MAKE YOUR BDUs LIGHTER AND COOLER
The current Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) has too much material making it hot and a source of Soldier heat injuries. It also absorbs moisture and sweat making it work against the extended cold weather clothing system (ECWCS) that seeks to keep the Soldier dry at all times. This is a source of Soldier frostbite/cold weather injuries. About the only thing the BDU does is provide covering for the Soldier in camouflage and abrasion resistance from vegetation. Realizing this, the best that we can do is minimize the heat and cold weather flaws it has.
1. Never starch your BDUs--once starched the starch never leaves, creating a uniform that breaths even less, holding heat in and odors. Starching weakens the fabric and ruins the infrared protective coating...unless you a marine with a death wish or working for the enemy, only clean and press the BDU.
2. Code letter the top and bottoms of BDUs so they fade together--with a permanent black marker, make a letter A, B, C, D etc on the inside bottom of the BDU top and the rear pocket of its matching bottom. This way you will keep them together during wash and wear them at the same time to insure they fade/wear evenly. The coding will also tell you how many BDUs set you have.
3. Remove excess material from your BDUs--remove all laundry tags and size labels. These serve no purpose since you know only to machine wash and dry your BDUs. The laundry tag under the collar is irritating to the neck. If you have different sizes, use the permanent marker to mark the size on the lower right hand corner where you marked the code letter. "SR"=small regular, "MR"=medium regular......etc. On the BDU top, replace all pocket buttons with Velcro, this will improve your low-crawling and when the uniform is pressed eliminate the button bulge from showing (optional).
Remove the buttons that close the BDU top and the extra flap of material that holds the button hole and sew the top together so it is a pullover. This dramatically eliminates the amount of material at the torso that can trap heat and moisture. It also makes the BDU top stronger. Cut under the armpits two ventilation slits to help let heat escape from under the armpits. The IDF uniforms have this feature. On the BDU bottom, remove the front bug flap from your fly. Cut off the side tightening tabs at your waist, that's why you have belt loops to wear your rigger's belt. These straps don't work and are extra weight. The bottom of the trousers have leg ties, since you tuck your cuffs into your boots, pull on these cords and cut off as much as you can.
4. Sew a small piece of black elastic to form a foot stirrup on the bottom of your trouser cuffs--this will allow you to put your pants on quickly and place your foot into your speed-laced boots with your trouser legs ready to be wrapped by your boots. A small piece of elastic has been proven to be unnoticeable by your sock covered foot. This feature unlike blousing bands and straps does not restrict circulation.
5. Sew a last name tape above the right rear pocket of your BDU trousers to prevent theft.--Your name tape on your trousers also speeds recovery of your uniforms in a group laundry situation.
6. Do not wear underwear when wearing BDU trousers--wearing underwear or even biker shorts traps heat and moisture at the waist and groin area, creating conditions for fungal growth unless you are the designated unit far side river bank swimmer, you need not to wear swimtrunks under your BDUs, in fact you could strip to just BDU trousers and swim across to reduce the amount of your uniform that gets wet. Your legs seeing as they are constantly moving in the infantry (HA! HA!) they will quickly dry out from muscular heat. It is lower circulation areas (feet, hands, chest) that need to stay warm.
7.Remove the pocket holder piece of material in the top pocket of the BDU top since its not needed and extra material.
8. Wear summer weight BDUs all the time--the only time you should where the winter weight BDUs is when it is really cold. Since the insulating layers and jackets that you wear that keeps you warm in cold weather, there is no reason why the U.S. Army couldn't standardized on just one type of BDU that is light as possible.
9. Obtain a set of Nomex, fire resistant BDUs for combat and Airborne/vehicle operations use.--some of the 23 paratroopers that died at the 1993 Pope AFB crash would have lived had they been wearing Nomex© Aircrew BDUs. These uniforms have national stock numbers (NSN) and can be ordered through the supply system. NSNs are: 8415-01-328-8253 for the jacket, 8415-01-328-8269 for the trousers. There is no reason why Nomex© BDUs couldn't be put on sale at the Army Air Force Exchange System (AAFES) clothing sales stores. So the individual Soldier could buy his own set.
For fire protection, Nomex© BDUs need to be issued to all Soldiers to counter the fire risk from wearing synthetic insulating materials like Gore-tex© and polypropylene, especially those parachuting from aircraft, clearing mines, standing upright from AFV hatches and those on dismounted patrols near urban areas. Their NSNs are: 8415-01-328-8253 for the jacket, 8415-01-328-8269 for the trousers. For jump padding, cut an unused piece of the issue sleeping mat, and slip into the backside of your Nomex© BDUs knees and elbows.
Found this on a website. For the fiscally challenged or anyone who can't convince the boss that fire is bad. Certainly cheaper than Nomex....
Make clothing flame retardant.
Mix together nine ounces 20 Mule Team Borax and four ounces boric acid in one gallon water. If the article is washable, soak in the solution after final rinsing, then dry. If the garment is not washable, spray with the solution. This solution, recommended by fire departments, may wash out of clothing and should be used after each washing or dry cleaning.
These steps if taken above can remove about a pound of weight from your BDUs and minimize the negative aspects they have. The new nylon-cotton hot weather BDU, while more durable is not as cool as the 100% cotton rip-stop BDU. Obtain as many sets of the 100% cotton BDUs while you can. I'd like to say remove the two lower top pockets which are usually covered by LBE/TLBV to enable a tuck-in wear feature for rappelling/parachuting, but we have to look like everyone else. It is my hope that some day a simplified BDU without all these extra materials be issued to Soldiers and without the two lower jacket pockets. There is work underway to create reversible camouflage BDU with day desert on one side and woodland camouflage on the other for rapid-response to world crisises without having to spend precious time issuing different color uniforms. Such chameleonic capability would also help troops as they maneuver across the battlefield and enounter different colors so as to better remain undetected by the enemy.
The U.S. Army has the best way to wear the BDUs. Rolling the sleeves up into a quick-release cuff is tedious, but worth it when you need to go sleeves down compared to the marine bone-head roll-up which you have to fight to undo. Blousing the boots with bands, springs is another jarhead ego trip which is not functional that is avoided. What matters in WAR is victory, not image or grabbing media camera attention. BDUs can be air-delivered along with all the fighting vehicles and equipment needed by Soldiers/Paratroopers--in their case without parachutes using freedrop techniques utilized during Operation Provide Promise, the food/clothing/medical supply missions that saved the Bosnian people from certain death until ground peacekeepers put an end to the killing.
FEEDBACK!
A 1st TSG (A) member writes in:
"Thanks for the BDU Fix info we call them camouflage 'utilities' or 'cammies' for short."
"I agree that warm weather cammies function fine in cold weather. I've worn mine during cold weather ops in Korea, Norway, Chile and Minnesota. With careful layering they work just fine."
XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX,USNR
Group Aid Station
4th Medical Battalion
4th Force Service Support Group
Another response:
FEEDBACK!
"Dear Sir,
"I have served with the Australian Army Reserve for seventeen years and experienced the change from heavy cotton drill uniforms to light weight poly-cotton uniforms. I also served as a firefighter with the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service for thirteen years. Between these two jobs I have gained a bit of experience in the thorny area of working in the heat.
The Australian Army decided to change its style of uniform during the 80's. The issue "greens" were diabolical in hot weather, like wearing hessian sacking in an oven. The new Disruptive Pattern Combat Uniform (DPCU) was decided on in 1987 or 1988 and has been on issue for nearly ten years. The new DPCU pattern is a poly cotton mix and I can testify that this fabric is an improvement over the old greens.
I have been on exercise in temperatures ranging from below zero to greater than 45 degrees celsius, wearing both greens and DPCU patterns. In extreme heat lets face it you are hot and no fibre combination can change that. However the most beneficial quality of the DPCU is that any air movement around the Soldier will aid in cooling him/her down. Even slight breezes. The DPCU jacket is also a fairly loose fit which assists in keeping the Soldier cool.
Wearing combat gear causes the DPCU to be held against the body limiting air movement, which is vital in keeping the body cool at high temperatures. The Australian Army is still thinking about this Catch-22 situation but I think that I have an answer.
Under arm ventilation! I know that is not terribly radical, they use this idea in many modern sporting outdoors jackets and shirts. The Germans also used underarm and side body vents in camouflage smocks during WW2. But there is more recent proof concerning the validity of this concept.
Fire departments world wide have found that opening up the sides of a fire fighting tunics after a fire fighter leaves the fire zone greatly increased the cooling of the person wearing the kit. Bear in mind that fire fighters wear the equivalent of a Kevlar and Thinsulate quilt no matter what the daily ambient temperature.
I wont take up any more of your time. To sum up your idea of a light weight utility jacket is sound and if it was augmented with side ventilation then the troops could stay in their kit and stay relatively cool.
I like your web site, I hope this has been of interest."