Military fatigues

My dad was non-resistant, opposed to the military, and we were raised the same way, thus none of us ever joined the military. I have since changed my mind about the occasional need for force and am in fact fascinated by anything military.

Years ago, when I was hunting, my wife's biological father gave me all of his fatigues after he retired. He was a medic in the Navy for 21 years, Bob Parker. There are pants and shirts, a jacket, and some sort of coverall bottom and top. These are priceless to me but the pants don't fit. I was wondering how I would find out what size they are (the tag has his name written on it, illegible) and what size I need. I was thinking of trading some of the pants for a pair that would fit me; do army surplus stores do something like this? Or I could just save my money and buy a pair outright. What do you think?

A lot of what I am seeing on Ebay is declared "water proof". Is this different material from what I have? These that I have would have been issued in the '70s up to late '80s. They have been kept in a trunk and are in excellent condition. Any thoughts on these would be appreciated.

I have decided to occasionally wear them as separates, partly because I love how tough they are and partly because I like them. I figure they might as well get used.

Almost any Army/Navy store would have similar items in stock in various sizes. The material and design has changed several times in the last 30 years so you might find an exact match, you might not.

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I was thinking of trading some of the pants for a pair that would fit me; do army surplus stores do something like this?

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I have never known of a surplus store to take part in a trade. Though, anything is possible.

Many of them have signs stating, "all sales are final." Once it is out their door they do not want it back.

jtk

I don't know of any military utility uniform be it fatigues, BDUs, ACUs or whatever else has been out there, that are waterproof. There is waterproof stuff, but its outerwear. My favorites were the 100% cotton fatigues that the Air Force had before BDUs. We wore them because they didn't create any static electricity which was a hazard to the sensitive electronic equipment we worked on.

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Originally Posted by Dennis McDonaugh

I don't know of any military utility uniform be it fatigues, BDUs, ACUs or whatever else has been out there, that are waterproof. There is waterproof stuff, but its outerwear. My favorites were the 100% cotton fatigues that the Air Force had before BDUs. We wore them because they didn't create any static electricity which was a hazard to the sensitive electronic equipment we worked on.

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Nice avatar, Dennis.
Wearjageddit?

every surplus store I've been in has TONS of old and sometimes new uniform stuff from people who left the service. Lots of look-a-like fakes too. Probably not interested in trading. The newer stuff has sizing guidance in the label, both waist and length (short, reg, long).

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Originally Posted by Dennis McDonaugh

I don't know of any military utility uniform be it fatigues, BDUs, ACUs or whatever else has been out there, that are waterproof. There is waterproof stuff, but its outerwear.

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Beat me to it. It's likely the stuff is "water resistant", as a high thread-count camo material can shed water for a while (especially if you spray Waterguard on it)... but it's not waterproof.