Unusual ERDL Jacket

[QED4]

I bought this jacket in a thrift shop for $3.00 so if someone made it up to make money it did not work. The insignia seem almost too good to be true but their placement is correct. There is a 1st Ranger Bn patch and an American flag on the right shoulder and a 1st Ranger Bn patch and a ranger tab on the right shoulder. Above the left pocket is the US Army tape, senior jump wing, and CIB and a Pathfinder Badge on the pocket flap. There is a Jungle Expert patch on the left pocket and the name tape over it and Sgt stripes on the collar. All insignia are subdued. The pockets are like nothing I have ever seen and do not appear to be a modification. The jacket is well made and the labels look right but no date also the light green colour is lighter and brighter than the normal ERDL. I would welcome any ideas on this, I lean towards it being a fantacy but then you never know.

[QED4]

This is the upper pocket, it is actually slanted. I blew the colour out a little so you could see the pocket better.

[QED4]

This is the lower pocket, it is bellow type and the same goes for the colour.

[QED4]

The top button is exposed (not the collar button) but the rest are covered.

[QED4]

The labels, sorry it's a little fuzzy.

[QED4]

Last one, this is the uniform in question (on the right ) and a normal ERDL uniform (on the left) to show the colour difference.

[Copran]

Hello,

 

I think your jacket was retailored from the RDF jacket to look like Vietnam era ERDL jacket. Probably a modification made in oversea with some tailor shop

 

Cheers

[bravo_2_zero]

Color looks late RDF style with the black looking like it's got a purple tint to it. the Vietnam period black goes gray when sun bleached.

The Sewing on the chest pockets looks very amateur, the corner looks like it's been done 3-4 times without reinforcement stitching.

 

Looks like it has 2 exposed buttons around the neck and the width of the neck color is same as the width as the very early M81 shirts. The ERDL Nam and RDF had very small neck colors.

 

The sleeve fasteners at the wrists look late M81 style .

 

very odd one this is.

[New Romantic]

The date looks like it had been marked over. Can you make it out under the marker?

[Spike]

This is reproduction made in the late 80's/early 90's, they also made these in OD as well. I can't remember who made them but they were available in surplus stores for awhile. This guy probably had it made for some sort of reunion and then gave it to the thrift store.

[kammo-man]

Hi all

From what I remember they were made by Alpha Ind.

I had a set and they were just rotten.

The rip stop was all bulky and rough.

[hawkdriver]

The US didn't start wearing the American flag until about the mid 90's during Bosnia, so definitely a repro.

[Andrei]

I agree with Spike, not a repro but certainly a jacket made up by a vet for a reunion.

[matmil]

On the ERDL, there is a Green dominant, and a Brown Dominant camo pattern, especially on the vietnam period Jungle jackets, this is quite distinguishable.

Matt

[ABNRANGER1-75]

I bought this jacket in a thrift shop for $3.00 so if someone made it up to make money it did not work. The insignia seem almost too good to be true but their placement is correct. There is a 1st Ranger Bn patch and an American flag on the right shoulder and a 1st Ranger Bn patch and a ranger tab on the right shoulder. Above the left pocket is the US Army tape, senior jump wing, and CIB and a Pathfinder Badge on the pocket flap. There is a Jungle Expert patch on the left pocket and the name tape over it and Sgt stripes on the collar. All insignia are subdued. The pockets are like nothing I have ever seen and do not appear to be a modification. The jacket is well made and the labels look right but no date also the light green colour is lighter and brighter than the normal ERDL. I would welcome any ideas on this, I lean towards it being a fantacy but then you never know.

 

Do you still have this top? This guy served with me in the Rangers. I would love to work with you on buying hte top. He was a good friend of mine. Please email me savannahranger1@yahoo.com

[77thPFDR]

I know that this thread maybe alread done but I thought I would throw this in. Just in case someone like me searches and reads old threads. 

 

This jacket was a reproduction made by Atlantco, out of GA in the late 80s/early 90s which eventually became TRU Spec. They did indeed make OD as well as the ERDLs. They were exclusively sold at the US Cav Store. While it was an attempt to reproduce quality repros the pockets were a dead give away that they were wrong not to mention the colors. There were several bolts made so the colors varied.  

 

ERDLs dried up real quick after 86 and to find them was almost impossible in the 90s. So the US Cav was trying to appeal to a veterans market by having these done. They sold for a few years and then gone. 

 

I hope this helps.

 

 

[Martinjmpr]

The subdued American flag is something I never saw on active duty at this time.  In fact I don't think subdued American flags were used until well into the ACU era.  And the 1st Battalion Ranger scroll appears to be the later 1980's - early 1990's style scroll as opposed to the early 80's scroll that you might expect to see on an ERDL jacket.