by CollectinSteve Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:33 pm
There was a huge batch of cloth, produced by a Quebec company, that was rejected due to quality problems. These were turned into commercial uniforms under the name Frontenac. Their first batch of uniforms was too close to the Canadian style so the government obligated them to produce stuff in BDU style thereafter. The primary quality problem was the ink wasn't evenly applied, especially for the black. I spotted this the second I had one in my hands and I didn't know a thing about it at the time, so it's pretty obvious.
It was rumored that the first test batches made for trials were produced in Pakistan. As Colbalt says, they weren't very good and they faded very quickly. But it bought time for the Canadian manufacturers to get the technology to make the cloth themselves. The first issue, which has white labels, faded fairly quickly but not as bad as the Pakistani stuff.
I've got a 1997 dated Pakistani made ARID CADPAT set that I'm convinced is a genuine trials item. But I have unfortunately not been able to confirm this. I also have used uniforms from the first production batch that was issued to the 22nd Rgt, which was the first to wear them overseas (Bosnia). I've got some later produced stuff, and as Cobalt said, the quality is noticeably better.
Steve