Rare trials? Reversible green and white roll mat?

[webkitlover]

Hi I've came across a Green/white reversible roll mat. in good condition bought it for £2 from a furniture shop.

Identical in design to the well known Brit version same thickness and feel, same brass grommits, the same green cotton feeling fabric tape you tie in a bow when the mat is stored.

It's possibly 2 thinner (olive/white)mats joined (welded rather than glued) during factory construction. there does not seem to be any sort of coating.

Being reversible it can be stored rolled olive out or white side out to provide snow camo, The simple fact it has White on one side suggests a temperate if not Northern european user.

I've never seen another one, I've Tried to research it, tried Google, but can't find anything about it, I don't even know if it's Brit, US, or foreign issue?

Sadly I can't find any  markings on it at all (apart from the users scrawled name in marker pen), and I have no idea how old it is, it could well be decades old and there is very little wear on it.

My first thought was that it might be something to do with the "Royal Marine Arctic warfare Cadre" but I've nothing to back it up.

Is it possible it's another rare trial piece of kit?

I'll do a photo in the morning.

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by webkitlover

[fv1609]

Looking in COSA Section A3 Mountain and Snow Warfare Equipment it looks as if you may have:

Mat, sleeping 8465-99-136-0620, 1900 mm long, 600 mm wide, 10 mm thick. Plastic, NATO green & white used for AMF (1) Role

[webkitlover]

Cool, thanks for that,  just going to get it down, I'm meeting at a Remeniscence meeting this week, so getting some of my CEFO and CEMO out.

[webkitlover]

Hi here are the pics, I lined it up next to a standard MoD mat and everything matches. I had another really close look on both sides of it, and theres no evidence of any ink stamps at all.

The olive standard MoD side (nothing to see here)

The white side, the only visible mark is a surname in capitals (covered by the top brick on the white side) I had to use bricks it's windy here.

 

Below, I've tried to show the standard MoD mat (not rolled tightly) next to so you can see the thickness/texture.is pretty much the same. If anything the two sided one seems to roll up slightly more easily perhaps it's slightly more pliable? but it's been untouched in the loft for a while so it might just be because it's been rolled up a long time.

Like other reversable items I wonder if the white seen at the side here is enough white to give away a position?  A platoon's worth of these white blobs marching along on bergens would be pretty visible against a dark background such as forest paths or heather, or grassy plain.

When you remember(or know) how OCD you have to be about camouflaging yourself and kit, hiding shiny plastic buttons, face paint on the backs of ears and hands, blacking up a beret metal badge with a sharpie, this amount of white viewed from the side just seems crazy, even setting up a bivi in wind could flap the mat around and that be seen from a long way! perhaps it was only issued in areas known to have of patchy or deep snow rather than other temperate uses.

 

[garys39]

Here's mine, unissued, can just see the 8465 number that Clive mentioned, in ink on the end, Regards Gary   

[Foxhound]

I had one of these og/white mats issued to me with my arctic kit when I was the AMF(L) int section commander in 1986/87 (84 Int & Sy Sect) in Bulford Camp.  Always carried in a DPM or OG bag when not in the snow and under a white bergen cover in the snow.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Foxhound

[REME 245]

Used to be one in our cadet store but someone got to it before me!!!

[Scotch Harry]

I have a sealed pattern one arriving(I hope!!) any day soon.

[Scotch Harry]

Mine has arrived,no markings on the mat itself but on the wax sealed SCRDE label is a date of 1981.

[webkitlover]

wow, that's got to be one of the first!  I'm told in the 70's roll mats weren't used!