denison smock 59 pattern / reproduction / is it as good as the modern smocks / test and review

this video was made just up from table mountain near crickhowell, it shows a mountain walk in high winds and a peaceful walk on the side of the mountain. it's just a little test to see if the denison smock pattern 1959, reproduction, is as good as the modern smocks, and hopefully some entertainment to you'
#adventure #exploring #hiking #outdoors #wilderness #bushcraft #mountains #military #army #breconbeacons

[@wills681]

@Andy-walkaboutnutty Nice one, I enjoyed it. Denison smocks are always over-sized. My issue smock was size 5 but as surplus Denisons were as cheap as chips in the 1970s most blokes bought a much smaller size (size 2, in my case) for cutting about camp. My size 2 was still a comfy fit but didn't look like a sack of (insert expletive). As we all know, tacti-cool is better than tactical. 🙂 As for the absence of draw cords we almost always wore a 58-Pattern belt over the smock to cinch in the waist for day-to-day wear. There is some debate about the purpose of the tail. The most commonly cited reason is to prevent the smock billowing when parachuting. Anyone who has ever parachuted knows that all the webbing straps make such an occurrence impossible. More recent research into the origin of the smock suggest that the adjustable tail compensated for the absence of draw cords and helped one to reduce heat loss.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Thanks for that. It's interesting to hear what the guys did. What you say makes sense about the flap.

[@wills681]

@@Andy-walkaboutnutty To be honest, when I was serving I never really thought about the tail. I was far too concerned as a youngster with fast cars and fast women! But looking back, and recalling being trussed up like Buxted chicken for military jumps the notion of a billowing Denison smock is fanciful. Despite the efforts of my family to dispose of them, I still have a smallish collection of 1959-pattern Denisons. With a snug-fitting Denison the tail makes perfect sense; it takes the slack out of the garment and makes it very useable for everyday, country stuff.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

With reference to your first line, same. Now it's just the wild world I'm after. What has happened to me 😳

[@A14b19]

Since I got Covid pneumonia in 21 now suffer long Covid mayalgia I miss all this I get a tear miss so much . if I pushed myself to 300 yrs here at home I’m in pain fatigue .so I Love watching you and that beautiful country side. And using the kit 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@A14b19 I'm sorry to hear that the covid struck you down so badly. Hopefully, if you can drive, you could still get near the mountains and with some high ground, over the top, and have a short wander. I've waterproof the denison, so there should be another video, but when I don't know, being it is summer at the moment. Thanks for the compliment and take care

[@A14b19]

Thanks . That’s an idea . Watching mentally put me there ❤

[@georgeohwell7988]

I had the overhead 2nd edition Denison when I was younger, it was give to me as a gift for fishing here in northern Ireland, bloody great jacket..

[@vonsprague7913]

If it was an original it's worth about £1500 now lol. They were just old kit back then.

[@georgeohwell7988]

@@vonsprague7913 unfortunately I don't know where it went, maybe one of my brother's took a shine to it when I left home....😠lol

[@vonsprague7913]

Iconic kit! BD blouse wtf Andy, top kit. I've got an over the head 2nd Pattern copy from Kay Canvas and I've added an original '50 pattern hood dated 1953 and waxed both. Makes an excellent all round smock for the Outer Hebrides where i live. Many a Denison has gone up those hills before you and they still look great. I remember senior bods wearing '72 pattern Denisons in the 80's and they were Gucci as... Thanks for a great video! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

I had the battledress, so I thought, why not wear them both together. That's a reproduction as well. It took me about 30 seconds just to get my arm in that jacket. I've made a video with the battledress blouse as a fleece jacket, my god. It was 100 times better than the ordinary fleece jacket. Anyway, thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed the video 👍

[@vonsprague7913]

@@Andy-walkaboutnutty I've watched it Andy and a lot of your back catalogue. You inspired me to wax a lot of my kit especially my Helikon Pilgrim Smocks which I think are the best outdoor kit you can buy. Thanks for replying mate.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@vonsprague7913 No problems, I've just received a 66 pattern hood with 3 button holes that fit the british army combat jacket from the 80s. I never thought I'd be able to get one of them, new as well. I've fixed 3 buttons on the neck, fabsiled as well, so I might do a waterproof test in the future and explain the hood with reference that it doesn't spoil the iconic side of the jacket too much because it's just 3 buttons that can be removed. It's just got to rain now on my day off, so it could take a while.

[@user-vv6sy2ox4q]

Nice review. Beautiful landscape! Who makes that repro?

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@user-vv6sy2ox4q there's no company named label on the inside. All I can tell you is that the eBay sellers name is, gambleso19. Thanks for the compliment, I'm glad you enjoyed 💯 👍

[@Julie-ix7wv]

Now if I’d have tried to turn my jacket inside out, it’d of just blown away with the next gust! 😅 Good job Andy,absolutely stunning landscape 😊

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Thanks for that Julie, there was no wind on the low land. You would have been fine 👍

[@vonsprague7913]

Just to add to my previous comment, it's not denim it's canvas mate. Think tent material. Your cons were spot on.

[@WyeExplorer]

Good on you Andy for getting up there in the gale to test out the smock. Not such a winner being Cotton - that would downgrade it all for me - it would have to perform well in the wet. Well, another decent go though. All the best. Mark

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Cheers Mark, yer cotton?? What more can I say. Someone did comment that it was canvas, but hay, never mind. I might do a waterproof test on it, not sure yet. Anyway, cheers mark, I hope you enjoyed. 👍

[@WyeExplorer]

@@Andy-walkaboutnutty A pleasure Andy. Hey, maybe wax it and test it - see you do that before.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@WyeExplorer I've already put fabsil on it. However, I could wax it as well just to make things a bit different.

[@WyeExplorer]

@@Andy-walkaboutnutty Ah, at it already then Andy. Good going.

[@lib556]

I've got a late pattern Denison (1956 Suez - 1972 Northern Ireland) with the very light background. As you describe here it is a denim-ish cotton fabric. Honestly not much use for anything other than looking at on display. Not particularly windproof. Certainly not water resistant. Drying would take quite a while...

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Yer. It certainly sums it up. Someone said it was like canvas, but i suppose that's about the same thing. If yours is not a reproduction, it's probably worth thousands of pounds if it's in good condition. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed 👍

[@davidg1811]

Great work. Is that a new reproduction Denison? If new, who is the manufacturer?

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Yes, it's brand new, from eBay by a seller called Gambleso19. It's very well made, and I'm glad I've got it. £129.99

[@davidg1811]

⁠​⁠@@Andy-walkaboutnuttyThanks for the info. It looks like that might have been a one-off sale by that person/vendor. However, I did notice a (very) similar smock offered by SOF Military. Maybe it’s the same? I recently purchased a new item from SOF Military, their “Denison 1972 Pattern” smock. This isn’t a genuine reproduction, but a more modern smock design with the WW2 pattern camo, including drawstrings around the waist (one for the back, and two separate ones for each side of the front).

[@brinsonharris9816]

@@Andy-walkaboutnuttyI also bought one of those. Nice repro, and I wear it and let my original 1959 pattern dated 1962 (I was made the same year!) hang in the closet and stay in near mint condition. I collect Cold War field jackets and the original 1959 is the nicest piece in the collection.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@brinsonharris9816 I did have an original #denisonsmock years ago when I was in the army. An old sweat was leaving, and he gave it to me. I didn't have any use for it and I couldn't see the value at the time, so I took it to rays military shop in Abergavenny along with my desert gear 1991, and sold it all off. I can see now why he nearly wet himself over the denison. I wish I had done the same as you and just tucked it out of the way. Ray had a great shop back in the day, but he's not trading anymore. He's probably passed away by now.

[@johnanon3081]

Andy, do you have any of the non-hooded DPM models similar to the CS95? I believe they're called the 94 version. Would love to see a review on those. Do you have other military surplus jackets we've yet to see? I think the Dutch and Austrians make pretty nice versions of the M65 too. Great video, Andy!

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

Hi there, I don't have the Dutch or the Austrian versions. I used to have the old, none hooded DPM para smock from the 80s--90s, but i gave it to a school teacher friend of mine who used it in a lesson, presumably about parachuting or military history? I can ask if he's still got it, but if I don't do a video, that means I can't get hold of it, or it's gone.

[@robertmunoz7543]

REPOP?😳 Oh shit i thought you wee on your personal property!😂 Jman

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@@robertmunoz7543 I wish I had the money for that amount of land.

[@angelswithdirtyfaces1]

❤👍👍👍

[@A14b19]

Where did you get the smock

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@@A14b19 ebay. I just had a look. They are still there. Reproduction and genuine.

[@ianwatson194]

Pause at 1.21, you'll just see me off in the distance on the footpath 😁🏔

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

How does it feel to be on the telly Ian ?? I hope you enjoyed the video. I had a couple of copyright problems with KZbin, the 1st song, and the outro song, the last 20 seconds. so I had to change the 1st one in my online KZbin studio without deleting and re uploading. And for the last 20 seconds, I just muted that. I wasn't in trouble, but the money earned, which is not much, would have gone to the music creator. That music I got from my video editing software, which is supposed to be royalty free 🤔

[@ianwatson194]

@Andy-walkaboutnutty loving my moment of fame 😁 Bit unfair of them to be trying to take the money you earn from the video for themselves. You can be using that money to help create more content instead 🏔 The bergen I was telling you about came, and it is ex army one.

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@ianwatson194 it's probably a PLCE bergen if it's got the chunky zips on the side to hold side pockets similar to mine, except it could be dpm camouflage.

[@ianwatson194]

@Andy-walkaboutnutty it's labelled as British Army 100L DPM Long back

[@Andy-walkaboutnutty]

@ianwatson194 That sounds like the one I was on about. If it's genuine, then it should fit your back just right. We seem to be the same height. It should have a little water bottle sized pouch on the front and chunky zips on the side for the side pouches / rocket pouches. That will serve you for many years. It's also known as the PLCE 100L long back.