Canadian Para Smocks

[R711]

Guy its been all sold off. Ask brian at drop zone he got the last of some of the fabric that was avalible.
R711 OUT

 

[Canashea]

Its a big shame they stopped making these smocks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Para_Smock

 

[George Wallace]

Its a big shame they stopped making these smocks.

Not really.  The fabric faded very quickly in the sun and wash (sometimes as little as three days wear and a couple of washes.)  The snaps on the pockets were of poor quality and broke quite easily.  However, after all that, I still wish I had mine..... oh well!

 

[daftandbarmy]

The smock 'concept' is a good one. Wear a t-shirt or warmer shirt underneath. Easy to unzip and throw on a sweater (or 'jumper' if you're from the UK) when you stop. Much better than the button up cdn combat shirt in that regard. Pockets big enough for the stuff you need to put in them (although the popper studs sometimes gave out, and could be noisy). Tough and hard wearing. Baggy, long enough to just about kneel on. Not tailored, so you could vent in hot weather, or put thicker layers on underneath in the cold. The Cdn Abn smock material wasn't a great 'venter'. You could also wear the INIBA flak jacket underneath quite easily and make yourself look like a heavyweight boxer. It was cotton and fire proof - found that out the hard way a few times. I doubt the cdn cbt shirt/ Abn smock could take a molotov cocktail without going up in smoke. Weighed a ton when soaking wet though and the Cdn shirts dries faster. Have to keep Gary Gore-tex handy. The rest of the army in the UK were issued a copy of the Para Smock in the 80's. The first runs had crappy material though and it wore out/ pockets fell off and had a generally poor fit. I saw a whole arm come off of one guy's 'pseudo-smock' once. They must have fixed that by now. Luckily we were able to stick with our Para smocks. Cdn combats always seemed better fitting with higher quality finish than some of the stuff they came up with in the UK back then.

The SAS type windproofs were good too, excellent for tabbing above the treeline in all kinds of crappy weather. The arctic windproof was excellent in cold weather, especially north Norway. Similar material, but longer cut with a wire rimmed hood. Monster pockets with proper flaps and buttons to keep things in. Kept the wind out so you could ski at temps down to minus 30 with a wool/cotton blend Norgie shirt and HH thermal underwear quite comfortably. I remember several occasions when I had to chip the sheet ice off the front of my windproof after a long ski march to unzip my windproof and didn't even notice the cold inside. Fast drying too. However, few windproofs survived the blackthorn hedges in South Armagh longer than a couple of weeks, or the barbed wire fences of Salisbury Plain for that matter,and FIBUA of course. Smocks were preferable in these environments.

Ahhh... the good old days (yeah, right)

 

[Pathfinder]

PreFair (behind SAIL) in Beloeil...over 600 in stock...

Black Watch, I'm looking for Cdn Para Smocks (and/or material), was that six-hundred you said??!
Send grid reference, over!

Cheers, Pathfinder

 

[Bergeron 971]

I have an Airborne jump smock for sale, had it for years,new but used 2 times by a friend, only cdn od cdn flag sewn on.
Its 99.5% new. Still has orginial colour as when it would have been freshly issued.
.5% cause it was warn twice.

Askng price 100$ + shipping.

I'll go to my local and take pics if someones interested.

Any takers?

 

[Paul Gagnon]

I can guarantee that a serving British Soldier would not be permitted to wear it.

He must be getting his info off of Wikipedia. The article on the Canadian Para Smock and the DPM Parachute Smock make the same (incorrect?) reference.

 

[cadettrooper]

I have an Airborne jump smock for sale, had it for years,new but used 2 times by a friend, only cdn od cdn flag sewn on.
Its 99.5% new. Still has orginial colour as when it would have been freshly issued.
.5% cause it was warn twice.

Askng price 100$ + shipping.

I'll go to my local and take pics if someones interested.

Any takers?

what size?

 

[daftandbarmy]

He must be getting his info off of Wikipedia. The article on the Canadian Para Smock and the DPM Parachute Smock make the same (incorrect?) reference.

I can guarantee that there's no way a British regular soldier, especially in the Parachute Regiment, would be permitted to wear this smock.

 

[Bergeron 971]

Tag reads:

PEERLESS GARMENTS LTD.
SMOCK PARACHUTE DISRUPTIVE PATTERN
8415-21-870-8201
SIZE: 3 SHORT LARGE
HEIGHT: 63 to 76
BREAST: 41.6 to 45.5
NATO SIZE: 6070 - 0515
DECEMBER, 1978

This smock is new and in unissued condition.

 

[2-3-Bravo]

Hey, not sure if you're still looking for the para smock... There's a store in Calgary that has a few up for sale. All in size Med mind you. The store is called Harrisons... I think. You can email him at bunkertobunkerbooks@yahoo.com or call him at 403-313-4353. Hope this helps

 

[cadettrooper]

Wow harreson's is actually up-and-running again, in calgary?...........

 

[2-3-Bravo]

Yes... Calgary. I was just in there yesterday. Not too bad of a store... a bit limited in genuine surplus (lot's of knock offs) but over all, great stuff that civies eat up!

 

[army outfitters]

Fascinatiing. Give you one guess were he picked them up from???
Give up yet????
He is also now open in Saskatachewan somewhere now as well

 

[cadettrooper]

Yes... Calgary. I was just in there yesterday. Not too bad of a store... a bit limited in genuine surplus (lot's of knock offs) but over all, great stuff that civies eat up!

wow
            2-3-bravo if you stop by again anytime soon, do me a favour and tell him Curtis from Victoria says "hey",
he'll know who your talking about................

                                                                                                                      Cheers, Trakalo