beg,buy but not steal dpm gear

now radio soldier

Hi all,
im very new to boards.ie,and i hope i get on great here.
I recently joined reserves,well i say recent but last year. Through stupidness and training i ripped my smock under arm very badly.i took it to a shop to repair but he said theres not enough material. I asked my C.O for replacment but im not exactly gonna write here what he said but basic answer was a firm NO.does anybody service or ex service man have any material or any spares or can help or give me advice i'd be very greatful.

Donny5

now radio soldier wrote: »

Hi all,
im very new to boards.ie,and i hope i get on great here.
I recently joined reserves,well i say recent but last year. Through stupidness and training i ripped my smock under arm very badly.i took it to a shop to repair but he said theres not enough material. I asked my C.O for replacment but im not exactly gonna write here what he said but basic answer was a firm NO.does anybody service or ex service man have any material or any spares or can help or give me advice i'd be very greatful.

Well, you can't get it outside the DF, unless you can convince some sod to give you his. You can sometimes spot them on eBay, but smocks go for €100+.

More importantly, **** your CO. Ignore that useless prick, assuming you did rip it in training, go to your section commander and ask to see the CQ about it. If you legitimately damaged it training, then you should get another. If you tore it negligently, then you'll be charged for it. Either way, you should get new threads.

Always ask nicely and respect rank, but insist on seeing the Q.

now radio soldier

i do respect rank.and be nice when asking for stuff,he said cut backs and all sort

OS119

now radio soldier wrote: »

...he said cut backs and all sort

if you are genuinely unable to source a new smock, look on ebay for a quantity of the the French CE pattern material. it is almost a twin of Irish DPM, and any decent seemstress will be able to use it to create a repair that will be invisible under normal conditions.

assuming that the situation is as your CoC says, its going to be a recuring problem, and your NCO's will be 'guided' by your CoC not to pay too much attention to such things.

Poccington

Your CO is talking bollocks.

Not only is there still stocks of our current smocks in stores, there's also the new smocks about to come online, already in stores.

Cutbacks don't come into it. Your smock is bollocksed, go see your CQ and get him to fill out your 245B.


"Cutbacks"... That phrase is starting to very quickly become an excuse for people that are just plain lazy.

now radio soldier

Thank you for much guys,your great help,i will be telling him that i need it because it rip while training,and because of that i have to get a re-issue

Morpheus

you should never be speaking to your company CO anyway about replacing kit, you should be using your chain of command, so there should have been at least a discussion with a corporal, a sgt and an LT first.

you tell your NCO (corporal) that you need a replacement due to fair wear and tear.

we (Corporals in RDF) are currently in the process of replacing a number of DPM items for our platoon members, there is no problem whatsoever getting these. we fill out the relevant clothing forms and send it up the line. you may have to go to the clothing stores in your PDF parent barracks to take posession of the smock and may have to bring your old ripped smock in to show the CQ as you are applying for a replacement due to fair wear and tear but if you are told recession, cutbacks or any other nonsense excuse, DO NOT ACCEPT IT. use the chain of command, go to you corporals first and request the replacement and ask to fill in YOUR 245B clothing form.

failing that, it would be a shame if you fell whilst training and the sleeve ripped completely off the smock....

BigDuffman

Fair wear and tear should cover you. Get on to your section commander as its his job to represent you and pass it up the chain. And as has been mentioned if you only have one smock and it is damaged..wear it. No matter how badly damaged wear it, till it is declared Unservicable.

SamuelFox

In my time the CO needed to sign something for you to get any kit bar the basic shirt/trousers/tshirt. In this case if he's not happy with you getting one, then the CQ won't be giving you one. Unless you are mixing up the CO and CQ, in which case you probably won't be getting one either, but at least the story makes more sense!

Put some feelers out, find someone who's left the RDF and still has their kit, and buy it off them. They'll be glad to sell their halloween costume, you'll have some kit and the CQ will have less work. Job's jobbed.

BigDuffman

SamuelFox wrote: »

Put some feelers out, find someone who's left the RDF and still has their kit, and buy it off them. They'll be glad to sell their halloween costume, you'll have some kit and the CQ will have less work. Job's jobbed.

whatever about buying your own boots and other equipment, you should not need to buy DPM off someone. Not even as it is illegal, just down to the fact that there is a supply of DPM available to you. If your not getting satisfaction through the chain of command. Have a quiet word with your cadre.

Morpheus

I cant believe that the OP has been told to buy DPM, from a FORMER MEMBER TOO, its ILLEGAL TO SELL DF ISSUED DPM IN IRELAND

firstly DON'T buy it, do like i told you, use the chain of command, if you hit a blank wall go up a level to Sgt, etc.

turn up in your gammy kit for every inspection. if asked why you are wearing gammy kit explain that you have requested a replacement and been refused.

if you submit a request then hassle your superiors.

do you think for one second if your NCO had a gammy smock that he would happily walk around in it or would he get a new one?

use your head, play by the rules and like i said, it'd be a shame if the hole that's in your smock got suddenly much larger and more obvious whilst you are waiting on a reply / replacement. especially if you are operating in a PDF barracks. make sure that if its under the right arm that you salute everyone you can showing off your new air conditioning.

this is one of the main problems with the RDF... this one is a major issue and for NO APPARENT REASON, the clothing stores love this sh*t, means they dont have to issue new kit.

• kit replacement requests being ignored by the chain of command,
  
• privates (the f**king lifeblood of the RDF) being treated like this by the Chain of command
  
• privates not using the chain of command either because they either have
  
• (a) sh*te section commanders (instructors) who havent explained how to go about a simple replacement of damaged kit through the Chain of command via their section commanders.
  
• (b) sh*te section commanders (instructors) who dont give a f**k about their privates kit needs, or are afraid to / too lazy to, hassle their superiors in the chain over kit requests.

Also units should be requesting that members have left return the issued items of clothing and equipment. we are currently undergoing this process and so far have had full kit, uniforms returned to us. .. im not suggesting you get second hand DPM, thats not allowed, but people shouldnt have posession of this stuff to SELL it if they've f**ked off/ left.

Yes and involve Cadre if required!!!

now radio soldier

Morphéus and all,i'd like to say thank you for all your help,im now wearing a spanky brand new smock,i turned up for parade with the rip,and during course of the evening it got bigger and bigger until it was said to me,i told them i had reported it and everything.so next day i had to go and get new one,happy days.thank you

Morpheus

you're welcome!

Another happy customer!

make sure you spread the word.

xflyer

Well that's sorted. I was going to suggest resorting to the old days of the FCA and turning up in a surplus smock from another country. Full British desert DPM or US digital. It was illegal for us to dress in Irish army combats apparently but OK to wear anything else. I remember seeing one officer in full British DPM, another in American combats complete with a US 1st Division patch. Those were the days!

Donny5

xflyer wrote: »

Well that's sorted. I was going to suggest resorting to the old days of the FCA and turning up in a surplus smock from another country. Full British desert DPM or US digital. It was illegal for us to dress in Irish army combats apparently but OK to wear anything else. I remember seeing one officer in full British DPM, another in American combats complete with a US 1st Division patch. Those were the days!

Hah, if that was still going on, I'd be parading in my sailors costume from Halloween in a heartbeat.