Airman Battle Uniform (2008)

This is a page from the Book 2008 published by Airman magazine. Explains the new ABU uniform.
Andrew

We recently had a discussion about the ABU in another thread. There are actually two versions of the jacket. The first one has thicker material and interior chest pockets, the most recent one is thinner with no interior pockets. The reason for this is major complaints form personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq about comfortability in hot climates. The uniform in general gets a thumbs down, but apparently the jacket was the major source of complaint.

An interesting thing to note is that the camo printing is a little on the light side. This makes it look a little faded even when fresh from the factory. I assume this is a result of the high nylon % in the cloth.

Steve

Steve

i wonder why they don't manufacture the ABU in rip-stop hot weather cloth. same with the marine uniform.

Hey Guys, the USAF does have a lightweight aramid ABU pattern set for flight crews,afsoc teams, fire men and others that need a fire proof preventative lightweight uniform. It is made of 38% Aramid fibers, 32% nylon, 30% cotton. Mfg by SNC Telecommunication. LLC. Very expensive if you can find a set. Pretty soon the Propper ABU 100% cotton lightweights will be bought by all the personnel heading to the hot zones! Bruce

That uniform, the ABS-G, is anything but light I have set and it's quite heavy, which is typical of uniforms made from Aramid. Comfortable to wear compared to the ABU, that's definitely true! Really super slick looking... you bet!

http://www.centaf.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123116783

Steve

Steve, I got a large ABU Aramid ABS-G set off Dr Rich and it is lighter than my standard sized 50L ABU shirt and the size 40 ABU pants. Perhaps cause of the size differance. You are 100% correct that the Aramid set is better looking too. It feels like an old well worn pair of Levis. But I just tried the Propper 100% cotton ABUs at a shop outside Eglin AFB and they are lighter than both the ABS-G and standard 50/50 blend ABU sets. Bruce

Hi Bruce,

So is the 100% cotton stuff now official issue? A few months ago I read that the Air Force was FINALLY relenting and making a uniform that didn't piss off its wearer As I count it this would be the 3rd Model, unless there was something inbetween the 2nd (lacking internal pockets) and what you just tried out.

Steve

my 2 contributions

To a Master Sargeant



UPC tag



To an Airman 1st Class with Aircrew wings