Some impressions of complete uniforms

[Ralph P]

Michel - Great updates you have done the last few months. I especially like reading your comments from post 418 about why there are different color patterns.

[michelwijnand]

Thanks! It's something that the whole russian camo collecting scene has been dealing with since the 80's, and I really like these sorts of things!

And here's my promised new kit, Russian MorPeh, circa 08-09, as worn of exercises. In actual combat they would wear tactical vests lik ethe 6Sh92 over the armor, but my incoming Flora 6Sh92 is reserved for something else already.

M08 Digital Flora 1st Gen. uniform
6B14/SSh68M kevlar-steel helmet
Flora 6B12M body armor
Soviet RPK pouch
Gasmask




Reference pics:



Cheers,
Michel

[michelwijnand]

Got a weird unknown armor in yesterday, which was used by a GRU soldier. It's probably a take on an improvement/simplification of the 6B12, made of camo-printed kevlar-type fabric.
Oddly enought, it's marked 6Sh92, as a tactical vest. So either it's reused fabric, or someone was too lazy to make a new stamp.

Many soldiers modified their 6B12's and removed the collar/neck armor, which involved cutting, but on this vest the whole neck/shoulder part is removable.
The collar shape is inspired by the one as seen from early 6B13's onwards, and later on 6B23. It's easier to adjust, and actually stays upright.
The shoulderflaps are in a similar shape, but slightly smaller, still overlapping with the other internal armor, and the straps are more adjustable at the front, with 3 buttons.
I also go a helmetcover in the same material.



Here you can see that the waist strap with the buckles was also simplified. The velcro area at the sides is also much larger than on the 6B12, which I could loosen simply by bending forward, this has been fixed with this.




Many soldiers never used the groinflap on their 6B12's, most of them adjusting it all the way up, with the intended strap.
The groinflap on this one is both adjustable in almost the same way, but then it can go completely into the vest, and also is removable.
Here you can see where it goes.



Large plates can be strapped into the vest on the inside, Thus eliminating the outer pocket with large flap on the 6B12.
A smaller plate can be inserted into an outer pocket on the groinflap.
he internal softarmor is encased in watertight material, and sewn stuck into the vest.



All in all a strange vest, which might be part of the 6B* series as a prototype, maybe made by Kirasa, but who knows, yet another anomaly from Russia has appeared.

Cheers,
Michel

[C.O.Sargent]

Great as usual Michel,I have a AGS-17 that would complement your ever expanding collection.
I look forward to your next post.
Cheers Chris.

[michelwijnand]

Thanks, but those are pretty illegal over here
Awesome things though!

Cheers,
Michel

[Evin]

New and Seeking Advice!

Hello i am new here and i have some items to show and that i have question about! My neighbor recently passed away and as far as i know he served in the Serbian military, i do not even know his first name but his last name was opačić. He also had a giant military collection most of which i bought at the auction because he had no family. Some of the items i could identify and others i have no clue. Other items i have picked up along the way and just wanted to show you guys and tell me what you think!

Ok first off i will start with the stuff that i do know! This is my Serbian M 57 Tokarev, I know it is Serbian due to not having any Communist markings on the top. I also have the Serbian holster for that plus 2 magazines and fyi it is chambered in 7.62 x 25. http://i.imgur.com/wcSzz14.jpg?1

Next is a Serbian steel pot helmet that has seen its better days. It is a M59/85 i believe. With a Serbian mesh helmet cover and helmet band.
http://i.imgur.com/vOsRc7X.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/ewzQoB8.jpg

Next is a Polish Wz67 with a Serbian M 93 cover. I have no idea why it is on here and it looks too new to have seen any combat, so this one kind of trumps me.
http://i.imgur.com/czbbIhd.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/enYxZUX.jpg?1

Next is a Yugoslavian sniper over suit in MOL 68 pattern. The thing i do not understand is why the sleeves are cut off? also i believe that the sleeves or part of one anyway someone sewed onto the pants to make a crotch for the pants! Lastly because its an over suit the pockets on the suit are sewn shut! I have no idea on this one, because if it was done in Yugoslavia or some guy did it when he got it but it is interesting! http://i.imgur.com/5oNV110.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/sndUdQk.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/chya0xZ.jpg

Next is a Yugoslavia Paratrooper helmet. it has seen some wear and has a little chunk taken out on the one side. One thing i did notice is that some of the paint is 2 toned, so i believe someone painted over it. I have seen some like this on Ebay with similar markings so i don't know if its fake or if there were a lot of these, I'm just saying i have no clue on this one. There is a target on the top of the helmet. There is also a FOLLOW ME on the back of it with a big arrow above it. On the one side is has a poorly painted picture of Serbia's borders with a dot where Belgrade is and lastly there is a unknown symbol on the other side i can not for the life of me figure it out! any info on this please get back to me! http://i.imgur.com/zR6gTPk.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/5WDxJuC.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/IQNIFvd.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/HiMqYoN.jpg

I will be posting more in the future!

[Evin]

New and Seeking Help!

Ok so i posted some other gear and now the list continues!

Next off is a Serbian Balaclava. Not much to tell besides it green and made of wool. http://i.imgur.com/7xb5oeT.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/Sui88HY.jpg

Next is Boots I'm guessing that they are either Serbian or Czech, but there is no markings on them. Great boots though! thick leather and they tie easy and stay tied also they are pretty comfortable! http://i.imgur.com/dLVb5vC.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/GR4GbMk.jpg

Next is 4 Serbian M 93 pattern Blouses. 3 of them have the Serbian coat of arms emblem and one is missing but you can see where it was before it was cut off. Only one of the blouses has a tag and its from 1997. http://i.imgur.com/PIkddgR.jpg?1

Next is a Serbian tiger stripe blouse. It is a very dark pattern but looks pretty cool. It is also a thicker fabric than the M 93 pattern blouses, but again no tag in the back of the shirt, but it does look very new or unused. One thing i noticed is that the Coat of Arms on this shirt is like a felt plastic not cloth like the other patches it is also more detailed and bigger so i have no idea what time period this is from or where it was used. http://i.imgur.com/3OMA6Ac.jpg?1

Next is 2 Serbian M 93 pattern field coats. One is very interesting though because there is a pocket hand sewn onto the sleeve almost like a raid modded American Woodland blouse. I have no idea again if this was standard practice in the Serbian Military or some guy did it after he picked it up. i thought it was interesting though.
http://i.imgur.com/0nYvNuF.jpg?1

Next is 2 pairs of Serbian M 93 pattern pants both are nothing special about them. But i did notice they are extremely thicker than the blouses which i thought was interesting and they also look brand new and they are from 1999 just incase anyone wanted to know haha! http://i.imgur.com/gPTKCas.jpg

Next is a Serbian M 93 Parka with a Serbian Flag hand stitched onto the shoulder, it does not look standard at all it really looks fake but the jacket seems real. It also has the Serbian Coat of Arms on the other Shoulder so i was just seeing if anyone had any more info on this one! http://i.imgur.com/Bd5vBea.jpg

Next is a Yugoslavian Flare Gun and Czech illumination flares! this flare gun is also an M 57 just like the hand gun. and this guy also had 2 inserts for it in the bag one of the inserts was from the original 26.5 mm to a 12 gauge shotgun round. My guess is that to adopt the 12 g boating flares because they are a lot cheaper then 26.5 mm flares. Secondly there is a .22 Caliber insert. Which is kind of funny because it is legal to have the insert sitting aside of the gun but if you put the insert into the flare gun it is an illegal unregistered handgun haha. http://i.imgur.com/Bd5vBea.jpg and
http://i.imgur.com/cjKZN6m.jpg?1

Ok i will post more later!

[michelwijnand]

Nice stuff!
Though the M93 coats you mention, at least the left one seems to be of the M89 cut, and your helmet is the M59 because it has the old type liner.
The boots you show are indeed Czech, the 1970 type I think.
Your Serb tigerstripe blouse looks like it might be of the Yugoslavian 1985 series, as those only had a white tag in the neck, and this color. These are pretty rare.

I like the flare gun too, and the weird reasoning of the laws. Though I think they would be completely illegal here, not sure though, but our weapon laws are pretty harsh...

[michelwijnand]

Here's some new kit from me. My Flora 6Sh92 finally arrived after 2 months, and so I could finish this loadout.

Russian MorPeh circa 2001

Strange cut VSR uniform (mismatched)
Early type 6B7 kevlar helmet
Flora 6B12 body armor
Flora 6Sh92 vest





And another thing that arrived today is this Flora 6B23-1, early type as made by Classcom in 03/04 (This one's from 04). It has a single big plate in front, softarmor that can't be removed.
There are also many shape differences like of both entire panels, shoulderflaps closing-direction, groinflap, cummerbund, sideflaps, basically everything...






Here you can see how the only thing accessible on the inside is the plate pocket.




The 6B23-1 name is also found on the later ones, as well as just 6B23, so I'm not sure what the difference between those even is, if there is anything.

Now I hope my 6B28 helmet arrives ok, though I will probably only see it when I get back from vacation the next 2 weeks. Ah the agony

Cheers,
Michel

[C.O.Sargent]

Hi Michel,
One of the many things I like about your posting is the evolution of the body armor from bulky to more streamline and user friendly.

[michelwijnand]

Thanks, that's actually one of the main things that draws me to Russian armors.
These guys really learned a lot and implemented many new things with every generation. Supposedly they have one of the lightest and strongest helmets right now (6B47), and I think vest development isn't far behind that.
I'll wait a while with buying the newest gens though, like the 6B47 helmet, or 6B43/45/46 armors, as most are still quite pricey.

[C.O.Sargent]

I have always wondered why more thought was not put into the design of helmets.I know that the helmet I wore in the early seventy's was no hell.

[michelwijnand]

Well here's one for you that they put a bit of thought into, with a jumpable shape that doesn't have any brims that can get snagged behind anything.
Otherwise it has the same liner as the 6B26/27, just the shape is different.
Just arrived today, all the post companies are suddenly making up lost time for the 6Sh92 that took ages.






And here's my new set I finished with it, Russian VDV in 2009.

Flora Ripstop winter uniform
6B28 kevlar helmet with Flora cover (cover ears folded inside)
Flora early type 6B23-1 body armor
Flora early type 6Sh92-5 vest




Now this was really the last one I'll finish before my vacation!

Cheers,
Michel

[Ralph P]

Michel - thanks for your latest posts. Are the pouches adjustable/moveable?

[michelwijnand]

Sorry for a late answer, I was on vacation with no internet.

The only pouches that are removable are the small beltpouch, backpack, and VOG legpanel. The rest is basically a variation of US LBV vests