lizard pattern

Plenty of lizard on my website
Gilles

http://vonstuckcamouflage.free.fr/serbie.php

Fantastic set! I never knew they made oversuits from lizard material.

Steve

My opinion is that it's not serbian but slovenian.
I say that, because this fabric with these colors, for my knowledge, didn't exist when serbs used this kind of camouflage.
Personally I have never seen in any pictures a suit like this one used by serbs in Bosnia etc...
Otherwise, Slovenian Special Forces (Specijalna Enota), some years ago, had some uniforms in the same camo pattern. I think that it was used just for a short period and from a few years they wear woodland suits.
I have one set, got in Slovenia in a military-flea-market, composed by jacket + trousers + cap (titovka); fabric seems the same.
Buttons on shoulders, neck and wrists seem the same I can see on the sniper suit bag.
Here it is (flash made it a little bit lighter..):








And here some of my serbian lizard (they are only some examples of the many variants that were around) which look to me different by the one above:

I just scored this very green lizard pattern from the Balkans. The seller claims that it was used by Arkan's militia group and that the patch is original to the jacket, but I am always skeptical. Anyone hazard a guess?

Even if it did not belong to Arkan's Tigers, it's still a great example of a green lizard I think.

I saw that auction 2 days ago and I thought it was a really nice jacket.
Today I was searching it again, but probably you have already won it! :-)
The patch isn't the one that was used by Arkan tigers, but it's an original serb patch anyway.
In this moment I don't know which unit had it, but we can find some infos somewhere..
..so, nice catch Koalorka!

I'd have to agree that it's (at least the patch) not from Arkans bunch of thugs. It's too small for me to read what is on the lower portion (and my Serbian sucks). Can make out the "Serbia" and the 4 Cs ("Only Unity Saves the Serbs").

Thanks, the auction expired yesterday and I was surprised it was not contested by other collectors, the wording of the description was somewhat vague.

Here is the auction link for those interested:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130563007695?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_949

So you think it was worn by some Serbian irregular group?

There are so many variations of these Serbian 4-pocket field jackets. This one has pockets on the rear, veclro over one of the chest flaps and only a single grenade ring. Were these ever standardized?

Yeah, something like an irregular unit, but the camouflage was used by almost all serbs in Bosnia.

Very cool, I'm happy to have a war-time piece.

it's written Srpska Dobrovoljacka Garda - Serbian Volunteer Guard

it looks like copy of Arkan Tigers left sleeve patch

Here is a close-up:

9 x 12 cm, velcro on back

Here's another type I found:





It has a different arrangement of features and no velrco for rank insignia, so I suspect it's a militia jacket.

Ooo... I haven't seen one like that before. It's more like a US M65, but with velcro instead of snaps and that odd zipper thing over the left breast pocket. And of course, standard issue M65s do not come with a foot attached

Steve

At least it's not the ugliest foot I've ever seen in these photo ops.

Dont forget the lowly shelter half :

Click here

panzerwerk wrote:Dont forget the lowly shelter half :

Click here

Hello Steve
Your shelter half is Cuban, I am sure at 99%
Gilles

Why do you say so ?? It follows the cut of the rest of my Serbian Yugo Zelts ,And I dont think I have ever seen a Cuban Zelt , not saying they are not out there , I just dont have one too compare too , and the fabric is the same soft blend as my Serbian blue and Grey shirts,Dont get me wrong I would love that it was Cuban !!
And I was told a long time ago some of the early blue Grey tiger fabric used by Serbian Police may have come from Cuba, but I do not know if this is true :

Click here

BTW I dont post the pics here because they are very large pics.

Cuba


Serbia




Hello Steve
Well, for me the pattern is Cuban, not Serbian
Compare the part of the shelter half and my Cuban shirt in the left
The drawing is different than the Serbian lizard
Gilles

Steve,
I'm blindly guessing that there aren't any stamps on the lizard since you didn't show them in your link like your first two patterns.

I see what Gilles is saying. Even though the patterning is similar, there are difference in the details that are, seemingly identical to the Cuban pattern.

I understand what you guys are saying , I was told early on when the Serbian police adopted this pattern and during the war , Cuba supplied some fabric for uniforms and such , these were early items and later the Serbians made their own pattern , again , until I see a Cuban Lizard shelter half other then the one I have , it might be either , the cut ,size and grommets all scream Serbian , the lack of buttons on all my yugo zelts is another feature not shared by others , I am not saying its not Cuban , but there needs to be more facts for me to claim either way.

Steve,
I'm blindly guessing that there aren't any stamps on the lizard since you didn't show them in your link like your first two patterns.

I see what Gilles is saying. Even though the patterning is similar, there are difference in the details that are, seemingly identical to the Cuban pattern.

I will look it over agian and see if there are stamps , but its faded and well used , and I dont remember ever seeing any .

Cuban or Serb, it's a rare piece and I'm jealous

Steve

Guys, are you sure that there were serbian zelts in lizard camouflage?
Personally I've never seen any pictures that show yugo/serb zelts made in lizard camo, but only in the yellow-branch or M89/M93 patterns.
I agree with the "cuban made" of that zelt, moreover for its colors.

I could say the same for Cuban zelts ,never seen one besides the one I have . wish there were a pic or 2 probably solve this in a second !