Quote:
Originally Posted by MSD
I'm kind of curious about why you would need BDUs.
|
BDU RANT!
As Slims said: they're cheap, camouflaged, durable, have huge pockets... as well as being designed for strenuous physical activity, made of fabrics that dry quickly, and can be adapted to fit many individuals (size "medium" fits a wide range of body types). It cannot be stressed enough that BDUs are great outfits for survival situations because of how mass produced they are... they can be had cheap outside any military base... you can get two sets for the price piece of similar civvie clothing. Military-grade BDUs are available in a wide range of colors, including olive drab, khaki, black, navy blue, ridiculous B&W "urban" blender'd zebra, etc. if you wish to avoid the salad suit (BDU woodland) or melanoma (DCU) look. I'm partial to khaki BDUs. They work well in a wide range of environments and can be colored / darkened with spray paint to better fit the local area.
I've always felt that BDUs are kinda like a tough external clothing shell. They come in "winter" weight and "summer" weight (more popular). The winter weight ones are thicker and more durable but get kinda stuffy above 80 degrees. The type underwear (t-shirt / thermal / silkweight / polypro / briefs / commando) will dictate your comfort level with temp. Underarmor stuff for the summer and polypro or silks for the winter. Can't beat 'em and they're a helluva lot easier to move in than Carhartts or Levis.
Clothing is extremely important in any survival situation. Regardless of how equipped you are with material possessions like generators, machine guns, and spaceships... you're useless unless you're mobile. Clothing is crucial to mobility. I'd never wear shorts in a survival situation. They're a no-no for a variety of reasons.
BDUs are amazingly useful. I've turned BDUs into stretchers, ammo vests, machine gun hop pads, drag bags, satchel charge bags, sneaky-bob swamp thing outfits, etc. Hell, if you cut 'em right and send 'em to a sew shop... they're whatever you want 'em to be.
Absolute hell for me would be having to negotiate a survival situation wearing modern casual civilian clothes. The tight fit, pathetic materials, and fragile stitching of said clothing is garbage. Civvie hiking clothing is good stuff but horribly expensive and generally not designed for situations where hostilities may be encountered.
Granted, I'm biased towards this type of clothing. I love the simple, durable BDU and I think the Army was straight dope retarded to switch to ACUs. They should have gone with a Marine Corps or even Crye-style outfit, but not the garbage called ACUs.