Russian Airborne Camouflage Uniform, - Bosnia/Kosovo

Very nice, Arch!

I ordered an extra striped shirt awhile back for winter (it would've been the odd one out anyway, no uniform to match it with) and I must admit they are very comfortable! Mine is maroon, though, not one of those cool blue VDV ones like yours.

Im Jealous Arch , really Great set !!

Ah the classic Russian pattern, been wanting to get a set for years now, hopefully this summer

Arch,
Very nice VDV camouflage set with collar brass. Thanks for the photos. I was able to trade with some of their troops when I visited Russia after the wall fell. The hardest pattern for me to find was the bicolor woodland pattern like in Dennis Desmonds book on pg # 122, bottom photo and the desert pattern suit like Chris Smith brough back on pg # 91. I even looked in Afghanistan when in 2001, but no luck. Bruce

To this day I don't know if anyone's ever gotten another one of those desert overalls. I sold this many years to borsorello, don't know where it is now. It came from a finnish friend of mine who lived in Russia in the 80s, married a russian cardiologist. He was a tremendous source of stuff prior to collapse of soviet union. He also gave me ALL the issue gear to completely outfit a finnish soldier ca, 1985! camos, etc.

Chris

Sgt P. wrote:Arch,
Very nice VDV camouflage set with collar brass. Thanks for the photos. I was able to trade with some of their troops when I visited Russia after the wall fell. The hardest pattern for me to find was the bicolor woodland pattern like in Dennis Desmonds book on pg # 122, bottom photo and the desert pattern suit like Chris Smith brough back on pg # 91. I even looked in Afghanistan when in 2001, but no luck. Bruce

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the note. Didn't you once tell me that after Mr. Borsarello had it, that it was traded to a French collector who traded you some shelter halfs for it? I may have been incorrect as the e-mail was a long while ago.


I have even contacted my military friends in Finland to see if they ever saw anything like the desert oversuit after my trip to Russia. No one has even seen anything like it including some of the Russian military that I talked to in Moscow or even the Naval personnel that I spoke with at St. Petersburg. Possibly a trials pattern desert oversuit left over from the Afghanistan campaign? I do wonder if perhaps Dennis Desmond has seen one since his book was published. I even asked Mike Powlan years ago and one of the Russian sellers in CA with whom I sold off my brother's housekeepers late husbands Soviet dress uniforms and he had never come accross one either.
That my fiend is one of those holy grail cold war items that we may never see again!

On a personal note, hows the new motorcycle running? Bruce

HI Bruce,
Bike's running great just back from 1200 miles worth this weekend.

Nope I totally lost touch on the desert suit after sold it to borsorello.

The really wild thing about it, my friend told me that he got it from a russian who was using it to work on his car!! so had a bit of grease here and there!

Chris

Hey Chris,
That is totally amazing that the individual who had it used it for working on his Skoda or other vehicle. I bet it is great to tool along the hills of GA. I have an old Honda XL650R dual purpose bike that I am thinking of trading for another dirt bike to use here in the dunes past Destin, FL.

I hope someday the desert oversuit will surface as I would just like a photo of the tags inside, or to see the fabric type that was used. Was it like the early KLMK sets? Bruce

Interesting you should say that Bruce. The fabric and construction was identical to the early (pre digitized) klmk. The only marking it had was a red/orange in rectangular marking (I think on the inside of one trouser leg) and was totally illegible but appeared to be along the same lines as the klmk ink stamp.

Chris

Sgt P. wrote:Hey Chris,
That is totally amazing that the individual who had it used it for working on his Skoda or other vehicle. I bet it is great to tool along the hills of GA. I have an old Honda XL650R dual purpose bike that I am thinking of trading for another dirt bike to use here in the dunes past Destin, FL.

I hope someday the desert oversuit will surface as I would just like a photo of the tags inside, or to see the fabric type that was used. Was it like the early KLMK sets? Bruce

Chris,
Thanks man. I wish that I had found one or more when I travelled thru Russia. My brother is a BIG Model A Ford collector and rebuilds them now that he is retired. He dragged me accross Russia for almost 3 days to get to one of the old Russian Ford museums. Then I got to take photos of him with all their Fords. He was in heaven. But I enjoyed it cause I got to see many of the outlying areas that people do not see. Our great grandfather was Russian and from the Ukraine on the seacoast. We plan a family trip to Poland and then on to the Ukraine in 2-3 years. It should be fun. He did tell me a while back when he and a Russian friend had a small import business going that many of the older Soviet cold war uniforms were being put away. I do not know how accurate this is. But I do know that many of my Russian friends do not deny it. Bruce