Hi guys. Long time lurker and first time poster! Going to be starting my first impression, and as a student I'm on a tight (ish) budget. Going to be doing a basic British airborne impression and looking at the following two smock's;
British "Style" Denison smock (as stated on the site, not sure what pattern or from which armed forces this is).
and the;
The windproof smock. I know this was only used in small instances, however this has a bit more re-wear value (I actually think it looks rather decent and would wear it out and about on those grimmer summer days).
My question is; Would the Windproof smock be viable and would it be OK for the "Monte la Difensa" game in August, It's just down the road so can almost definately make it!
Thanks a bunch in advance guys!
If it's a straight choice between those two, I'd go with the windproof, in that it's the least wrong, as they were issued to British troops, unlike the top one, which is probably Belgian (I assume, not big on post war foreign kit).
It'll also be of more use in the long run, as you can use it for different Brit impressions in the future.
I'd thought those were about £60, though? I know it's a bit of a jump, but usable repro Denisons are around the £100 mark.
As someone else on here put it, 'Buy once and buy right', and you won't regret it. The top Denison will have little to no resale value if you did want to get a 'correct' Denison later, so you'd effectively have paid half as much again for it.
On the other hand you could do it right and get one of these: http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/1st-model- ... oduct,9843
The top one is a Norwegian M/75 jacket. Great for fishing/hunting/walking the dog, crap for looking like a WWII para.
I presume that the windproof you're thinking about is from Silverman's? I'd agree with Yith that for not too much extra expense, you'd be better off with a Denison from SoF.
OK then cheers fellas. I just wanted to know if either of those were viable options. I see the reasoning behind the "Buy once and buy right" idea. I've still got a good month and a bit to put together a basic impression, and I guess getting a 1st pattern repro smock would make it look more accurate (as it's the first thing people notice) and allow for scrimping on other parts of the impression for the time being. I'm thinking just a basic pair of Khaki combats, a standard pair of current gen ammo boots (?), gaiters, webbing and a maroon beret. Thoughts?
Thanks a lot for the fast and helpful responses guys!
Unless you've already got the current issue ammo boots I'd give them a miss if I were you. You can often find the older type just as cheaply on Ebay.
Another budget boot option could be these: http://www.jamesandjames.com/htmlfiles/ ... /m391a.htm
Thoughts?
As Bazooka Joe says, if you've already got a modern pair of boots then fine but otherwise there are inexpensive alternatives. Those cadet boots are a good buy!
You'll need bigger gaiters to go over modern high combat boots.
To echo the comments above, those SOF first pattern denisons are very nice, good value for money, and they are right.
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
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Well i'm currently using a pair of Reggata boots so I meant a pair of military boots that are more "Appropriate" and as such, current gen or last gen that are much cheaper than getting a pair of repro or otherwise bob on ww2 boots. Thanks a lot for the input guys. And those seem decent enough cheers Joe (Y)
Tom
Night have you been down to Militarymart in Ormskirk check out their WW2 Brit webing and various army boots.
http://www.militarymart.co.uk/
http://militarymart.co.uk/index.php?_a= ... &cat_id=28
http://militarymart.co.uk/index.php?_a= ... ct_id=1344
Free speech is expensive these days!
Funny you should say that, i'm heading there on Sunday to a game. Thanks but I've just picked up a set of P37 webbing (belt, cross straps, 2x ammo pouches and waterbottle w/felt & skeleton pouch) as well as a custom fit Denison (42" chest, even though I wear a 46" or a 48" slim) for £90. Both in pretty decent nick and the webbing can probably get away without a fresh coat of blanco as well.
Took me about 30 minutes to get the webbing sorted. Just got to add the water bottle later. What do you reckon to the Denison? Also the denison has two removable strips over the shoulder straps that has two stripes, one blue and one white. Any significance? I'm hazarding a guess at some form of unit I.D?
Denison looks a bit snug? Should have got a larger size, they should be huge and baggy.
You have the cross straps laced incorrectly through the buckles on the pouches. The tail of the strap goes between the pouch and the tab the buckle is attached to.
The slip ons are for signals.
Are you Amish?
aka Stigroadie
AFRA
better by design
"Truth is a shining goddess, always veiled, always distant, never wholly approachable, but worthy of all the devotion of which the human spirit is capable. "
Are you Amish?
Free speech is expensive these days!
The Denison is definately not as snug as that photo would suggest. The tabs around the bottom were studded together and there is a fair amount of room. Cheers for the advice on the webbing, I thought it looked a bit off.
I went out last night and got that amish thing once or twice, along with the obligatory stroke of the beard by random pissed up scousers. Makes me want to shave it off sometimes but I'm too much of an attention whore after a few ales.
