I’ve been looking through quite a few clothing threads on here and could do with the stw knowledge on this.

I’m after decent quality gear to wear outdoors and for working in.

What are your favourite buys / websites for army surplus gear.

British Army or Raf goretex, Top qual and cheap as chips.
oh and scour Ebay 😉

Surplus and Adventure
British military surplus

And try your local army surplus store.

In particular I am after some decent combat trousers for walking, fishing etc.

WHY?

What kind of work are you doing outdoors? – what features do you need apart from keeping the rain off?
{edit – you answered that while I was having a bit of slow type}

Don’t just look at military stuff either theres plenty of ex government gear that has useful specs. I use police riot overalls for welding in (the overalls they wear under their padding and armour) – basically flame-proof goretex and they zip apart and work well separately as jacket and trousers too.

German police goretex jackets look surprisingly un-uniformy.

The UK army goretex over trousers are really good in foul weather and cheap enough to not be precious with but they are just over-trousers – no zips or pockets and just a bit of stretchy string to hold them up so can be inconvenient to work in. I wear them over a pair of snickers carpenters trousers so that the tool pockets are on the outside. The desert camo versions are usually cheapest but are quite a bold fashion statement in what can only really be described as ‘bright beige’

Not so much for outdoors work, but swiss army denim work trousers (sometimes mis-described as prison jeans) are absolutely the toughest denim money can buy, especially as you can pick up a pair for about a fiver. Difficult to find sellers who give useful sizing info for them though.

In particular I am after some decent combat trousers for walking, fishing etc.

The trousers are sized differently to normal trousers. There will be a seat, waist and length measurement in cm. I would recommend that you go any try some on, it’s easy to get the wrong size.

Can’t beat goretex outerwear for value although it is heavy and bulky. Top tip – don’t buy army dpm stuff if you want to be found by mountain rescue!

These…
http://www.camooutdoor.com/kombat-uk-sas-trousers-lge-dpm-camo-military-trousers/

was hoping for tried and tested stuff people on here have used

and links to decent surplus stores – I live over 50 miles from my nearest one

I have owned the above for over a year and can highly recommend for any outdoor activity

and links to decent surplus stores – I live over 50 miles from my nearest one

most of the ones that have an online presence have an ebay outlet too. Once you’ve decided what you’re looking for just look on ebay and amazon for stockists.

Otherwise http://www.anchorsupplies.com, http://www.cissburyleathers.co.uk and http://www.goarmy.co.uk have a better grasp of the internet than some.

These people are very good indeed: http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/camouflagekit_danishm84_trousers.html
I have two pairs of these particular trousers, and I wear them right through the winter. They only seem to have XXL at the moment, though they have plenty of other styles available.
I really like the M84 trousers, they’re very well made, dead comfy, good sized pockets, and I found the sizing good too; they have adjustable draw-tabs on the waist to tweak them.
Highly recommended.
Found these: http://www.ew-trading.com/shop/euro-trousers-c-1_7_29/danish-m84-trouser-p-1228
Apparently they are getting scarce again, at one time they were impossible to find for sensible prices, as any surplus was destroyed!
Then a load was released, I bought two pairs of trousers and a jacket for £75, the price of one pair of trousers previously, but the Danes have gone over to Multicam, so find a pair quick. The genuine gear is 3/4 lined, so bloody lovely in cold, windy British winters!

Have you seen this thread?
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-goretex-keks
Odd sizing I received apart it was great quality and fast delivery

http://www.britishmilitarysurplus.co.uk/

These are great! Used many times

Thanks guy this thread made me end up looking for goretex boot liners and ended getting some British army leather desert gloves for 3 quid bargain 🙂

I’ll use them for my field archery. Might even be alright for the bike 🙂

are the M84 trews genuine? or is there a manufacturer to avoid? getting confused with all the acronyms!

Any replicas of M84’s are likely to be pretty good, anything that Flektarn sell is always good quality, they have a good rep they’re not going to want damaged. There’s loads of really cheap copies of older common camo, like US Woodland and UK DPM, but Danish isn’t a common pattern, and doesn’t get copied by the really cheap copyists.
The thing is there are collectors of unusual camo who go for stuff like the Danish gear, because it’s damn good quality, and there’s the Airsoft crowd who collect unusual kit too, so they’re always on the lookout for interesting patterns.
The different varieties of Multicam, like UK MTP are starting to come on the market fairly cheaply now as well.
German Flektarn is pretty good, but doesn’t have the big pockets that M84 has. It is pretty cheap, though.
All I have is the M84, and an old pair of original Vietnam-era Tigerstripe combats, which I chopped the legs off at the knee to make shorts, and they’re damned good, mine are years old now.
I’m not a collector, I only like certain patterns, and wear them ‘cos they were cheap, they are very comfy, have big pockets for carrying loads of junk, and they don’t show dirt and stains too much. Plus I have to do lots of bending down and kneeling, so combats are perfect, they don’t get in the way.
And they were cheap. 😀
Interesting history of M84, and some of the manufacturers making it, and replicas. Regular gear has a white label with a crown with HMAK underneath, and 2004 below that.
http://www.strikehold.net/2013/07/29/danish-m84-pletsloring-camouflage-pattern/

I’ve had a couple of pairs of Austrian army ripstop combat trousers that I use for walking the dogs and general outdoors stuff , plenty of pockets and even fixings for braces !
http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/outdoor-clothing/trousers-shorts/genuine-used-grade-1-austrian-1002588.html

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excellent stuff, any other stories of army surplus finds?