Rhodesian track suit

I was told it's Rhodesian. Any thoughts?
thanks

Looks good to me - I have mine with the manufacturer's tag indicating it was made by 'Sprinter'. AFAIK these were an unofficial, but fairly popular item.

Ok, thanks!

Very nice!

hi philip,

the pattern is the rhodesian, but is actually issued to Zimbabwe, i have the same uniform and has the stamp with the county origin on it. If i am not mistaken Zimbabwe was the former Rhodesia.


cheers




danilo

Thanks for the info Danilo!

This type of tracksuit was unequivocally used by the members of the Rhodesian armed forces as a private purchase item. These tracksuits were being advertised in the SOF Classified section in the mid-1980's - at that time the Zimbabweans were using a vertical 'lizard' type camouflage in an effort to get away from the 'brush' camo of their former foe. They did not go back to the 'Rhodesian' brush camo until sometime in the 1990's (a picture in 'Soldier' magazine of a British BMAT Team in Zimbabwe confirms this.)

The existence of the 'Made in Zimbabwe' stamp on the item can be explained by US Custom requirements that all garments must have a country of origin label. I believe the 'Sprinter' tracksuit was manufactured while the country was still Rhodesia but exported out under the new regime (and name change).

Whether or not the new Zimbabwean Army utilises the tracksuit, perhaps (and Philip's may well be one of these 'modern' incarnations), but the thrust of *this* post is to point out that Rhodesians *did* use this tracksuit during the bush war.

Hi Filupe,

Thanks for sharing the information, that's pretty good point. The track suit i have does have same style as those 80's track suits (i remember them from my school days

I was under the impression they were issued to zimbabwe troops, good to learn the real origin of them.

cheers

Howzit guys...

I have been trying to track on of these tracksuits down for years...
can anyone help me with a link or something....even if it's a replica of the original it's fine...

Thanks

The tracksuits were legit and used during the war but were private purchase, If I recall, either the Elite or Elite pictorial shows Colin Wills wearing the jacket. Although I'd have sworn the ones I recall had a full zip front jacket

Could theoretically have been carried on in production into the 80s at least, as at that time you could even buy the fireforce vests from Fereday and Sons on Manica Rd. saw em with me own eyes.

And here's a really great thread on rhodesian kit: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323291
Chris

see post 7 in this thread, this is the tracksuit as I recall.

https://iacmc.forumotion.com/t100-rhodesian-militaria-some-items#44327

This is a Sprint labeled product that has the Made in Zimbabwe stamp as well.