Smock combat Temperate DPM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdbikemad Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 That's the beastie....! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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