Thread: Was some older issue gear better than the new?

I got really sick of the shiny belt we got issued. You know the one you wear for every day use? You get it to the right size then 30 mins later its loose and your trousers are falling down again.
So I went out and paid £3 for an old 58 pattern webbing belt from the surplus store and now my pants are staying firmly in place.

Looking at some other stuff, it got me wondering that maybe some of the issue kit we used to have was way better.
A few things I'd like back would be the lined combats, the chinese fighting suit, jumper heavy wool and kf shirts (hairy).

KF shirts I hear you say!!! I had a few great KF's. They'd been washed a few thousand times and were comfortable as hell.

Any others?

Before some old crusty mentions the SLR over the SA80........the SA80 is a better weapon

The parka. Warm as fcuk and the pockets were in the just the right place for sticking your mitts in.

Almost anything made when quality was more important than the bottom line.

The problem is that when you can buy 10 of something for the price of 1 properly made bit of kit then the cheap and nasty will win.

Oh and of course there are the bits of kit that the guys insisted they needed so the powers that be bought it but at the lowest possible cost - BCH - Norgie tops - Crisp packet waterproofs etc etc.

I would still rather have a JHW than that nasty fleece thing.

Originally Posted by codename1157

The parka. Warm as fcuk and the pockets were in the just the right place for sticking your mitts in.

Old style was way better than the new 80's ones. Not much cope if you were a running about type but sat about in a panzer, ideal.

As I understand it from reading the general comments on this site;

Compo Rations.

Just to qualify that a bit, I'm sure the latest combat rations are good if one is in a a 'grunt-alike' scenario, Im fairly certain that, if issued correctly, the older ration types allow a tad more flexibility when not either in grunt mode or having the luxury of some centralised feeding.

I could, of course, be entirely wrong.
<fx starts zimmerframe>
<dribbles slightly>

babies Heads
bacn grill

Black NI Gloves, far better than the green ones that are issued these days....................IMO of course

Originally Posted by smudge67

Before some old crusty mentions the SLR over the SA80........the SA80 is a better weapon

It may be now after reworking but I only met it when it needed the forward assist and lots of TLC or it went into petulant mode.

We were in transition between the two for Op Granby, I opted to take the SLR, far more robust, wooden furniture so you could blat umpteen rounds through it and I can still run through the drills in my sleep even now, robust and simple...just how I like my Women

And yes, I am a crusty

Chicken Curry. Thread ends in a blizzard of Drool.

Does the Army still use the No:1 burner for field cooking. It was a stunning bit of kit. It blew up so many people and it could cook a mean stew.

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That bloody water heater thing that was stuck in a bucket of water. Every morning you'd hear the bang for a wake up call and know another sloppo had just lost his eyebrows! :D

OG's!

Originally Posted by smudge67

Before some old crusty mentions the SLR over the SA80........the SA80 is a better weapon

SLR, SLR. What was wrong with the old .303 Lee Enfield? :D


Thought that I had better make it look as though I was kidding in case

someone took umbrage.

Ah, Og's. In Hong Kong and Malaya our dhobi wallahs took them and brought them back starched within an inch of their life. The Og's that is.

Aden, desert kit. Shorts(long) boots and stockings, and not the sexy type. Or, boots with puttees and socks, thick and wooly rolled over them.

Compo; tinned bacon and eggs. Salty as sea water but tasty. And large tins of salmon.