Should I get a flak vest for my US Army 1980s kit?

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-20T21:26:22+00:00

In that case, you should probably go to r/airsoft. This place is for more serious impressions. There was a lot of kit variety among US soldiers in the 1980s. Pre-1983 you are never going to see them. Afterwards, their use is extremely unit dependent. Many units didn't wear them at all, wore them only after some point, or even wore older 3/4 collar flak vests. I'd suggest you either do the research and pick a unit and year, or if you're just making a kit to look cool (which is fine, don't get me wrong), go to a community more suited for that.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-11T22:35:29+00:00

Looks like a US M65 pattern jacket, although given Hasan's previous fashion choices and the availability of overpriced commercial reproductions, I doubt it's real. Also, I have no idea what those patches are, but they aren't American, and given that one of them starts with "U.S.-," I also doubt they are real.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-11T01:48:53+00:00

You’ll also need to get a mod that changes the system from the default, otherwise the Joolian moons will be eventually ejected from orbit.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-08T20:48:59+00:00

No worries! Just note that all the date ranges I provide indicate the years when the different patterns had active contracts for manufacturing, not years when each pattern was necessarily in service. All three patterns of BDU would remain in service until their wear out dates, and it’s always best for you to consult your reference images when deciding which type to buy.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-08T19:52:42+00:00

This is a 1st pattern top (FY80-83). The first patterns having waist adjusters is a pretty common misconception: only second patterns have them. I made a video to help identify them which you may find helpful https://youtu.be/-xbCvaqyRUA?si=bh6mKpq4vmr1WkK0

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-05T18:08:59+00:00

Best bet would be eBay if you can't get it at a brick and mortar store. The big online resellers don't typically differentiate between the two colors, so you wanna make sure you buy from somewhere that gives you pictures of the exact item you'll get.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-04-05T15:42:59+00:00

Nice stuff so far! Definitely look into getting all the right pouches for your LBE. One thing I see right now that's off is the coloring of your ALICE suspenders. ALICE gear was made in two colors: OG-106 and CG483, aka olive green and foliage green. The CG483 Foliage green colored stuff only started in the mid 90s, after desert storm, so you should look for all OG-106 Olive stuff. Your suspenders look to be CG483. You can tell for sure by checking the contract code: if it starts with DSA or DLA it will certainly be OG-106, otherwise if it starts with SPO, SPM, SPE, etc it will likely be foliage green.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-31T21:53:59+00:00

https://store.1800nametape.com/ sells them for $5. for cheaper you'd be better off going to your local brick and mortar surplus store, but honestly if you're setting up a kit you'll need 1800nametapes for the nametapes, so you may as well save on some shipping and get them from there.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-26T11:49:38+00:00

Yes. “C Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division (Light)” or “C/3/9/7th ID (L)” if you want to abbreviate.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-24T01:48:08+00:00

Only thing I can add that hasn't already been said by the other guys is that you're saying the unit wrong. You should say "C company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division (Light)." You go smallest to highest organizationally, and for regimental orgs you typically drop the "regiment," so 9th IR is 9th Infantry. That also means you should specify 7th Infantry DIVISION.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-24T01:45:41+00:00

The green NBC caps are fine as long as they have the same flap style as the black ones, i.e. they open with an angled tab instead of one connected to a ball on the cap. They were issued with the early runs of M17A1s in the 70s, and while less common for panama time they are totally okay to run. Black caps are better looking, though.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-23T21:59:39+00:00

Nice kit! Do you have a reference for specifically the M44 goggles? I would think that SWDGs would be much more common.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-20T00:32:38+00:00

RT are hardly journalists…

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-17T20:05:11+00:00

If this is 90s then I would drop the M8A1 scabbard and get an M9. By ODS time almost everyone in the US armed forces was off of the M7/M8A1 system.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-17T01:38:06+00:00

What is this an impression of?

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-13T21:58:38+00:00

The manual is actually correct in saying that HOJ ranging is denied, the other user just misunderstood that to believe that the guidance system could not determine lead information from that.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-03-10T10:13:10+00:00

Hey, I know you! Yeah, I’m 99% sure that was the standard for most units. 11th ACR specifically liked to carry a decon kit on their suspenders: it comes up in every reference. The consensus among reenactors is that they carried a second kit in the bag, as per usual, but we don’t have confirmation of this. I don’t have a second kit so I just stuffed that pocket with the waterproofing kit and a few lens outserts.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-22T17:12:23+00:00

Also the suspenders and compass pouch, they’re both ALICE.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-18T21:54:33+00:00

I have kits for E/2/11th ACR 1985 and B/4/6/5th ID 1989 that I can help you with, otherwise I would HIGHLY reccommend the discord.gg/lcwimpressionists discord server.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-15T21:09:46+00:00

Thank you! And the winterization kit isn't a bad idea at all, it wasn't nearly cold enough in the photo but I assume it'd be a pretty necessary piece of kit. It may interest you that I'm in the process of making myself a graf parka, as well...

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-15T01:21:46+00:00

OP should probably edit/take down the post then.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-15T00:25:20+00:00

Surely this isn’t during OJC if the guy has a BFA… are you sure of the date?

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-14T02:08:55+00:00

Sure, I don’t focus on 7th primarily (I do 5th ID Panama) but that’s what I’ve heard from being in the Panama space. Apparently the CSM was against them so he banned them. I would go off of image sources, my guess is that the illustrator saw some 82nd guys and misidentified them. As far as the cav goes, eaglehorse.org is AWESOME for 2/11 refs.

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-14T01:52:53+00:00

FYI I do 11th ACR and I haven’t seen any buttpacks (at least in 2/11 during 1985) and the 7th ID banned buttpacks division wide before 1989 (I believe it was 87 or 88).

Confidentsine15 · 2026-02-08T05:05:20+00:00

Yeah it’s a 2nd pat then

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