TROPICAL DPM collection

Here is the extent of my tropicals at this point in time....
I need more though...

wet weather parka/poncho jacket

SAS owned set from FALKLANDS WAR veteran...

SAS OWNED & USED IN THE FALKLANDS WAR...

and last...



enjoy
Steven

Uh... I see P68, P84, and P94 Temperate mixed in there with the Tropicals Generally the buttons are a good indication of what goes with what. For example, Canadian style buttons are only used on S95 and newer, both top and bottom. Really small dish buttons were used on 1980s Tropical stuff only. Flat disk buttons in bluish green are P94, bright green are P84, and dull green are P68 (though this is not a hard and fast rule).

And congrats on a BEAUTIFUL "Belize" set. Super hard to come by. Also congrats on a lot of original badging. Although I've got really good uniforms, most of mine are completely naked. A shame since British badging is quite nice!

Steve

CollectinSteve wrote:Uh... I see P68, P84, and P94 Temperate mixed in there with the Tropicals Generally the buttons are a good indication of what goes with what. For example, Canadian style buttons are only used on S95 and newer, both top and bottom. Really small dish buttons were used on 1980s Tropical stuff only. Flat disk buttons in bluish green are P94, bright green are P84, and dull green are P68 (though this is not a hard and fast rule).

And congrats on a BEAUTIFUL "Belize" set. Super hard to come by. Also congrats on a lot of original badging. Although I've got really good uniforms, most of mine are completely naked. A shame since British badging is quite nice!

Steve

OK...what is Belize? which one is that??? and I am completely LOST when it comes to which ones are which...so I just list them together..LOL

bond007a1 wrote:

Nice Trops! These are faded kind of like the "loud" Trops I'd love to have a set of. Great find, and these kind are getting harder to get a hold of; hang onto them!

Hi Steven!

It's tough to tell for sure, but the one Ben highlighted may be a Belize set. Someone else might know how better to tell the difference. Belize was supposedly named because they were worn there and nowhere else. The other type is commonly called the Hong Kong type, which is not as brightly colored. But sometimes the Hong Kong type, when faded, can look like a Belize set in the right lighting. I've seen trousers for Belize go for about $100. They are definitely highly sought after.

As for matching things correctly, try this out:


P-68 = Post 6 trousers and Post 15 jacket
P-84 = Post 14 trousers and Post 16 jacket
P-94 = Posts 5, 7, and 8 jackets
1980s Tropical = Posts 6 and 14 jacket and Post 7 trousers

The rest is correctly matched in terms of the model (as far I can see).

I'll dig around for some P-94 trousers for you since no man with that many P-94 jackets should be without!

Steve

Guys I need to say at this point that Tropical Uniforms were not made for different Jungles, Belize type etc is just a Nickname for them and you weren't issued a specific type for different jungles, many of the photos above are of Temperate Camo and used all over Europe and in the UK, the "Early" Trops were generally very loud but varied from one manufacturer to another these had small dished type buttons that could be either a tan ish colour or dark green, the later Trops were darker in colour (buttons were dark green dished) and this wasn't anything to do with working in another jungle just that the design and printing technique probably changed. CS95 which my regiment trialled in 1993-1994 was designed to replace everything......we were at the time Arctic troops. It was designed as a layer system. And pretty much this is what is in use today with slight variations. The waterproof coat at the top is an early waterproof jacket that use to make you sweat profusely and wetter than the rain outside. Hope this helps guys anyone can pm me for more info

Yup, that info on the early tropicals is what I've always been told. As collectors we like to assign names to things that are different so we can keep track of the darned variants, even if the militaries didn't care to (and they almost never did). The Belize and Hong Kong nicknames for the uniforms are pretty common even if they mean nothing beyond collector circles.

I have always been puzzled by the S-95 concept. I've understood that the standard uniform, even within the UK, is the type that Steven has quite a few of as shown above. However, the labels say they are "Lightweight". Usually that is associated with tropical versions as the heavier, or normal, weight is used for temperate environments. The ripstop jacket I have is labeled "Field". So if the "Lightweight" is the standard uniform, then what other types are out there?

Steve

What's even funnier is seeing pictures of Paras wearing newer-issue smocks and old-school trop trousers, like the trooper in closest to the front in this photo.

Im not sure but when we did the trial back in 93/94 we actually had a really in depth questionnaire to fill in afterwards, it would appear that the Army listened to what guys were saying ie that they wanted a combat uniform of a lighter weight than previously so when wet they dried quicker and were generally more comfortable. Hence the term lightweight being used, also this uniform would also replace the lightweight green trousers and green shirt with woolly pully over that we wore in Barracks, the first time camo would be worn by the British Army in such a situation. Im so gutted I actually gave away my last set of trial kit last year to a member of the cadets, shirt and trousers!!!!! D'oh! The ripstop jacket was marked as field because thats generally where it would've been worn except in cold weather on camp guard duty.

Oh that gastly soldier 94 ewww what a horried camo uniform ever on issue. They were printed in seasonal colours so summer was more green and winter was more brown. The cloth faded like crazy, it would soak up water and keep it, you would get issued different season print so you'd get winter print jacket and summer print trousers.

No wonder it was replaced after a year on issue.