Smock pattern..

[Templar]

Hi
can any one tell me where I can find a pattern for an SAS type smock as Im not keen on using any cam kit (too close to being at Work!) but it has all of the features that I want and to be honest I just cant afford to buy one from sass or arktis.

Thanks all..
Karl

 

[addyb]

I'm not sure about patterns, but you might want to try an anorak (smock) made by Propper, a US Army BDU manufacturer. I've had my eye on one for a while and my local surplus store sells them at a reasonable price. They're a 65/35 poly-cotton impregnated with a Quarpel water resistant treatment. That should make them dry quite fast.

Adam

 

[Neil1]

I have used a really old tatty windproof smock as a pattern, it cost me a fiver form a surplus and has now been used for the basis of the pattern for several of my smocks (now modified to an overhead design), there is a picture of the latest in my gallery.
Neil

 

[Templar]

thanks guy I'll have a look around, see what I can find..
If I make my own any ideas for fabric, I've tried to find ventile but only get blank Looks and shreiks of horror when I ask..

 

[addyb]

Templar,

Please don't mention Ventile. I'm absolutely distraught because last weekend I retired my Ventile anorak. It's 35 years old and was given to me last year by a very old climber. I had to take it to a seamstress and spend $50 dollars to get all the rips and holes sewn up. That extended it's life for a while, but the lately I'd noticed that everytime I'd put it on, another hole would appear. It now sits folded nicely in the back of my closet (I think that's what the back of closets are for) and I have to wear my stupid Entrant jacket instead. *sobs*

I really don't know if I can go on living like this!

Adam

 

[Toddy]

Okaaaaay, you didn't hear this from me........but.......the guys who treat houses for dry rot have hit the wall (sorry for the pun ) of timber preservation instead of extraction. A substance has been developed which re-stabilises rotten or diseased timber, and allows it to be left in situ. A little bird told me that this stuff can also be applied to rotting fibres, fabrics and interior decorations with fair results. Old velvet curtains for instance.
As I understand it is toxic however, and needs to be dealt with with all due care, but once bonded to fibres, etc., is stable and not a problem.
I'm not recommending it, simply passing on some gossip, but I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else has used this method on fabrics.
No idea what the stuff is called, sorry.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Templar]

There, there Adam
you have my sympathy and condolances, I too have a much loved jacket that I have been forced to retire before I was ready, It was an old Austrian alpine smock, its got more patches and stitches put on it than I care to think of, hence why I'm looking for some thing new and since I'm in the market as it were I thought I'd get some thing a little different, but I cant bring my self to start wearing my bright red and luminant grey G-TEX jacket I had worn for my SAR work, every creature in the forest would fall upon me and drag me off into off to the fairie kingdom!!.
but I'm sorry I just dont play those games...

Cheers... Karl

 

[addyb]

Toddy,

Are you suggesting that I embalm and preserve my beloved Ventile anorak and put it on my mantle as a display piece? (That's a good idea!)

Karl,

In the end it's really not so bad because I might have another 'free' one coming as soon as the gentleman finds the time to dig through his old climbing gear. From what I've heard, this new one (if I get it) is green and only a half-zip anorak, not a full zip orange like my last one. It's also supposed to be in better condition.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Adam

 

[Toddy]

Toddy,

Are you suggesting that I embalm and preserve my beloved Ventile anorak and put it on my mantle as a display piece? (That's a good idea!)

Adam

Well you could.... .....but the suggestion was that the solution apparantly strenghtens fibres that are no longer holding together properly. It appears to give a last lease of life to well worn cotton or linen cloth.
As I said, I haven't tried it, so can't recommend it, I can only pass on what I was told.

Cheers,
Toddy......You *could* get the jacket bronzed and framed, it'd be a novel talking point/ornament