British Free Corps?

Aye i have a heer tunic on order, anyone know a cheap vendor of the trousers?

Almost all of the sellers at the bottom of this page sell trousers:

http://www.ww2airsoft.org.uk/german-heer-infantry/

I know where to buy them they all just seem a little pricey, i know i have seen repros or post war german stuff around 30 quid

I know where to buy them they all just seem a little pricey, i know i have seen repros or post war german stuff around 30 quid

To be fair, if there's one thing not to skimp on in a ww2 impression, it's the trousers. In airsoft, they take pretty much *all* the abuse. Knees, arse etc all get a lot of stress if you're running around, and crawling through undergrowth.

It's worth spending a bit more on them, as they'll last a lot longer. I started out with a cheap set, and the knees went though eventually. Then got a better quality (£60-70ish at a show) pair and they're far better. less itchy, too.

I know where to buy them they all just seem a little pricey, i know i have seen repros or post war german stuff around 30 quid

To be fair, if there's one thing not to skimp on in a ww2 impression, it's the trousers. In airsoft, they take pretty much *all* the abuse. Knees, arse etc all get a lot of stress if you're running around, and crawling through undergrowth.

It's worth spending a bit more on them, as they'll last a lot longer. I started out with a cheap set, and the knees went though eventually. Then got a better quality (£60-70ish at a show) pair and they're far better. less itchy, too.

Words of wisdom there... you'll find when you collect militaria the trousers of uniform sets are often harder to find than jackets as these as Diesel says wear out really quickly.

I bought a set of very good repro battledress trousers nearly ten year ago and they are still nt even slightly worn looking despite playing countless games, doing one or two blank fire events, scores of weekend living history displays, a few 48 hours in the field type things and they *still* press and scrub up well enough to do British Legion standard guard parades and the like.

On the flip side my *very* cheap axis kielhosen from Spearhead have done Churchill Revenge, D-Day and Minsk and are already a but thin on the knees.

Boots and trousers get hammered the most and out of all you kit worth spending the most you can on.

( £60 -£80sounds like a lot of money I know but it's actually only what you'd spend on four good nights out down the local pub)

What about dying pocketless Brit Light weights?
they seem quite durable, and a simalar cut and at a fraction of the pirce im sure im not the only person who has had this idea?

As a stand-in for wool trousers, do you mean? Can't see that looking right.

As a stand-in for wool trousers, do you mean? Can't see that looking right.

Yeah, im hoping from a distance it will look fine, and at a glance passable, even if it fails i wont have lost anymore than the cost of the dye

As a stand-in for wool trousers, do you mean? Can't see that looking right.

Yeah, im hoping from a distance it will look fine, and at a glance passable, even if it fails i wont have lost anymore than the cost of the dye

I dunno, the chances of getting the colour right are minimal, at best, and they're the wrong fabric. In isolation, they could look passable, but as soon as you stand next to a bunch of other guys in battledress, it'd be pretty obvious.

For a budget look, you could go for denims? Soldier Of Fortune have some incorrectly made trousers, missing the front pocket, but they're only £30, code is BE088. 'Proper' denims from the same place are £50. hardwearing, too.

If it's for skirmishing in and you want 'cheap' and 'counts as from a few feet away'

I'd sugest greek, dutch or 49 pattern bd as looking 'allright' until you get very close and ranging from £5 to £40 for a pair of trousers.

German, you could do 'worse' than a pair of swedish grey wool trousers.. they used to be about a fiver. Sue Ryder retro shop in beeston has a decent sized pair in at the minute... you'd need to unpick the cargo pockets on the leg but other than that it would be hardwearing grey wool trousers for not much money?

Brit lightweights tend to look very much like brit lightweights no matter what you do to them, it's mainly the cut... very straight and quite a thin leg whereas 40s trousers tend to be quite baggy and high waisted.

But, all said, if you're out there battling it's better than sitting at home on a pile of kit cos you cant afford to play (i'm pretty much in that position these days ) and as long as its plain green or brown it should fit in with the kit standards for a lot of games including Gunmans and CiAs.

Brit lightweights are almost impossible to dye unfortunately. I tried to dye a pair a few years ago and, gave up after 4 packs of Dylon failed to make an impression.

What size are you ? I have a pair of dutch wool trousers that are so dark they are nearly field grey .

What size are you ? I have a pair of dutch wool trousers that are so dark they are nearly field grey .

34 waist, but i can fit 32 or 36
how much?

Brit lightweights are almost impossible to dye unfortunately. I tried to dye a pair a few years ago and, gave up after 4 packs of Dylon failed to make an impression.

I thought that might be the case, i couldnt remember what they were made of but thought they probably had a high plastic/mylon type content to enable them to dry out so quicky and be 'lightweight'.

we were not allowed to wear lightweights on the tanks, serious risk of them melting to your skin if you got remotley close to a big fire

nasty trousers, only fit for walking round camp.

serious risk of them melting to your skin if you got remotley close to a big fire

So you won't be wearing them to any socials, then?

Never an issue for me as i only wore them on wet exercises in wales but... i remember being told that tropical dpms were banned in Northern Ireland as they could melt to you if firebombed.

Before soldier 95, the fashionable thing to wear on exercise was tropical trousers and sas smocks as they wee relatively windproof and dried out really quickly compared to the 68 and 85 pattern heavy cotton kit.

I've got a pair of 60 pattern olive green combat trousers in the cupboard and they are beautiful... like US M43s in fabric and weight but cut like 49 pattern brit trousers.

I've got a pair of 60 pattern olive green combat trousers in the cupboard and they are beautiful

Nice. I often fancied getting a full set of Combat Dress, something else to use my SLR with

Interestingly in my 1968 Bren Gun manual the guys are wearing '49 pattern BD, '37 pattern webbing but are armed with Brens and SLRs or 'SL Rifle' as the TO&E puts it.

Cheers
Martin

SLR came into service in 1957 i think so you're going to have a three or four year transitional period where BD was worn.

I know there was some use of US 1950s combat suits in Korea.

nasty trousers, only fit for walking round camp.

Never worn them for more than twenty minutes trying them on in the shop+ posing for kit photos, so i wouldnt know
I have secured myself i nice pair of dutch wool trouers as mentioned further up in the thread so this problem is solved

I know there was some use of US 1950s combat suits in Korea.

Commandos wasnt i along with apprently alot of US weapons+ webbing gear