Australian firm Mission Pac has added 100% Cotton Outer Garments to their line up of merino wool under garments.
Mission Pac has reminded me of these excellent properties of Cotton:
“This natural fibre, like merino wool, provides increased breathability, increased comfort levels , and improved flash-over properties compared to poly-cotton and other synthetic fibres.”
They are offering Patrol Shirts, Patrol Pants, Bush Hats, and a lightweight Smock designed loosely on the original SAS Smock in Auscam (DPCU), AustDesert (DPDU), Multi-Cam (MCP), Danish Desert, Tan and Navy Blue.
Editor’s Note: I LOVE 100% cotton ripstop! (remember jungle fatigues?) I LOATHE the craptastic 50/50 NYCO that the Army introduced in the early 90s for the “Enhanced” Hot Weather BDU. The NYCO was developed so that Soldiers could starch their uniforms and make them last longer. It was not introduced to enhance the comfort of the uniform in hot environments. But, just remember, cotton isn’t for EVERY environment. So, huzzah to Mission Pac for putting this together! You guys rock.
Tags: Mission Pac
In what environment(s) would you recommend using 100% cotton?
Desert
@MaxM… The structure of cotton means it saturates before giving up moisture. So, not in cold wet environments cotton isn’t really appropriate.
Having said that, most jeans are made from cotton! So as a rough guide, anywhere you’d be happy wearing your Levi’s then you won’t have too many problems with a cotton BDU type ensemble. Keep in mind that colour fastness can be an issue. Anyone with light coloured leather seats in the car will have experienced some transfer of colour from jeans to seats..(over and above weak bladders or dodgy prostate leakage).
We’d temper this response with a note that design, materials, manufacture and end use are important when working with natural/organic fibres and materials like cotton.
Hope this helps.
UTE Out.
Well, I loved my old 100% cotton ripstop jungle fatigues (OG and ERDL varieties), and event the old cotton ripstop hot weather BDUs.
They were the best things ever for summer wear at Fort Bragg – and for Jungle School in Panama too. 🙂
Preaching to the choir to me, I’m a southern Italian, in my climate 100% cotton works great. Thank you everybody for the answers.
I’m with you about the 100% cotton. The “enhanced” hot weather BDU’s were less comfortable and less suitable for the field than the original hot weather BDU. ACU’s continue the trend away from field suitability and as a bonus, they look like sh*t in garrison too.