British army general service shirts?

[Mike8472]

Are the British army olive green general service shirts any good?

I have seen loads going on ebay for a few pounds and thought they might be ok for knocking about in the woods in.

Any opinions on them? would they be suitable? whats the fit like?
also they give a size in cm i.e. 43/44cm is this the neck size?

 

[Greg]

In a word, no!

 

[Qwerty]

Any chance of giving a longer response?

 

[Greg]

OK, having worn the horrible, uncomfortable shirts for 12yrs I personally would never wear one again especially not for bushcraft!

 

[Mike8472]

is it the material that is uncomfortable or the fit/styling?

 

[Greg]

Do you remember school shirts....! The fit & styling isn't condusive to outdoors wear thats why the military lads don't wear them on exercise / ops!
Not all military surplus is for the outdoors!

 

[Old Bones]

They're basically a mid weight cotton shirt, which I get for about £1.50 at my local surplus place. While not bad, I tend to only use them when I'm doing stuff generally around the house or doing DIY (if they get paint all over them, its only £1.50).

They wash amazingly badly from new (although the RAF equivelent continues to look fine), and within one or two washes will look like they have been used for years. How the Army manages to spend money on something which looks so unsmart so quickly amazes me. The RAF or German Army Shirt wears rather better.

Buy them if you want (and they at least look less silly on a civvy than the DPM shirt), but dont pay over the odds for them. A couple of quid should be the limit, and for about three quid I can get new German Army shirts - which are excellent.

As for sizing, looking at one of mine (covered in paint) it says 38/40. I've just found one on the net which says that its a collar size 32/34cm, which translates into a 12 1/2- 13 1/2inch collar. That makes sense, because I'm a 15 1/2 inch collar (38/40cm). But just to make things more confusing, I'm a 38 inch chest for normal shirts, so God knows what it means (is all Army sizing this confusing?). Just find your local surplus place and see if it fits!

 

[rik_uk3]

£2 each, cotton two breast pockets, you can't go wrong really. Perfect for bumming around camp.

 

[johnnythefox]

you want to try the horrid wool? shirts we had to wear

 

[Radix lecti]

you want to try the horrid wool? shirts we had to wear

I still have a couple of my issue KF shirts,never to be worn again,ghastly things.

Darren

 

[WoodMan]

I still have a couple of my issue KF shirts,never to be worn again,ghastly things.

Darren

Should have left the hair on the horse where it belonged! Glyn.

 

[johnnythefox]

as we where brats [16] we also got issued 37 pattern webbing to make our life hell blancoing,not to mention uncomfortable and looking like a prat!
they must of had a big stock left over from the war.

we also got a pair of WW2 combat strides,thankfully they never made us wear them.they weighed the same as the big steel lockers.
how any one advanced to combat with any speed wearing those is a miracle or had any skin left on their legs

 

[Greg]

And the putties! Christ they were incredibly annoying always riding up over the top of the DMS Boots! I wore all the old kit for 6yrs in the Army cadets (Itchy KF shirts the lot!) ... How did I enjoy the cadets for so long that it made me want to join up!!!????

 

[Mikey P]

OK, having worn the horrible, uncomfortable shirts for 12yrs I personally would never wear one again especially not for bushcraft!

Ditto.....

 

[WoodMan]

as we where brats [16] we also got issued 37 pattern webbing to make our life hell blancoing,not to mention uncomfortable and looking like a prat!
they must of had a big stock left over from the war.

we also got a pair of WW2 combat strides,thankfully they never made us wear them.they weighed the same as the big steel lockers.
how any one advanced to combat with any speed wearing those is a miracle or had any skin left on their legs

Bloody hell, that was Centurian was a rank not a tank and before Pontious joined the RFC....sorry...the old ones are the best...Glyn.

 

[Paul72]

Woolen shirts? I've got cadet memories of them too. Horrible things, they were like wearing sandpaper against your nipples!! OWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

 

[Grendel]

Hmm cadet Wool shirts and barrack dress trousers. Bad memories. To think I was wandering if the wools shirts would be good for bushcraft but now I remember just how itchy and uncomfortable they where.

 

[rik_uk3]

Typical UK bushcrafter in typical bushcraft shirt and bushcraft hat. Note loops over chest pocket to hold cigars

I feel a group buy coming on.

Or a more tailored fit on shirt and trousers

 

[Gagnrad]

To think I was wandering if the wools shirts would be good for bushcraft but now I remember just how itchy and uncomfortable they where.

In the Middle Ages in Northern Europe virtually all the clothing was wool, but your underwear—shirt and drawers—was linen. It was only those that you washed. Hence the French word lingerie:

The word derives from the French word linge, "washables"—as in faire le linge, "do the laundry"—and ultimately from lin for washable linen, the fabric from which European undergarments were made before the general introduction of cotton from Egypt and then from India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingerie#Etymology

So even when wool was virtually all people had, they didn't wear it next the skin if they could avoid it. Probably both because it doesn't really wash well and because, as you say, it itches.

But I guess one could wear a long-sleeved cotton T-shirt and use an over-size wool shirt as a light jacket.

 

[Beardy]

As for wool and shirts generally I have a button-up shirt that is brushed cotton, it makes for a warm shirt but not one that is itchy and horrible. Although wool can be itchy I find it can also be great next to the skin - I have wool thermals by Helly Hansen and a wool long sleeved t shirt by Smartwool that don't irritate in the slightest.

As for the issued cotton shirts I would steer clear - the RN version at least took an age to dry out once soaked from sweat, okay for dirty jobs in the garden but not exactly conducive to comfort when outdoors for extended periods of time.