My New (60's?) Soviet Loadout

[beastor]

Hello there,

Not sure what to make of this one myself...

I needed a Summer Soviet/Russian look for my AK's (you may have seen my previous Fall/Winter loadout on here, but it seems to have disappeared) and this one seemed to fit the bill.

60's? 70's? 80's? I got the BDU from Russian military.com Its called "He-Be"
and was made in the 80's to cut costs in making camo for the whole
Russian army. Or at least thats what Oleg said.

I checked it out, it does exist.

Saying that, the trousers look kinda WW2....

What do you guys think? I must admit I really like it, really
comfortable, good for a Summer loadout?

Beastor

[W0lf]

I've gotta ask, do you have a hat alternate to the helmet in every loadout you do?

[Assam45]

Look great, i love plain Od/Tan uniform, but i think it would look better if you could change the helmet with an hat like this http://cgi.ebay.com/Soviet-Russian-A...742.m153.l1262

[Gish]

Thats a good impression.
I'd call it more along the lines of an early 80's motorized infantry. The webbing and uniform were pretty standard issue back then.

[beastor]

Thanks for the input guys, its a fun loadout to put together, cant wait to use it on the skirmish field.

W0lf: I do indeed have different hats for all my loadouts! Sad I know.

For my Op-For: red beret, shemagh and black PASGT helmet
For my Vietnam: Green beret, cap and helmet (pretty much just stick to the helmet)
German WW2: Mountain ski cap and basic Jerry helmet
Russian: Officers cap, helmet and Ushanka (see attached photo)
Cold War US 1980's: cap and kevlar PASGT
USMC MARPAT: PASGT helmet and Marine cap.
For my Black Hawk Down and US Army Iraq'04 loadouts I just have the Kevlar (real) PASGT.

The thing is I always start wearing the helmet but by 4 hours into the day I like to swap to something lighter. Hence the officers cap.

Assam45: Thanks for that! I totally didnt spot that on my last tour of ebay....I will enquire into the sizes they have.

[Igor01]

Originally Posted by Assam45

Look great, i love plain Od/Tan uniform, but i think it would look better if you could change the helmet with an hat like this http://cgi.ebay.com/Soviet-Russian-A...742.m153.l1262

Actually, the cap on the eBay link you posted is for the "afganka" uniform which was used from mid-80s, first in Afghanistan and later in USSR.

The correct headwear for this kit is either a pilotka , a "panama" (used by the border guards and ground troops in Middle-Asia Military District) or a SSh-68 steel helmet.

There should also be shoulder boards and appropriate collar insignia on the tunic, as well as white "under-collar" on the inside part of the tunic's collar where it touches the neck.

[beastor]

Excellent... The pilotka I have always wanted, the problem will be finding one my size (62 cm)

The Panama looks cool as hell, I will certainly be buying that!

Can you suggest some shoulder boards to put on Igor?

[beastor]

Igor01, is the helmet I have incorrect? I was told that the one I am wearing is the 80's style...

[Igor01]

Originally Posted by beastor

Excellent... The pilotka I have always wanted, the problem will be finding one my size (62 cm)

The Panama looks cool as hell, I will certainly be buying that!

Can you suggest some shoulder boards to put on Igor?

The choice of shoulder boards would depend on what branch of service you decide to go for, the motor rifles (regular infantry) wore red ones with CA (Sovetskaya Armiya), airborne wore blue ones with ВДВ (Vozdushno-Desantnye Voyska), border guards wore green ones with ПВ (Pogranichnye Voyska) and most other ground troops wore black ones with CA. Get whichever you fancy and whichever would go with the collar insignia you like and can procure.

If you can't find a good-fitting pilotka and decide to go for the panama instead, it might be a good choice to go for either the borderguards or the airborne impression. You already have an AKS that would fit the look well (sans the silver bolt and orange bakelite mag). To make the impression complete, just add a KLMK oversuit and a RD-54 ruck.

[beastor]

Excellent, thanks for that bud.

I think the red shoulder boards for infantry I think. I always like going the Poor Bloody Infantry.

I managed to find a size 62 pilotka, so we will see how we go.

[Igor01]

Originally Posted by beastor

Igor01, is the helmet I have incorrect? I was told that the one I am wearing is the 80's style...

Nothing wrong with the helmet, it was used since the 70's (the older, more rounded SSh-40 was probably more widely used though).

Oh, you can also use a blue VDV beret for the airborne look and a green one for the borderguards. If my memory serves me right, the VDV didn't wear pilotka's, so keep that in mind when you choose the shoulder boards and collar insignia.

[beastor]

Igor01 you are seriously a God send!

Most of the guys I skirmish with can cast an eye on my US gear to check for authenticity, but this is the main reason I put my loadouts on forums: so I can get my kit checked over.

Trying to find red shoulder boards, but can just get officer ones at the moment (maybe a captains to go with the cap?)

Igor01 what Russian/Soviet loadouts do you have?

You should start a new thread with them, as the "Russia and East Bloc" always looks a bit sparse.

Everyone is always going about in their Contractor, US Army, SEALS and USMC loadouts (although I cant really talk, as I have a few of those myself)

[Vivisector]

Originally Posted by Igor01

as well as white "under-collar" on the inside part of the tunic's collar where it touches the neck.

To elaborate a little, this is a cotton strip (like bed linen) loosely sewn into the inside collar of the shirt, poking up a millimetre or two above the collar. The purpose of it is to absorb dirt/sweat from the neck. It is changed daily and is standard practice for Soviet and modern Russian troops

I just take some old bedsheets and cut them into strips the width of my collar and stitch them a few times into the inside of the uniform.

[Igor01]

Originally Posted by beastor

Igor01 you are seriously a God send!

Most of the guys I skirmish with can cast an eye on my US gear to check for authenticity, but this is the main reason I put my loadouts on forums: so I can get my kit checked over.

Trying to find red shoulder boards, but can just get officer ones at the moment (maybe a captains to go with the cap?)

Igor01 what Russian/Soviet loadouts do you have?

You should start a new thread with them, as the "Russia and East Bloc" always looks a bit sparse.

Everyone is always going about in their Contractor, US Army, SEALS and USMC loadouts (although I cant really talk, as I have a few of those myself)

I am always glad to help a fellow comrade even though I don't consider myself a gear expert by any stretch of imagination. I suppose that having grown up at various Soviet army bases with my family and still being more fluent in Russian than in English can give me a bit of an unfair advantage over a West-born Soviet/Russian gear enthusiast

I haven't been to a game in many moons and sold off most of my gear and AEG's although still have a few pieces stashed away in my treasure chest.

Captain's shoulder boards won't go with this kit and with the cap, officers has a different type of uniform, different belt, different webbing and wore a side-arm. The cap you show in the last picture is an "everyday" or "off the base" cap, the cockade on was indended only for apprivate/efreitor/seargant, officers useddifferent ones for the everyday kit (and the green subdued versions of the same smaller cockade with their field uniforms).

If red "CA" shoulder boards cannot be found, consider getting the green "ПВ" borderguards' or blue "ВДВ" airborne ones. Any of these would go well with a "panama" wide-brimmed hat and your AKS. Just add collar insignia and a white undercollar strip as Vivisector described it.

If you are looking to assemble a particular impression or having a difficulty locating a certain item on English-only websites, PM me and I'll try my best to help.

[beastor]

Thanks for the info guys, appreciate it.