It works for me. I don’t know why you dislike it so much. You have to wait for it to stop raining for it to dry though. It wasn’t designed to be worn as it is now though. The only thing I really miss is my original S95 ripstop smock (sans hood). That was a good smock.
We don’t issue greens if we’ve managed to scrounge it we give it out. If they were issued given the grief it can be to get uniform, you’d be even less inclined to have them wearing it.
As said greens make you less visible which could be extremely detrimental in real emergency.
We’ve always told cadets that they need to wear ‘civvies’ for AT and never had any grumbles from cadets or parents.
Really? Other than the stupid mesh and the velcro in the sleeves (which is no longer in production) I really never noticed much difference going from CS95 to PCS.
I do admit to being rather lost by all the people above who seem to think that CS95/PCS is unsuitable for the outdoors, or uncomfortable. I have plenty of pretty decent civvy outdoor kit, and none of it is noticeably different to the issue stuff in performance or comfort.
If AT was made a uniformed activity you’d be obliged to wear it and it could become a drag, the single biggest draw for me is that AT is and always has been a completely non-uniformed activity no compulsory insignia or anything. It’s great that you can wander around and look like ordinary people.
1 Like
For cadet stuff? Yea it’s fine. But when you take it and tag it about for a bit and take it to different environments it has its limitations.
And the DPM stuff was much better.
My main beef with PCS is the stupid cut, the stupid stupid chest pockets, the stupid Velcro, the stupid sleeve pockets, the stupid collar, the stupid leg pockets. The stupid mesh. The stupid fleece pockets with no zips. The stupid sleeve pockets on the jacket.
Mainly those stupid, pointless, waste of time, useless sleeve pockets.
And it certainly isn’t the worst to wear, but it’s not the best for AT.
I think you’re being a bit negative about PCS. I’ve got an oppo that’s a Royal Marine ML. He doesn’t have any issues with PCS and loves it to bits. I tend to agree both of us have with work used it in Norway during winter and have had quite a comfortable time. It was certainly not a lot different to wearing Gucci civi stuff in the Cairngorms in winter. Given that my arcteryx climbing shell cost as much as a whole second hand PCs kit issue I think it’s pretty hoofing. Your adversion to it seems indicative of someone that’s not truly used it as it was intended.
But I do agree that if you were looking for someone in a helicopter and they’re lying down with PCs/cs95 on its virtually impossible to see them unless you have IR or you’re on top of them. God forbid you were out on a SAR shout looking for them with NVG.
I think alt old a bit of basic teaching on location aids (heliograph/buzzsaw/flares etc) and then letting them wear PCS is reasonable compromise.
It was naff in Norway. I mugged it off for most of it. I used Arktis Windproof trousers, and you don’t use PCS trousers in Norway you get issued Windproof trousers similar to the DOM design. And the lightweight gore text jacket with pocket contents.
The PCS jacket felt pockets end up full of snow and melt and end up getting you soaked. Which is not good. The netting always rips and is poor quality and pointless.
In the jungle it’s absolute turd as well. MTP doesn’t work as well, and the chest pockets cause considerable difference in regulating body heat, compared to the old shirts. And the stupid Velcro on the sleeves affect you too. I was with The Naval Institute of medicine and it was proved that the forearms helped to aid in regulating body heat and by sticking those point Velcro sleeve pockets and padding, which no one uses, was crap.
I tend to not wear shirts in the field, At least not with Osprey. T shirt and jacket.
The arm sleeves are terrible. Pointless. And a pain for removing heavy Bergans and day sacks. Especially when some people insist on sticking stupid stuff in it, that you can’t reach, especially wearing Osprey or a Bergen.
The stupid check pockets with Velcro, just crap.
The collar is naff. And the trouser cargo pockets at that stupid angle actually make it a small pocket and harder to use when kneeling, squatting or sitting. The old trousers were outstanding.
Give me the old MTP stuff/DPM any day. Hands down far superior. With my trusty Arctic Smock, just fantastic.
Anyway we have digressed.
DoE is AT not fieldcraft. Its pointless. And there’s a lot cheaper stuff than Arc’teryx(which is hugely over priced mediocre kit) for cadets to use.
Buzz saws? And flares? It’s DoE it’s not a standing patrol in the foothills of Afghanistan.
They should have head torches and torches.
Civvie SAR patrols don’t tend to use NVGs, only the Helos. IR, it’s not combat. Light up that hill like Blackpool illuminations!
I quite liked PCS, and I like MTP…
Personally I take the view that any adult staff who can’t find half a dozen cadets with high-viz rucksack covers and a couple of high-viz vests, regardless of what else they are wearing, needs either a sizeable injection of brain cells or a Labrador and a white stick.
If night has fallen then they should have lights, and if they’ve not got lights then being dressed head to toe in bright orange isn’t going to help them…
It’s dead simple: ‘greens’ are cheap and of a quality found in stuff from Berghaus, Rab, North Face etc… provide cadets with a £2 high-viz vest and a £5 rucksack cover and you completely address the visibility issue - however, if you insist on them wearing civvy gear, which often isn’t actually that much better in terms of visibility, and either much more expensive or of a much lower quality, you are pretty much guaranteeing they will be wearing gear that is less durable, less breathable and less waterproof than that which they might otherwise wear. That, for me, is a very odd way of giving cadets the best possible opportunity to enjoy DofE and wider AT and to use it as a learning opportunity.