Does anyone have any comments on the “new” US military digicam combat uniform? doesn’t it look very similar to a WW2 German uniform? at least the gray, black, tan is very german.
As a designer who spent nearly ten years in the army I am constantly shocked at how many bad designs get produced for the military. Here are my opinions on the new uniform.
zippers vs buttons - zippers break, buttons just fall of and can be sown back on by the individual. Buttons allow for grater air circulation, keeping the soldier cool (which is very important on long patrols. I could keep going…
2.Velcro. Velcro is not a good idea in the outdoors, it gets gunked up with grass, leaves, dirt… Velcro also makes a big ripping sound when “opened” not good when you are trying to be stealthy…
Pen pocket on sleeve. Firstly the only soldiers who should be writing anything down are those in leadership positions, this is for security and intelligence reasons. Secondly putting anything on the sleeve interferes with ease of movement for the soldier.
There are some definite similarities to flight suits (zippers, pen holders, velcro):
1 & 2 Velcro does make a horribly loud noise but is usually reduced over time after a few washings. Never had a problem with the zippers on my flight suit. That’s really only a problem if you were a sniper. although buttons still are the best solution.
3 You can’t be serious? Everyone has the need to write information down from generals to privates. 5 paragraph orders, SMEAC, etc. If I’m in charge of a platoon I’m damn well going to raise hell if my Marines aren’t writing mine or their squad leaders information/orders down. Perhaps the Army MPs at Abu Ghraib wouldn’t have committed atrocities if they had written down the correct SOP for handling prisoners although it was more likely a failure of leadership.
What I find laughable is 14. Integrated Friend or Foe Identification Square on both left and right shoulder pocket flap.
a patch to let someone know whether they are FOF? ha ha… unless that square is meant to hold a microtransmitter that emits a frequency to other units (esp aircraft) to deter fratricide, then it’s a good idea.
I’d like to hear what the soldiers have to say about this.
There are several different designs right? I’d be curious to see how they might be optimized per user and per role.
Why didn’t they borrow from the current state of the art in outdoor clothing? I’d love to see the guys at North Face, Oakley, Body Glove, etc. take a stab at this. Maybe it’s too obvious to use our own system of competitive-quality through capitalism to suit our own forces.
The velcro seems like a liability to me… There are plenty of other fasteners out there that would seem to do a better job.
The “digipat” makes me laugh… Exactly what forms in nature look like pixels?