Originally Posted by ugly

[snip]I have a pair of KD Shorts and Trousers with crossover belts, very comfortable in summer![/snip]

You musta planned ahead, and scrounged big'uns: I've still got trousers with X-over belts, and they'd be anything BUT comfortable, given that I now weigh as much in my jim-jams, as I used to in full combats and CEFO with SLR.

Originally Posted by ugly

W
I have a pair of KD Shorts and Trousers with crossover belts, very comfortable in summer!

I had a pair that literally disintegrated in the wash after 20+ years of valuable service. I still mourn them.

Originally Posted by Spank-it

Never mind the cap badge issue, this "'orrible scrote" shall report to the guardroom at 6am tomorrow for a SHOW PARADE complete with all issue items including bed AND locker.

Item:

1) Creased Collar. Ironed with a house brick obviously.

2) The worst boxed blankets I have ever seen.

3) Turn that frown upside down Soldier. WE smile in this mans Army.

4) Hospital Corners son, hospital corners.

5) Incorrect spacing on boots / shoes/ plimmies.

6) Disrespecting the No2 uniform sonny Jim.

Look closer.

That ain't No 2 Dress. It's the stuff they were issuing after WW1, until about 1938, when battledress came in.

I bought them about 2 years ago and sadly now they are very baggy!

Originally Posted by FiveAlpha

I had a pair that literally disintegrated in the wash after 20+ years of valuable service. I still mourn them.

I've had pairs (in OG) disintegrate about my body, whilst on ops in NI, after fewer years than that. I mourn their loss sooo much more than I mourn the loss of (whatever passed for) my dignity . . .

Originally Posted by ugly

On my B1 the RE staffy was adamant that we were to leave out the metal plate behind the batteries in the Off Route Mine! Every did as was told apart from me and mine was the only one to work and splat the 432!
He did apologize!

There aint half been some clever bastards (thanks there to Mr Drury) My turn to do search commander with the off route mine and other odds and sods being there for the finding. Someone correct me if I'm wrong and I can't remember the exact facts and figure now but the mine is normally aimed at the point where the circuit is broken by a track or whatever. Somone works out that this would be boring and aims the mine with practice paint slug roughly where the search commander would be stood when it went off. (about 50metres behind the search team?)
I have lost a few minutes of memory as to what exactly happened but there is not much pleasantness when a white paint splodge surrounded by feckin hard plastic which hasn't had time to disperse from the wad hits you on the temple, left or right. not pleasant at all. It hurt a bit..... I think.

Originally Posted by FiveAlpha

I had a pair that literally disintegrated in the wash after 20+ years of valuable service. I still mourn them.

They'd never have lasted so long if you had got the knees dirty and had some slipstream and AVGAS on them, you gopping REMF cunt.

Originally Posted by Stonker

Pre-dates the 80s - had been going strong for years when Joined our 2nd Bn in early 1975. Partly, I think it was about getting stick man on guard, but also partly about making sure your cbt jkt wasn't uncomfortable under a flakky in NI.

The fashion began to die a death after the Falklands war: suddenly the alliest blokes on 2 legs were the ones with the baggiest (windproof) smocks, 'cos you needed all that room for ammo and warm clothing.

Paras took it to extremes, and it's from about this time that you start seeing their Toms in oversize para smocks without belts (imagine a bunch of blokes all about 5ft 7in, sidies, whippet-trainer-flat-cap-berets-with-badge-over-the-portside-lughole, all draped in knee-length in smocks that woulda fitted loosely on Darth Vader)

I can confirm December 1972 for tapered shirts and creases sewn into tapered denim trousers. It was the height of fashion where I was, until I went somewhere sunny and got my hands on proper OGs - which were never tailored. The only improvement on the OG shirt (in my time) was the OG shirt with black buttons, from a Gurkha Q store.

Originally Posted by bokkatankie

M2 rigs?, now that was a good bit of kit! British sleeping bag (so long as you got the right size, what twat came up with the idea of different sized sleeping bags!!!) needed a bivvie bag and then was superb (especially as I had lots of space on my tank to stow it!), new issue one with the stuff compression sack was good but never had the same smell.

The only size was long even if you were only 5"8 and of course trying to get a GPMG IN OR EVEN WORSE AN 84MM

Originally Posted by hantsbloke

The only size was long even if you were only 5"8 and of course trying to get a GPMG IN OR EVEN WORSE AN 84MM

Red X ...Tom's Liberation Front