British Jacket lightweight-Gulf War.

Great information about these patterns! Thanks!

If your desert DPM features any feature of these 2 photos exactly then it's not 1990/1 issue. This patten is much later and was made in tropical suits ( same as GW1 ) , airtex ( cheese cloth ) , heavy twill temperate smocks, ripstop smocks , wind proofs , UBACS , PECOC and webbing.

Highlighted RED are the shapes , if your items feature these shapes then it's not a gulf war item.

Awesome! Like you said the darker ones were later issue...I saw the pattern in the first pic right away on both jackets. I combed over the other two and couldn't match the pics.

A bit confused as Ive always been told regardless of the DPM pattern that the way to Identify era of these shirts was by the garment type EG the early ones had no rank slide etc???

This topic just gets more and more interesting, I'm still trying to get my head around the transition of the Jackets with canadian buttons with epaulettes:scratch:  

Very useful information and research B20. 

Easy Gee wrote:This topic just gets more and more interesting, I'm still trying to get my head around the transition of the Jackets with canadian buttons with epaulettes:scratch:  

Very useful information and research B20. 

Same here Gary as the easy rule of thumb has been as I said earlier regarding dating the shirts is down to the type and not the cammo pattern.

Here is my guide to desert DPM

Let's start from the beginning of official issue.

1990

We see the very first issue

Jacket unknown not seen
Trousers lightweight , direct 1:1 of the green lightweights but in desert cam. These are very first issue and come with 4 part cam for waist band lining and inner pocket reinforcement.

Colours , 4 screen 2 colours and 4 screen 4 colours for internal use only.

Then the second issue 1990-1991

A direct copy of the tropical suits

Jacket 4 pockets , 2 chest , 1 pen , 1 FFD ( FFD come with square and triangles pocket flaps , pen pockets come with or without a flap. )
Trousers , 4 pockets , 2 cargo with new non loss flap, 2 hand pockets and deletion of the rear pockets.

Suits feature mix of sand and brown buttons

Colours , 2 colour sparse , 4 screen 2 colour, could be more due to samples like I have.

3rd type 1991-1993/4
These are same as type 2 but a new camo print is added with shape changes.

4th type 1993/4 - 1995

With the introduction of new temperate uniforms the army gets a new set of tropicals too.
The fabric is airtex and is coined tea bags and rots like a mother.

Jacket, 3 pockets boxed edge stitched non loss flaps on the chest and a pen pocket with flap.
Trousers, 4 pocket , 2 cargo boxed sewn edge , 2 hand pockets.

Buttons are brown flat dish

5th type aka combat 95 1995- few months

We see continuation of the tea bag with a new cut to the jacket.

Jacket, 3 pockets , 2 angled boxed sewn edge chest and a pen pocket. These jackets however feature 3 rank slides 2 shoulder and one chest.
Trousers, 5 pockets , 2 boxed edge cargo , 2 hand and reintroduction of a single rear pocket.

We now see the introduction of the Canadian slot buttons.

6th type 1995 - today

Same as 5th but with deletion of the shoulder rank slides

This style remains in use today.


This is the guide as I know of and if anyone can add a variant please fill me in.

Superb information B20, well impressed with this table of changes.

I will raid my stash of DDPM , and try and catalogue what I have got.

Seriously ,this is the most informative table I have yet to see, I have been waiting for years to gain some information on the changes to DDPM!!!

Excellent,excellent,and more excellent!!!!

As I have said before I tend not to get excited by the actual DPM print,colours,shapes,dots or whatever I buy an item for the garment but this DDPM business got me curious so dug out what I had close to hand of what I have in DDPM shirts(all pre S95 type as have no interest in post 1991) and ignoring the print,cammo etc have noticed on the label of one that it appears to be AMMENDMENT No2 to the spec.

To my untrained eye both seem the same,same maker,same buttons,pockets,pocket flaps etc??

It could be something so simple like using pollycotton sewing thread over cotton, ink , or even amdt 2 was the first of the non lightweight work dress cut and the 2nd shirt just dropped the label info.

This is a new looks unissued set of genuine first gulf cammies. These are a matched set , same colour shade and buttons but the trouser quality is sub par. The trousers in this set not very good and look skimp made on the cloth ( maybe to make them fast ! ). The seams are not reinforced , the cargo pocket has very little bellowing and look almost flat like lightweights. There is also no waist PJ cord too with no evidence of ever been one there, I can't see the theatre removing it ?

Interestingly the jacket is marked AMN no.3.

These were bought from a theatre wardrobe.

Very interesting trews Mate, someone else here( who I cannot remember now) posted a pair of similar one's, and pretty sure they were described as being like the old  lightweights in design??

Is it possible these are a completely separate style all together, I seem to recall the guy having had them issued in Cyprus?

Easy Gee wrote:Very interesting trews Mate, someone else here( who I cannot remember now) posted a pair of similar one's, and pretty sure they were described as being like the old  lightweights in design??

Is it possible these are a completely separate style all together, I seem to recall the guy having had them issued in Cyprus?

I've had a very small selection of desert DPM 1990's trousers of which I've had 2 types , this style and a more better made one on par with 80's jungle tropicals.

The pair in this set just looked rush made in fairness , I just wonder if corners were cut to speed up the manufacture ?

bravo_2_zero wrote:

Easy Gee wrote:Very interesting trews Mate, someone else here( who I cannot remember now) posted a pair of similar one's, and pretty sure they were described as being like the old  lightweights in design??

Is it possible these are a completely separate style all together, I seem to recall the guy having had them issued in Cyprus?

I've had a very small selection of desert DPM 1990's trousers of which I've had 2 types , this style and a more better made one on par with 80's jungle tropicals.

The pair in this set just looked rush made in fairness , I just wonder if corners were cut to speed up the manufacture ?

Could be a rush job to get the troops suited for Op Granby??
Very interesting neverthless  

Here's a first issue desert boonie made from trouser weight fabric, the fluffy stuff. The tag is very simple wash and care as found in 80's tropical hats. Hat is make from 2 style of cloth a pink main body and a very light pink and very orange brown camo. I wonder if that's rejected cloth being used up , like how Australians rejected the DPDU MK2 as it was too light ?

The hat it almost new as no paint is missing from any eyelet , tag still all there just maybe washed by the seller. The camo print is very strong and dark with the ghosting shapes not showing ( sign of newness in 90's period camo).

There is also something stamped on the inside top of the hat, seems to be NATO number, size and a maker ending in LTD ?

That's a unique hat B20, the material looks very fluffy indeed.

I think I can make a 38 , and what looks like Vero ?( but my eyes are getting old)

Thanks for sharing mate

Easy Gee wrote:That's a unique hat B20, the material looks very fluffy indeed.

I think I can make a 38 , and what looks like Vero ?(  but my eyes are getting old)

Thanks for sharing mate

It maybe 38 but I don't think that's a size as this fits me quiet easy and I'm 58/59.

The cloth on these usually is more traditional tight weave , the other one I have bought few months after the war ended on a carboot with a sparse set was tight weave.

bravo_2_zero wrote:

Easy Gee wrote:That's a unique hat B20, the material looks very fluffy indeed.

I think I can make a 38 , and what looks like Vero ?(  but my eyes are getting old)

Thanks for sharing mate

It maybe 38 but I don't think that's a size as this fits me quiet easy and I'm 58/59.

The cloth on these usually is more traditional tight weave , the other one I have bought few months after the war ended on a carboot with a sparse set was tight weave.

Agreed all my early examples have the tight weave material, like you I purchased one after the conflict, sadly mine is not sparse pattern, but has all the characteristics commonly found on these hats.

Perhaps this one was made by a contractor who used sub-standard material to get them out to the sandpit in a hurry????

I have one with an identical care label but never took much notice of it,just threw it on the pile with the other hats.

Gulf91 wrote:I have one with an identical care label but never took much notice of it,just threw it on the pile with the other hats.

Yeah , I remember back in the 90's where my local surplus shop ( jay jays , who opened a shop in Brecon but started at London road in Sheffield ) had a wheelie bin sized sack of deserts hat at £2 each.

They were all small cut because most of not all had been cut in someway to accommodate a larger head.

Nobody wanted desert kit back in the 90's as it was no use , 3rd party makers didn't make it either so what was sold was real war surplus. It's just a pity I and others didn't get a few sets from when they were almost free !! I got a large sparse set for £3 , where is would be about £60 now same set.

Op RECORD was Canada's contribution to UNIKOM and which lasted from May 1991 until Aug 2001, although the major Canadian Engineer deployments to this region were only for about 18 months.   During these deployments the Canadians were issued British DPM and I have a couple of the original shirts, this example is complete will all of the insignia.

Any one else one one of the Spanish made GW era jackets, it's the only one I've ever seen, and gladly I own it?

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Was watching one on Ebay last week,99p start but didnt watch it until the end unfortunately.

Gulf91 wrote:Was watching one on Ebay last week,99p start but didnt watch it until the end unfortunately.

Interesting,wonder how much it went for,I got this one from a surplus store a few years ago,and paid about a fiver I think!

Kicking myself Gary,must have noticed what it was,put it in my watch list then deleted it not remembering why it was in there to make way for something else.