Home
Long awaited post from my newly received Albanian Items!
So from the whole lot that I have received some of the articles of clothing have been used to the point of which the tags can no longer be made out so I did some internet searching in order to best document what I have and share information with others. I know this is a very hard to find item. So I will share everything that I can about it.
So first right off the bat it reminds me of German Flecktarn, but upon closer inspection it really does not have any similar pattern. The colors are very close, it is a 5 color print just like Flecktarn but a whole different pattern. It is like a digital-ish print with larger digital shapes in the background and smaller digital shapes overtop of them. So it is not exactly digital like UCP but has a very blocky appearance mixed with blobs like the traditional M-81 woodland.
With closer inspection all the Velcro was added by the individual, some is machine done and some is hand done. All of which definitely is not from factory.
From all the referance picture i have looked at name tapes are not uniform required, or that they are just under funded and not a major priority. Either way from everything I have seen nothing is sew directly onto the uniform, it is all Velcro. Some of the pieces never had anything sewn onto the jacket above the breast pockets.
Onto the rest of the unifrom, looks almost standard BDU cut. 2 upper breast pockets and 2 lower belly pockets. Like i said above all velcro was added for the patch that was to go there. So from what i can tell left shoulder would be the regular Albanian Flag path and the other shoulder would be from branch (i.e. Land Forces or Support Command). I do not think this pattern is for the Naval Forces, Air Force, or Military Police.
Construction of the uniform itself it not to shabby. Quality is good, there is double stitching and reinforcements at high stress points (i.e. elbows, knees, and crotch). Quality control is not bad either all uniforms seem to be identical in construction and tagging. Buttons are attached throughly, and rank closure snap is high quality. Buttons are not made out of cheap plastic and the metal is not like Iraqi pot metal pins haha.
Pants are similar to BDU cut again, slightly off more so than the jacket. The pants have a black nylon strap from sinching unlike the traditional M-81 woodland pants. Buckle is also made of plastic, but again good quality. Betloops are closer to British cut and are very wide. Pockets are button closure and they use the same buttons as the tops. Pants close with a button and have a zipper in the front instead of additonal buttons. There are drawstrings at the bottom, of just a black cotton string. Also there is only 1 pocket on the backside on the left cheek area.
Tag placements! On the jackets, is right below the collar on the back of the jacket, just like BDU's. On the pants the tag is sewn into the pocket on the only butt pocket. All the tags are like a platic cloth feel, after extended use and washings the tags just kinda bleech out and turn into a silky feel.
Jackets
Pants
Onto headwear! they seem to be like the G.I. cold weather patrol caps with the fold down ear flaps, but it has an inside liner for what i can only assume is insulation. Quality again is good and the tag is located right in the center on the inside of the cap.
I will post information on the woodland sets i have in another post!
If i messed anything up i apoligize, there is not a whole lot of info out there on this. I could not dig anything up on the Manufactures. If anyone needs more pictures just ask ill see what i can do! If anyone knows anything else i would gladly be all ears.
Hope you enjoy!
Chad
So from the whole lot that I have received some of the articles of clothing have been used to the point of which the tags can no longer be made out so I did some internet searching in order to best document what I have and share information with others. I know this is a very hard to find item. So I will share everything that I can about it.
So first right off the bat it reminds me of German Flecktarn, but upon closer inspection it really does not have any similar pattern. The colors are very close, it is a 5 color print just like Flecktarn but a whole different pattern. It is like a digital-ish print with larger digital shapes in the background and smaller digital shapes overtop of them. So it is not exactly digital like UCP but has a very blocky appearance mixed with blobs like the traditional M-81 woodland.
With closer inspection all the Velcro was added by the individual, some is machine done and some is hand done. All of which definitely is not from factory.
From all the referance picture i have looked at name tapes are not uniform required, or that they are just under funded and not a major priority. Either way from everything I have seen nothing is sew directly onto the uniform, it is all Velcro. Some of the pieces never had anything sewn onto the jacket above the breast pockets.
Onto the rest of the unifrom, looks almost standard BDU cut. 2 upper breast pockets and 2 lower belly pockets. Like i said above all velcro was added for the patch that was to go there. So from what i can tell left shoulder would be the regular Albanian Flag path and the other shoulder would be from branch (i.e. Land Forces or Support Command). I do not think this pattern is for the Naval Forces, Air Force, or Military Police.
Construction of the uniform itself it not to shabby. Quality is good, there is double stitching and reinforcements at high stress points (i.e. elbows, knees, and crotch). Quality control is not bad either all uniforms seem to be identical in construction and tagging. Buttons are attached throughly, and rank closure snap is high quality. Buttons are not made out of cheap plastic and the metal is not like Iraqi pot metal pins haha.
Pants are similar to BDU cut again, slightly off more so than the jacket. The pants have a black nylon strap from sinching unlike the traditional M-81 woodland pants. Buckle is also made of plastic, but again good quality. Betloops are closer to British cut and are very wide. Pockets are button closure and they use the same buttons as the tops. Pants close with a button and have a zipper in the front instead of additonal buttons. There are drawstrings at the bottom, of just a black cotton string. Also there is only 1 pocket on the backside on the left cheek area.
Tag placements! On the jackets, is right below the collar on the back of the jacket, just like BDU's. On the pants the tag is sewn into the pocket on the only butt pocket. All the tags are like a platic cloth feel, after extended use and washings the tags just kinda bleech out and turn into a silky feel.
Jackets
Pants
Onto headwear! they seem to be like the G.I. cold weather patrol caps with the fold down ear flaps, but it has an inside liner for what i can only assume is insulation. Quality again is good and the tag is located right in the center on the inside of the cap.
I will post information on the woodland sets i have in another post!
If i messed anything up i apoligize, there is not a whole lot of info out there on this. I could not dig anything up on the Manufactures. If anyone needs more pictures just ask ill see what i can do! If anyone knows anything else i would gladly be all ears.
Hope you enjoy!
Chad