How do you feel about MTP clothing/kit?

[gentle assasin]

The new maimstream issue brown boots are the haix....

I get issued the altberg defenders...



On operations you get 2 pairs of desert boots... lowa or meindle..... 2 of one.. or 1 of each....

Regarding the MTP.... the kit is far better than the older DPM... fits better and definitley works in afghanistan and kenya....

In the british woodland.... otterburn etc.... the old DPM is hard to beat... ive worked with the french, german, kenyan and the US....and i think the DPM is better in our environment.... the french is similar...

For us... as soldiers... we dont care much tbh... aslong as its comfy..which the mtp...and the new boots are...

I am a keen fieldsportsman... catapults... ferrets... whippets....lurchers... hunting etc... and i use an old pair of DMP trousers... old black altberg boots and a french goretex smock i found somewhere...

Its cheap... free for me and the dpm stuff dried in minutes.

Cheers

 

[widu13]

We have some contracts within the MOD (A) and (RAF) including for supplying footwear on a medical need basis and I speak to many Qs. The most issued boot is an Altberg with many units (strangely RLC!) reporting that they are being issued Sneekers in retail labelled boxes. This may be due to the fact AB were struggling to honour the contract for the Defenders. Haix are being issued but there are also a heck of them being disposed before end of life of due to widely evidenced reports of the leather failing at stitching points. Very few units have the "camp" boot the YDS.

The specs for the MTP clothing is massive. The companies that have attempted to reverse engineer the clothing have not come close in anything other than appearance. Yes it is built to a price, but it wan't the cheapest!

 

[gentle assasin]

Didnt know you needed good boots to drive a wagon

Whilst the infantry lads tab morning...noon and night with the plastic g10's...

My feet are better for the altbergs... not the tabbing

We also have the YDS...

 

[Bluffer]

Didnt know you needed good boots to drive a wagon

Whilst the infantry lads tab morning...noon and night with the plastic g10's...

I know plenty of RLC capbadged lads who would give you a good monstering for that statement!

If you look around any airborne, Guards or Rifles unit you will see why Altberg ran out of stock!

Although from my current experience with inf units, I would question why half of them need go-fast slopes to hide away in SLAM on their XBox/PS during most of the working week

 

[gentle assasin]

I know plenty of RLC capbadged lads who would give you a good monstering for that statement!

If you look around any airborne, Guards or Rifles unit you will see why Altberg ran out of stock!

Although from my current experience with inf units, I would question why half of them need go-fast slopes to hide away in SLAM on their XBox/PS during most of the working week

The last would be correct! ...

In my experience... the infantry lads live by the rule 'skive to survive' .... but get the job done...and done well when it comes to it

 

[BlueTrain]

Upon examining my own unissued, eBay purchased example of a M.T.P jacket, I recall that the seller offered both a warm weather version and (I guess) a cold or temperate weather version. The warm weather version is nowhere near as thin as previous warm weather jackets (the DPM ones), although I have seen some DPM warm weather or tropical jackets that were fairly thick and stiff. Anyhow, there's no mention of a manufacturer, just the name (Jacket etc), size, and contract number, stock number and also the NATO size number. The other side with the care instructions also says "Camouflaged Pattern Registered Design."

Somewhere on line one can find an on-line version of the British Defence Industries Cataloge, which might list some manufacturers of this stuff. I had a print catalogue (two volumes set) several years ago and it's quite interesting. Presumably it is for export purposes and it looks like just about everything ever issued in the last 75 years is still available if you had a few battalions to outfit from scratch and you felt like what they used just before what they're using now was perfect and you have no idea why they're using the rubbish they're issuing now.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

For those that are vaguely interested, you can now get the old style windproof /SAS smock issued in the MTP pattern. Identical to the old DPM variant in gaberdine, and the non taped buttons. The PCS smocks with their triple layers of fabric on the pockets, fleece pockets and all the other gubbins are a touch too bulky and heavy for my liking.

 

[Trojan]

Repro MARPAT? Where can you get that reproed? The Marines trademaked the pattern; it even has the EGA incorporated into the pattern.

Ebay is full of repro and genuine!

 

[Corso]

Ebay is full of repro and genuine!

indeed a mate had a set from Japan that even had the EGA

 

[santaman2000]

Ebay is full of repro and genuine!

Genuine yes. That's easy and legal; the individual Marines sell it on after their discharge. And the Corps sells their surplus.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

What I think of MTP :AR15firin

Bring back DPM!!!!

 

[Angry Pirate]

What I think of MTP :AR15firin

Bring back DPM!!!!

Dare l ask, based on what?
Mtp, based on multicam, has been developed to provide effective camouflage in a variety of environments to reflect the variety of roles and environments that modern soldiers encounter. DPM works well for northern European woodland, which it was designed for, but fails to cope with urban or desert environments very well at all.
Colleagues of mine who have been deployed in Afghanistan reckon that mtp has saved many lives versus ddpm which was awful in the green zone.
The Afghan conflict (or at least our involvement in it) is about as old as you are. Folk who have been involved in it would probably dispute your comment. That said, the moment that British forces get involved in a northern European conflict again watch dpm get rolled out again as a uor! Even multicam have developed a dpm-coloured variant now.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

I just prefer dpm because I like the look of DPM better, and it works best in the environments I go to. I understand that MTP works best in certain combat scenarios and would prefer to use it if I was in such a conflict (although not in the northern temperate zone). However I am not in such a conflict (probably a good thing, as 13 year olds, grenades and rifles are rarely a good mixture) and so only based my preference on my own experiences. Thanks for that comment, it really made me think about it.

 

[bushcraftkid2001]

Also, as a fellow Derbyshire/peak district person, I recommend you join the Derbyshire bushcrafters group on the forum!

 

[tom.moran]

i dont mind either, but im coming form the point of view that im not really trying to hide in the woods just not stand out and i like the look of the new mtp smock, might try and get one and if i do, i shall waterproof it

 

[Drain Bamaged]

The Rape field at the back of me was harvested about a week ago and yesterday I heard someone shooting on there. Grabbing the Bino’s I spotted the hide against a hedge aprrox. 150 metres across the field, the hedge is predominantly Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Field Maple and Hazel but had been machine cut at the same time as the Rape was harvested so contained a lot of cut/split branches/twigs, dead leaves self seeded Rape, Nettles, Thistles etc. quite a varied backdrop colour wise, especially against the Straw coloured stubble and odd bits of soil churned up by the harvester. The three Pigeon shooters conveniently were wearing DDPM, MTP (I believe) and what I assume was RealTree. It was fascinating watching how the three variants worked on the day as they moved in and out of the hide to pick up birds, adjust and add to the decoys etc, simply going from a standing to a kneeling position, especially on the stubble completely changed how they appeared and how they stood out once you took the ‘man’ shape away. After watching for maybe 30 minutes I was surprisingly to myself going to award the points to the DDPM (the Black Labrador Dog was getting no points at all as he/she appeared to have made no effort to blend in and stood out a mile against all backgrounds). As mentioned I was about to award the points to the DDPM when about 20 yards further along the hedge there emerged another shooter with no obvious ‘hide’ I guess he had finally decided he should take a turn collecting up birds, he was wearing what looked like a brown cloth cap, an OG woolly jumper and Blue jeans. I can’t say for sure that he had been there all along (though the dog had approached that area several times I assumed looking for a downed bird) but if he had been there all the time it really highlighted to me the importance of simply not standing out or moving about when trying not to be seen. I’ve read the books and seen the youtube video’s on camouflage but it was really enlightening to see the comparisons in action and I probably learnt more in that half hour than from all the books etc. just a shame they had not kitted the dog out in DPM I could have seen the full set. Oh, and as an afterthought, if they had not been using guns I would probably have never known they were there, it was only the noise that alerted me.

 

[santaman2000]

Dare l ask, based on what?
Mtp, based on multicam, has been developed to provide effective camouflage in a variety of environments to reflect the variety of roles and environments that modern soldiers encounter. DPM works well for northern European woodland, which it was designed for, but fails to cope with urban or desert environments very well at all.
Colleagues of mine who have been deployed in Afghanistan reckon that mtp has saved many lives versus ddpm which was awful in the green zone.
The Afghan conflict (or at least our involvement in it) is about as old as you are. Folk who have been involved in it would probably dispute your comment. That said, the moment that British forces get involved in a northern European conflict again watch dpm get rolled out again as a uor! Even multicam have developed a dpm-coloured variant now.

I've heard an awful lot of complaints against MTP from active duty GIs too. Apparently it ain't that good either.

 

[demographic]

I would rate the UK issue MTP at being a far better cammo than the DPM ever was.

I felt that the DPM got better when it faded slightly and you as soon as winter came it was crap.

 

[garethw]

i dont mind either, but im coming form the point of view that im not really trying to hide in the woods just not stand out and i like the look of the new mtp smock, might try and get one and if i do, i shall waterproof it

I just got one of these... I was never really a camo fan... the odd real tree T shirt was all... I always looked for tan or olive green in surplus stuff... But I actually really like the multicam/MTP pattern... Especially as living in France I can wear it without looking like a renegade squaddie.. Here they are still in Central European woodland camo, so you never see MTP around.

FYI .... the smock is great, I'm well pleased with it... I got one last week brand new & unissued from Strikeforce surplus (which I can highly recommend by the way.. good prices and fast service to France). I'm 5'11 and about 90-95kg so got the 180/104 size and it fits fine. (naturally they are quite ample garments)

I like the fleece hand pockets, and under arm ventilation zips and the quality is very nice. Not sure I'm keen on the mesh shoulder lining though.
It is also surprisingly waterproof as new. I guess it has has a treatment which will wash off eventually... but first trip out in heavy rain and it was better than my old, now binned, goretex jacket. So I'd say if you get a new unwashed one, it won't need proofing for a while.

Cheers
Garth