hamiltongs said:
They all have reasons for being there - and those reasons are founded in the fundamental purpose of CADPAT being an order of dress for people working in field environments. Rather than customizing CADPAT so that it can be cheaply issued to people working offices (at the expense of the pockets 'n stuff that the combat arms guys need), why don't we just wear office clothing in offices? It's not like the CF stopped issuing DEUs when they came up with CADPAT.
No, they don't all have reasons for being there - certainly not logical ones, anyway.
Most of what I am talking about is irrelevant to the utility of the uniform as combat dress. Combat Arms guys do not need the current pockets on the chest or the interior breast or lower interior pockets, and nobody needs the flag tab.
Look at the US Army ACU or Marine uniforms to see a much more practical design.
The breast pockets on combat clothing are vestiges from the olive green version, and they existed to carry twenty-round FN magazines (a stupid idea to begin with. The box design is complicated and expensive to produce. It is useless for those wearing body armour and tac vests. The buttons are uncomfortable when wearing body armour. The interior pocket is also inaccessible when wearing body armour and tac vests, and stitching a pocket on either side of a single piece of fabric is especially complex and expensive. The US pockets are flat and close with velcro. While some advocate that the lower pockets on our combat clothing be done away with as the Americans have done, due to the body armour/tac vest issue, I find them useful but again, the design could be simplified and the interior pockets dispensed with. Nobody here has them in their AR CADPAT, as they've been removed and sewn onto the sleeves, something that should be standardized.
The flag tab contributes nothing to the combat utility either. Velcro patches are stitched to the sleeve pockets on the AR combat clothing, and various patches are attached to them. The US ACU uses this. Dispense with the tab, move the sleeve pockets a little higher than they are (mine interfere with bending my arm if I have anything in them) and put the flag on velcro stitched to the pocket flap.
Again, if we are going to wear rank insignia in the centre of the visible mass, just stick a square patch onto velcro as per the name tape. It's simpler and cheaper to produce than slip-ons and buttoned tabs, and there's no button to be pushed into one's sternum.
See MedTech's post above as well.
I would never push for a CADPAT version of Garrison Dress as you seem to think that I am. I am suggesting, however, a more practical field uniform that reflects the reality of our current and likely future combat operations, that would also end up costing less to produce.