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Current Field jackets / parkas ? ACU / MARPAT


Gliderinf
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What is the current issue field jacket ?

 

Both for the ACU and for the MCCUU - what goes over them ?

 

How do you tell the real Issue stuff, from the Comercial ?

 

Do those serving make much use of the Comercial stuff ?

 

Is the comercial stuff worth buying ? or is it not up to the job ?

 

Got any photos of your gear to show us ?

 

Goretex or other brand - is there a differance ?

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Greg Robinson

I saw a USMC "MARPAT" digital cammie rain parka in an army store a few days ago. Neat looking item but I wondered if it were issue or a fantasy item.

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On E-bay the Marpat parkas that are listed as the real thing are around $300, while the "other brand" ones are $89, $110, $130 etc - which is a massive differance - they all seem to claim the same features - but with another material instead of Gore-tex.

 

The question is - is Gore-tex massively overpriced ?

or are the other ones junk by comparrison ?

 

If they are basically the same - why is the corps paying the extra for the brand name ?

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Greg Robinson
On E-bay the Marpat parkas that are listed as the real thing are around $300, while the "other brand" ones are $89, $110, $130 etc - which is a massive differance - they all seem to claim the same features - but with another material instead of Gore-tex.

 

The question is - is Gore-tex massively overpriced ?

or are the other ones junk by comparrison ?

 

If they are basically the same - why is the corps paying the extra for the brand name ?

 

Gore tex does tend to run up the price. I remember in the 1990's when a "real" gore tex USGI parka was expensive and I thought I was getting a great deal when I found one for about fifty bucks. The one I saw last week appeared to be legit MARPAT judging by the labels and was priced at $80. I guess I should have bought it and resold it on ebay.

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What is the current issue field jacket ?

 

Both for the ACU and for the MCCUU - what goes over them ?

 

How do you tell the real Issue stuff, from the Comercial ?

 

Do those serving make much use of the Comercial stuff ?

 

Is the comercial stuff worth buying ? or is it not up to the job ?

 

Got any photos of your gear to show us ?

 

Goretex or other brand - is there a differance ?

 

I run a fairly traditional surplus store of over 30 years standing. As far as the MARPAT (USMC gear) is concerned, that particular digital pattern is not "officially" sold to the commercial market although you can find used MARPAT at shops like mine where someone has sold us their gear. There are commercial knockoffs of MARPAT, but they must be 30% different than the actual pattern and I have no idea what that means when the pattern is based upon an algorithm.

 

The army ACU pattern clothing is available on the commercial market. I know that Propper, which is one of the DOD uniform contractors, and also one of my vendors, sells both issue quality gear was well as less expensive offshore knockoffs.

 

There is some very high quality commercial clothing and web gear out there, but you are not likely to find it in shops like mine. It is mostly sold out of catalogs and online to those who, how shall I say, have been given a rather large stipend by private contractors, a stipend paid for with our tax dollars, and the prices are quite frankly ridiculous.

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Greg Robinson
I run a fairly traditional surplus store of over 30 years standing. As far as the MARPAT (USMC gear) is concerned, that particular digital pattern is not "officially" sold to the commercial market although you can find used MARPAT at shops like mine where someone has sold us their gear. There are commercial knockoffs of MARPAT, but they must be 30% different than the actual pattern and I have no idea what that means when the pattern is based upon an algorithm.

 

The army ACU pattern clothing is available on the commercial market. I know that Propper, which is one of the DOD uniform contractors, and also one of my vendors, sells both issue quality gear was well as less expensive offshore knockoffs.

 

There is some very high quality commercial clothing and web gear out there, but you are not likely to find it in shops like mine. It is mostly sold out of catalogs and online to those who, how shall I say, have been given a rather large stipend by private contractors, a stipend paid for with our tax dollars, and the prices are quite frankly ridiculous.

 

Shortly after the MCCUU "MARPAT" uniform was adopted one of the TV news programs (60 minutes, dateline, etc) did a story on it and had an interview with the Marine Commandant. He was quite adamant at the time that they did NOT want this uniform being sold and used outside the Corps. And a few years later it's still not commonly seen except occasionally in army stores where the Marine sold his uniforms. However, I have seen some of it sold on ebay by family members of Marines who purchased uniform items on base and resold it. That's how I got my Marine issue MARPAT utility and jungle covers.

 

Greg

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I have a friend who works for Government Liquidation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this company, they are the ones who took over the selling of military surplus for the Government. Anyway, my friend tells me that within the last six months the governmet has gotten quite silly on what they will allow, and not allow, to be sold. When the new digital camo came out, they obviously banned it from being sold. Shortly there after, they banned all camo clothing at all from being sold. Their reasoning was that if it fell into the hands of suspected terrorists, it could make the government look bad. Anything wearable that is camo is to date being sent all the way to Tuscon, Arizona to be destroyed. But wait it gets better. MREs have also, somehow, made the list. The same policy is going for anything aircraft related. This seems logical, however, when you consider that everything from ladders to ground support heaters are on this list, it gets a little rediculous. I can't imagine how many tons of surplus are being sent all the way from Fairbanks to Tuscon, every day.

On the subject of Gortex: Gortex made the military "no sell" list several years ago. After years of active selling of gortex, someone realized that the material was made with "infared blocking capibilities". They quickly put a hold on all gortex sales. My friend told me about several people who came in to pick up their items, that they had won online, only to be told they would get a refund because the gov. banned the sale.

On the plus side, anything that is in our collections will be worth more years from now.

Just my thoughts

 

Levi

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So the Marine corps comrcial ones are definately quite differant to the Issue ones. Are they done the same as the Army ones, but with a Marpat (Aproximate) cammo on them ?

 

With the ACU ones - are the likes of True Spech etc - as they claim to be - just the same as the issue - but with "other Brand" Gore tex.

 

Do any of you Active / reserve chaps use the "other Brand" versions ? And how do they perform ? think.gif

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"True Spec" is a brand name used as a marketing ploy. I won't carry it in my surplus store. The only thing up to "spec" are perhaps the sizing dimensions. The only government contractor of military clothing (apart from footwear) that is also a large commercial manufacturer is Propper, and even Propper has several price point lines, all "spec", but only the top of the line is military issue. And even Propper just came out with a new lower priced line to compete with True Spec on pricing. In my store we will keep to the mid-priced garments with US materials sewn off-shore. I stay away from the Chinese items as they fade quickly and just aren't as durable. But for a one-time paintball or airsoft game they will do fine. You can buy military issue ACUs commercially other than the IR tabs. And you can find both the ACU digital pattern as well as the knockoff MARPAT patterns, known as digital woodland pattern, in both the newer ACU tailoring as well as the previous BDU tailoring.

 

There are several waterproof breathable fabrics out there now to compete with Gortex. Goretex is a great fabric, but you do pay a premium for the brand name.

 

And yes, the US government is not releasing much of the camo clothing anymore, although they are of course not 100% consistent. Yet many soldiers are told to just take their gear home when released because it costs too much to process the items for return. I keep being offered gear from individuals every week in my store.

 

The MREs are not released because of complaints from the manufacturers that too many of their military products were being diverted to the commercial sector and hurting their business and that they threatened a lawsuit against the government for damages.

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MARPAT shows up all the time in thrift stores here (I live next to Camp Pendleton). Mostly desert camo - almost never the woodland green.

 

I have picked up just one set of MARPAT Gore tex rain gear (pants and coat) and they sold on ebay for $249 -

 

gortexzipper.jpg

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I have been lucky enough to get 4 sets of MarPat desert from a buddy who runs a surplus store in Charlotte, NC.

 

He ran into the same issue about the MarPat stuff, he bought a large lot of it from GL, arrived to pick it up, was told he'd get his money back. He decided to wait, and about a month later, it was released, he got several hundred sets of the desert MarPat. They weren't cheap but he turned a profit with them. I saw a box full of MarPat boonie hats at the Aberdeen military vehicle show last year, I should have bought them but they were all 'tiny' sizes, too small even for my 8 year old son so I passed.

 

And, he buys stuff from vets who've been told the same thing from supply, 'just keep it'. Most of them don't want their gear, so he's been snatching it up.

 

He also told me that the Camp Lejeune thrift store wouldn't sell MarPat of any kind to retired people AT ALL. Nor would the PX. I found that interesting, but it makes some sense, I guess, trying to keep the stuff for the Marines that actually need it instead of re-sellers on ebay.

 

I have seen very little in the way of army ACU at the thrift shop I use on the military base I work at. Lots of BDU though. Might be different if we were more of a 'deploying' post I guess.

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I saw a box full of MarPat boonie hats at the Aberdeen military vehicle show last year.

 

I saw a stack of (used) large size MARPAT boonies at the Sunday swap meet.

 

This evening I met a Marine who emailed me a couple of photos of the urban MARPAT pattern.

 

urbanmarpat.jpg

 

urbanmarpat2.jpg

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Greg Robinson
I saw a stack of (used) large size MARPAT boonies at the Sunday swap meet.

 

The issue USMC MARPAT boonies are hard to find, especially in larger sizes. So when some lady on ebay claiming to be the wife of a Marines was selling them I took a chance and what she sent me was the real deal, in unissued condition with tags, and in my size of 7 3/4 which is always hard to find. I noticed the other day that ebay seller all of a sudden quit shipping items she'd sold and racked up a bunch of "negatives" before finally being cut by ebay. So I guess I was just lucky or maybe she got busted for selling that stuff on ebay.

 

Greg

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Greg Robinson
I know the one you mean - i was after a bunch of stuff from her - but did not bother as all the negatives started rolling in :unsure:

 

 

She was a great seller on ebay for a while. And everything I bought from her was legit Marine issue right out of Camp Pendleton. I was thinking of contacting her about buying some more boonie hats but then noticed the negatives.

 

Greg

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Been on post today. The majority of the guys wore goretex parkas; mostly ACU ones but some BDU ones as well. Saw one guy wearing the ACU "M65" field jacket. The clothing sales doesn't carry them though. So, I am not sure if he was "wearing out" his old one or if they are still being issued. In any case just what I am looking for...

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