Elaborate Fake?

--I found this a couple of years ago, and always assumed it was a PRC knockoff of German Flecktarn. It went into a box, and I forgot about it. I was gathering stuff up to do a trade run, and revisited it-- but still didn't know what to tell the guys at the shop about what it is.

It has no markings, aside from a tiny tag at the collar with the number "3" on it. Unlike anything from Germany, the cordlocks and snap-covers are black-plastic, instead of olive, and the cords themselves are cotton, and not nylon. There's no means by which to button a liner into this jacket, and the nametape-backer is absurdly thin-- like what you'd expect from a knockoff garment where conservation of materials was more important to the manufacturer than authenticity. Yet, the fabric itself does not feel cheap.

AND... the one thing that really gives me pause is the presence of Kroko zippers. Kroko is in Belgium, and they have actual military contracts with the Belgian Army.

As far as the pattern is concerned, I tried doing the comparison with images that many of you were kind enough to post between Belgian and German Flecktarn, but this pattern looks more German to me.

So... Is this thing a Chinese knockoff, a Belgian knockoff, or something authentic?

Could be commercial, but it's hard to say. Black plastic covers on snaps is standard BW, so no problem there. Fabric looks right. All the tailoring looks right. Good quality zippers with the correct style pulls.

The only possible red flags I see is the tag in the neck (should be broad, white square with all kinds of info on it) and the cord locks are of a typical commercial type and not the unique Bundeswehr type and color.

If there is no signs of a tag in the inside left chest pocket, then I would say this is a commercial piece. I think the tag might have moved around a bit.

Steve

--No tag!

I'd checked before-- but I remember the last time you advised me to check for one, I found something I'd missed, so I figured I'd try. =]

The reason I even posted this one-- or the most *pressing* reason had to do with the zips. The difference between whether I keep this jacket, or trade it is the location of manufacture. I don't mean to disrespect China, but I have found that when I rely on commercial goods, European holds up better; so I am not unhappy with this being a Euro-Commercial piece, and I am going to keep it.

So, thanks for the input. It is *always* appreciated (and I notice you go out of your way a lot, so it's not for nothin').

--Dan

Could be Belgian Airforce?

Maybe Dutch test gear ,but I think we didn,t have those short model jackets.

J from H

Definitely not Belgian Airforce. They only had 2 Flecktarn parkas (one experimental), neither looked like this.

Dan,

The sewing specs for these garments are publicly available, which means anybody could have produced this. I have no idea why someone would want to reproduce a garment that can be had for EUR 4 on eBay or EUR 15 in a shop, but stranger things have been known to happen

Based on what I see I'd say it isn't Chinese made. Perhaps it was made by a contractor in hopes of getting a BW contract (sample piece). More likely it was made for the commercial market by someone with access to mostly original materials. The zippers aren't the sort of thing I would expect on a cheap Chinese knock off.

Steve