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The Schneetarn Smock that should have been

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    The Schneetarn Smock that should have been

    I really like Schneetarn. I really don't like the garments made out of the stuff. The first pattern jacket is too short for my tastes and the two odd placed pockets are so small as to be useless for anything other than a pack of smokes (which I don't do). The newer jacket has a boring cut and, once again, weird pockets. The poncho is....well.....a poncho. I've wanted something more interesting and, to me, more useful. So, I decided to make my own. I used my amoebentarn parka, WWII German smocks and the Swedish snow smock as my inspirations. It would have been a simple thing as snow camouflage garments usually are. Really, a Swedish snow smock is almost perfect but it lacks a colored pattern the armpits could have a little more room in them. I wanted it to be a pull over design but I also wanted it to go on and off easy over thick clothing so it would have to have an adjustable front opening. It had to have ample sized pockets because everything should. I tried to put myself in the mindset of early postwar German design firms, most of which would still have had WWII requirements fresh in their minds. I used a poncho as the base because they are readily available and already have a hood so I wouldn't have to try and figure all that mess out. It was also large enough to create a typically baggy over garment. I picked the front open partway down and installed a zipper. I figured that a zipper would be the best choice because it is infinitely variable, easy to manipulate with gloves and the postwar smock that was made used one. The sleeves were modified from the WWII army smock but I dispensed with the complicated adjustable cuff arrangement, opting instead for a simpler and more useful elasticized one. The waist was made to be adjustable from the outside so that it could be easily pulled over the head and then adjusted to fit whatever clothing is worn underneath. The pockets were closely patterned on an my M40 Swedish smock because they have been exceedingly useful on many a winter hike/camping trip. I couldn't imagine a better size for a pocket. Anywho, here is the result with the front zipped up:



    Unzipped:



    Detail of the bottom of the zipper reinforcement and waist cord exits:



    Inside reinforcement for waist cord:



    Pocket flap open. Just for fun, I reused RAKA's manufacturing tag where I figure the Germans would have put it had they actually produced this.



    Lastly, a shot with an HK 91 done up as it would have appeared in 1963:



    After having used this smock for a winter, I can say that is works very well. It has plenty of room so that you are never constricted. The pockets are large enough to hold anything you could want within reason and the zip front makes it easy to slip over your head, get to anything in your jacket pockets underneath should you need it and adjust for ventilation as well. It also looks like a quintessential German garment. For my purposes and IMO, it's what they SHOULD have made all along! However, based on my familiarity with the designer, I'm a little biased of course.

    #2
    Great work..! Love it..! Did you manage to make the whole thing out of one poncho? i'm with you on schneetarn, its a classic pattern. With little chance of current or future conflicts in a snowy environment, its no wonder its underused. Now, if i could find one in the same cut as the british soldier 95 smock i would be pretty happy

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      #3
      Thanks! Two ponchos for one smock. You could probably get three smocks out of four ponchos. Definitely two out of three. If you were going to make a regular field jacket, I think you would probably want a heavier material.

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        #4
        Really well done! You know how to operate a sewing machine.

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          #5
          No, I don't unfortunately. But my honey does. I designed it and told her what to do and she did the sewing.

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            #6
            Very well done from your design to your better halfs sewing!.....mike

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