I've had a serious camo addiction hit me lately and have been trying hard to find a few uniforms that I have become stuck on something fierce.

The cure arrived yesterday after PatriaPovo and I got back from the range where we met with member Auzie. Not only did I have a good day shooting with a friend of mine, I met a fellow AK enthusiast who is really cool and got a nice surprise when I got home. I wish every day worked out this well.  



As labelled these are all SPOSN after market uniforms, not general issue but apparently available for individual soldier purchase and in some cases issued to certain units, from what I understand. SPOSN makes really high quality uniforms, I am really impressed with all of these and have already commented that I wish I had a Gorka when I was in the Army. The Partizan is a tad light for my taste (though heavier and more durable than the Modoks KZM Partizan I recently sold), but the Partizan-M is ultra comfortable. And you really can't beat the comfortable feel and fit of the Gorka series, seriously.

Partizan's are interesting uniforms, bag, comfortable and fully reversible including all pockets. Buttons are designed to push through to the other side and you can run the strings through holes after you reverse too. Partizan has a mesh for better hearing, Partizan M doesn't but has an extra set of pockets on the front and is a heavier and nicer feeling uniform. They also include a face net for better camo and have plenty of attachment points for adding foliage to the uniform.

And here they are, I can finally stop jonesin  





Autumn Pattern on the reverse side:






Gorka trousers





Comparison of autumn trouser patterns




Partizan (left) and Partizan M summer colors





Autumn colors Partizan (left), Partizan M and Gorka-E Autumn


And TX-Zen junior (who prefers 'TX-Curbmonkey') with his favorite rifle trying out the Partizan-M





Small comparison of the autumn colors in the yard




The Gorka-R came from SkippersMilitarySupply and the rest from Soviet-Propaganda, both Justin and Dmitry have been excellent to deal with and I'm really happy with the quality of service from both.



Z

Very cool!

nice, they look comfy too!

I'm really happy with these uniforms particularly the Partizan-M as I mentioned.

I fooled around with the face veil today and it works surprisingly well. It's just and elastic band with a net on the front but stays secure and tucks into the hood nicely, doesn't interfere with the PSO and really doesn't seem to degrade my vision at all. I'll how well it does on the range this weekend with live fire and some moving around but it seems pretty darn useful so far.

And I should add that the face net is not integrated, its a stand alone net that comes with the Partizan but could also be used with the Gorka. I think anything with a hood would work nicely.




Z

Does skipper have a sizing chart?  I didn't see one.

I don't believe so but there are plenty out there. Justin is really good about email questions too


http://www.tridentmilitary.com/size-chart.html


Z

Thanks, I'll look around and maybe shoot him an email.  I really like that Gorka -R!

I figure the Gorka-R will be great for civilian use like camping or hiking etc which is mainly why I bought that pattern to begin with.  

It's military but not over the top obvious, it could easily pass for hiking gear and I have to say again it's damn comfortable. Probably not the perfect choice for East Texas but anywhere that it might be less than a million degrees with 100% humidity it should probably work pretty well, especially the further north you go.



Z

How tight do the drawstrings get on these?  I ask because the size I'd need for my chest would result in me getting pants a couple sizes too big.  I don't see beltloops on the pants either.

I doubt you'll have an issue, they all have elastic waists and fit comfortably. Plenty of wiggle room to get it right, they're not cut to fit only the size listed...they're flexible enough to fit a few people in that same size range.



Z

Good pictures!  Looks like the Russian uniforms would be very comfortable.

I believe I like the non camo R Gorka best... but I think the reversable summer to autumn camo is nice.

In the picture of the 3 pairs of pants - the one in the middle (Partizan M ?) blends in very well with the landscape of your yard.

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

And thanks for triggering my SVD frenzy again. Let's just see what's on gunbroker right now...

Zen,

You have the coolest shit on arfcom.

Does this help the frenzy at all?        

           


















Just a little fish in a big pond ...some people here have really really cool stuff that I'd love to own






Z

Amen on that one!    

Thanks for the review and good photos.  

Excellent patterns.

Developed by the Waffen SS and reproduced by the Ruskies.

Very cool gear!

It seems that both Gorka and Partizan are reproductions of the original German stuff, in the case of Partizan-M it's looks like a combination of two different SS uniforms. Gorka is actually a direct copy down to the material used, the way I heard it was that after WWII the Soviets had captured tons of the German mountain uniforms but had no use for it because they didn't have dedicated mountain units. They liked it and found that it worked extremely well, but without units to issue it to they shelved the test results. 30 years later someone breaks out the original test data and captured samples and decides to produce it. SPOSN's production quality is very high and they do a good job of making functional and well made field uniforms without reinventing the wheel...as for camo obviously the SS pattern has a reputation of being extremely effective and SPOSN apparently knows that too. Like I said these are most comfortable uniforms I've ever worn, they are way nicer than my old and trusty woodland BDU's that I was issued back in the day.


A few newer pics



Chamelion SVD chest rig, 10 mags total 8 of which are accessible. Distributes the weight very well and rides great.





Caps and boonie, these feel like bandana weight cloth with a brim attached. Very light and I'm not sure how much weather they will keep off your head but they are really comfortable. Seems to be for camo effect on the head only




German SS in the middle, summer and autumn




Z

Hey TX, you ever consider the SPOSN Smersh set-up with the SVD pouches?  I have the AK version and like it a lot.  Of course, it is more of an LBE set-up.

after Zen and I took Marco's class, my theory is that LBE is really the best way to go. Rolling around on the ground gives you a new perspective. Tac vests and all that other crap gets too much in the way. That or a simple pouch setup like the Russians already use. IMO of course



 

I've had my finger on the button for the SMERSH SVD rig for a while now, an ebay seller has two of them for $160 apiece. I will probably get one for collector's sake because I have really fond memories of my LBE in the Army but in my honest opinion they aren't that great for mags, based on my experience in the Army vs what I've learned in the classes I've taken recently. Great for load carrying as we know but for rifle mags it's not nearly as fast as TACO pouches for example. I strongly believe in reloading from cover but the nice thing about Taco's is that if you have to reload on the move or in a hurry they work extremely well. In this case I think it makes more sense to use those for AK mags where you can get speed if you need it because there's really no way that I can see right now to speed reload with an SVD. And so long story short I want a rig that can do both AK and SVD mags, not one or the other.  

Mainly, even though I think an LBE setup would be fine for a DMR type rifle I've already been smitten by the Chamelion or a rig that sits in a similar position. I'm experimenting with a molle setup that can do AK and SVD mags without having to add or remove pouches all the time. It's an ongoing improvement of what I used in Sonny's class and the same rig I used in Marco's class, where like Nictra mentioned it wasn't so hot because I didn't have anything SVD specific setup. After seeing the Chamelion in Marco's class I think it and a SMERSH would be a great field setup for obvious reasons, but then technically I wouldn't need the SVD pouches on the SMERSH. That would put the SMERSH back in the basic LBE setup and while cool, I already have most of my old LBE and just bought some suspenders to get it back up and running.

So while I like the SMERSH setup for many reasons and may get one, I don't think I'll use it for ready mags. Instead I'm going to work on my TT-MAV or possibly get a similar SURPAT pattern from Survival Corps/SRVV mostly to use in the field but partly for collector's sake too.

Here's a few pics of the SRVV SVD pouches along side the SPLAV SVD pouches, these I got in a few weeks ago so I could give SRVV a trial run. Still deciding on whether I want to drop another chunk of change on a complete SURPAT rig which other than look cool/collector value, isn't going to do anything that my TT-MAV doesn't already.






SRVV pouches are actually pretty cheap and to me I think you get more for the $4 difference in price between the SRVV uniclicks and the SPLAV simple button pouch.
SPLAV is noisy because the inside of the metal button bangs against the SVD mag. Easy to quiet with some electrical tape but something to know about them anyway. I'm not really a fan of the bungee SVD pouch either. I bought it to try and it seems useful but the pouch is also noisy because the mag just flops around inside, plus so far it seems the only way to smoothly get the bungee out of the way of the mag release catch on the mag is to run it upside down. Could be I need some orientation to the pouch design, I'm just used to pulling the mag rounds up (even though AK mags I pull rounds down). Also not a huge fan of the molle straps the pouch ships with. I think they are intended to be replaced by their version of MALICE clips but I already have a few extra from my TT gear and will be using those instead. The built in straps are easy to tuck out of the way which is nice.  



Here's the MAV in my experimental mode. I added the bib which can hold 4 SVD mags (only 3 pouches shown but a 4th can fit), and had to ditch the X-Harness because it really does interfere with how the bib hangs. By adding the bib and making it ride higher like the Chamelion I had to get rid of the holster, but the rig fits well and based on the spacing I can run 10 SVD mags and 4 AK mags. Realistically I'll probably go with 8 SVD mags and 1 or 2 AK mags for the next class I take, but part of the intention is to leave it setup and just add the mags I need at that time.




Speaking of SRVV they have been very pleasant to deal with. Shipping is very high due to KG restrictions out of Russia but they send tracking numbers that work and shipping time is on the order of 3 weeks or so, pretty normal for Russian business. They are a join US-Russian venture and SURPAT is their digital color scheme like ACU and MARPAT. I'm not really into it for the color pattern, but they are the only molle SVD pouch manufacturer out there other than SPLAV which doesn't have much, and SPOSN which is nearly unobtainium. I'm working with someone from theakforum.net on custom SVD pouches and there is something on the horizon I am keeping track of, but for now I want to try some off the shelf Russian stuff.

I'll post up some more info if I pull the trigger on the SRVV rig.



Z

rig looks good man. I bet you will have much better results next time around with this setup.

Nice set-up TX and probably more practical than the Smersh...I just like the more traditional set-up of it.  I am old enough to have used the old LBE's as well in the Army, and the Russian set-up is so much better and more comfortable.  The SRVV stuff is cool is as well.  I like that chest rig they sell with the butt back attached.

I have to agree-this stuff is bad-ass.  Nice find, TX.

I don't understand Skippers Military Supply's check out payment, it uses PayPal but when order gets placed it never asks for any credit card Info. Just when and how does PayPal get this Info.?

Do you have a Paypal account?   Then you provided it with your CC or checking account information.

No it never asked if I had one.