Going to order a Sass smock in the next day or two,what extras would you add?

[CLEM]

Going to treat myself to an olive drab Sass smock £99 in the next day or two but iam unsure what extras to add,hood retainer tab or double version,woolen cuffs,d ring,double d rings.What would you add? I can see the value of the hood retainer tabs keeping the hood out of the way but iam not sure about the other optional extras.Any help would be appreciated.Thanks. Hope to use it next month in Norway.

 

[mal]

Id like the Kit Karry Mkv

 

[Graham_S]

i would definatly have the hood retainer. it stops the hood flapping about when you're not using it. the D rings are useful for attaching firesteels and compasses to so you can't lose them and so are well worth having. i wouldn't bother with the wool cuffs though, you can't roll the sleeves up if you have them added

 

[sandbender]

I tried to order one a few months ago but they were all out of olive drab, they were supposed to get back to me when it was in again. Have you checked availability?

 

[CLEM]

No ive not checked availability,just figured that they would have them.Will let you know soon as i have.Just need to get my smock spec sorted.Ive desided to go for the double hood retainer and double d/rings.Now for the location of the ring,inside or outside pocket?

 

[CLEM]

Sandbender,ive just spoken to them at Sass and they are out of OG material so it seems.Oh well theres allways Radar or Arktis smocks.

 

[sandbender]

Yes, for some reason there has been a bit of a rush on OG

 

[addyb]

Uhm...technically it's olive-green, shade 107. Olive Drab was the American army colour in the European conflict in WWII.

heheheh

 

[CLEM]

Uhm...technically it's olive-green, shade 107. Olive Drab was the American army colour in the European conflict in WWII.

heheheh

Right you are then ,i was going to order an Olive-green smock and not an Olive-drab smock but alas they are out of the Olive-green material.

 

[Spacemonkey]

It's something to do with MOD contracts going further abroad to China and the local suppliers in Eastern Europe drying up, so they told me last time i spoke to them a month or more ago.

 

[Jjv110]

Hi,
I would order a smock with woolen cuffs. The velcro always wears out and you can pull your sleeves up with woolen cuffs. They are warm in winter and are not too tight like elasticated cuffs. I'd have D-rings in and out. The outer for using to attatch a compass for example, so you can do the button up again when it is out, hanging on the lanyard. You can put a perry whistle on the inner one for example, or can opener(military). I'm not sure if these are standard, but a drawcord on the back of the hood is very useful so you can actually see where you are going when turning your head to one side. A large pocket behind the breast pocket is good for maps.
I would try to keep it fairly simple and not go for a Kitt Karry. When all those pockets are filled, the jacket is not not comfortable to wear and the kit bounces about when you run etc. It's better to wear a simple smock, carrying your bulky kit in an "assult" type vest or small daysack.

You could go for a wired hood but I find that I've not really needed it much.
Cheers, Julian.

 

[marshall4771]

The problem with woolen cuffs is that once wet they take an age to dry out. They can feel cold and uncomfortable. But it's personal choice at the end of the day .

Shaun

 

[Ryan Woods]

Sorry to go against your word Julian but I always have enjoyed a wired hood as it increases my peripheral vision when bended correctly. Just each to his own I suppose.

 

[spamel]

I don't know exactly how the hood is made, but the issue version (of which this is supposedly a copy) has drawstrings with which to tie the hood with, therefore no need for a tab. I find this works perfectly and leaves a sort of high neck closure when fully zipped up. Very snug, but you have to ensure you roll the hood the correct way. Lots of people roll the hood so that the material is on the outside of the jacket, whereas you should roll it inwards, if that makes sense. This is because when it snows,etc, you undo the hood and if you roll the hood outwards, snow falls down your neck! If you rolled the hood correctly, the snow will fall off the hood and onto the ground.

If anybody wants, I can take a picture of how it looks and post it up with how I tie it.

Also, why put woolen cuffs on if you can put neoprene cuffs on. These wouldn't be uncomfortable when wet and would stretch to fit when you roll the sleeves up. Just a thought.

 

[CLEM]

Lets have a look at those pics Spamel please.

 

[spamel]

Right then, I've took a bunch of photos here, hopefully the quality is good enough to show what I mean. Thanks to Mrs Spamel for modelling the garment, although she's a bit shy and didn't want her full face in the pictures!!

First of all, if you lay the smock out you will see the two cordages for adjusting the back of the hood and the long loop for the hood drawstring.

What you then do is flip the smock over and fold the hood towards the garment label, and tuck the drawstring underneath the fold. If you have a wired hood, tuck the ends back on themselves and out of the way.

Next, roll the hood from the top towards the label so that it is as tight as you can get it.

Then you need to tie the hood in place using the two drawstrings. Loop them through the loop above the label in the way shown. I've found this stops the strings bunching up and it holds the hood better.

Then pass the two loose ends up and over the top and tie the two ends together with a reef knot, but loop one of the strands so that it is a quick release by pulling on the end.

When you do the smock up it should be really snug and be a bit like a roll neck affair, stopping you getting a cold neck in the winter.

After doing the zip all the way up, the hood will be just about right, just quickly adjust it and it looks like this. Also, you can take the smock off and the hood will stay put. If it suddenly started snowing, reach back and take a hold of the string, pull and the hood comes undone. You then just unroll it, no snow goes down your neck and everything is hunkey dorey!

I hope the pictures and description is clear enough, and also sorry about how long it took to post this but my internet connection is a bit crap at the moment, no idea why. It took a while to put the pictures on photobucket!

 

[CLEM]

Cheers for that Spamel,things make sence when explained correctly.

 

[Spacemonkey]

Have you got broadband Spamel? Mine got really slow and I replaced the filter and cable, which cured it. The filters do break down, and of course, the cable has to be 1 piece-no extensions etc and must be broadband specific, not a normal modem cable. Failing that, make sure all cookies, temp internt files, history etc are deleted (see internet options) and do a disc cleanup. It's worth doing an Adware scan and Spyware scan too, as these can slow things up a treat. If all fails, try your service provider.

 

[spamel]

I'm using Midas here in Germany through a WLAN connection. Unfortunately, that is the only option that is cheap enough for my needs but giving me a semi decent connection. The thing is, I sometimes get another connection when I search for the different nodes, and it is fantastically fast, but I haven't picked it up for a while. I regularly do everything else you suggest, I'm a bit paranoid where the internet is concerned!

 

[BlueTrain]

My personal modification to my own arctic windproof smock was to remove the wire and fold back the hood extension and stitch it in place. This makes a relatively stiff opening to the hood even with no wire. I rarely wear it with the hood up, however, but just thrown back. The double edge on the hood gives it the look of a monk's cowl. What I would really appreciate is the quilted lining like is in the old cold weather smock, the long one with the fishtail. But you can't have everything.

Either way, the hood is an improvement over the detachable one for the original DPM combat smock, which was too small for my tastes. I take it that the current model combat smocks (the ones with the full zip front and the later rip-stop ones which I believe have Velcro on the flap) do not have hoods at all.

Another modification I've considered for the windproof smock is to sew the front closed up to about breast pocket level, making it a pullover like the original windproof smock from WWII. The zipper stops about four inches from the bottom and the velcro doesn't hold it closed and it is close to being ripped where the zipper ends. Judging from photos, it looks like the thing to do is to tie the drawcord (which really ought to be elastic but isn't) and blouse it some.

Other than that, it's a pretty nice garment.