New Army PT Gear: Coming to a Clothing Sales Store Near You
Yep: yet another new uniform.
You can take a look at the new stuff here. According to the article, it will cost a touch less than the existing PT gear – maybe as much as a whopping $3 less for the set.
To cut costs, there’s no reflective lettering on this new uniform. But as the linked article reminds us all: “When needed, soldiers can wear reflective belts.” (sheesh)
There will also be a “mix-n-match” optional version of the new PT gear. This optional version will be made of different, “higher performance fabric”. This optional version will be will not be issued to all; soldiers desiring these items will need to purchase them out of pocket. These items will also be substantially more costly than the issue version.
Yeah, I said “mix-n-match” above. The concept is to allow optional and issue items to be mixed if the soldier desires to do so.
That’s gonna look just freaking great as stuff is laundered a few times and and fades. I’ve yet to see two different fabrics that fade the same when repeatedly laundered.
The new PT gear is the result of soldier feedback from at least two surveys. For the first, 76,000+ soldiers responded; for the second, 170,000. At 10 min per survey, that’s, only . . . oh, 19.65 standard staff-years just to respond to the surveys.
And that doesn’t include the time to record and analyze the data, develop the surveys, design and test the uniforms, or put out a contract for their manufacture. Or to buy and issue the new uniforms.
Hey, I wasn’t a big fan of the grey post-2000 Army PT uniform. But it worked well enough. Who cares if Joe and Jane Tentpeg didn’t like the way it looked? It’s not a damned fashion statement, folks – it’s freaking PT gear. You wear it while you get smelly, sweaty, and nasty while working out hard.
So, somebody tell me: why in the hell did we spend the $$$ to develop something new to replace something that worked well enough – yet again?
Must be because the Army has plenty of money. Yeah, that’s it. Gotta be.
Category: "Teh Stoopid", "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Big Army, WTF?
I remember the bannana suits in the 80s and those Gawd-awful PT shorts, and the reversible black-yellow shirts. IDK, I think these new shirts might be a tad hot in the desert. And (sigh) we are back to the black PT watch cap (I hope they kept some of their old ones). I also remember being in the Army and saying, “If you like something and it changes, don’t worry, if you saty in long enough, it will be back.”
The banana suit t shirt was itself as thick as a sweatshirt. At 5 th div change of command at ft Polk 1987 the incoming general announced that the brown t shirt would immediately replace it. Cheers all around
I’m glad they got rid of the reflective lettering, that stuff used to chafe my nipples when running. That said, the never should have changed the uniforms in the first place, the pre 2000 PTs were the best.
I have a complete set of the old gray PTs. Every once in a while (I’m on a BDE staff)I’ll break them out and show up to Staff PT in them.
Elastic still viable?
Frankly, I never understood why summer PT wasn’t in gym shorts (pick a color – I’d suggest something dark – and standardize it for the Army) and an issue T-shirt w/white socks and gym shoes. Add grey sweats w/Army logo, a knit cap and (when prescribed) gloves and you’ve got the winter uniform. Cost: I’d estimate about $50 for everything but the shoes.
And soldiers could still wear a reflective belt when required. (smile)
No, it’s not fancy or fashionable. But it freaking works.
I guess that wouldn’t look “cool” enough, though.
Or like we did for a while between the banana suit and before the grey PTs were issued. In issue tshirt, old pair of BDU trousers rolled up an inch or so at the bottom, with running shoes.
O-4E: that works, but it’s kinda hard on the uniform trou. I wouldn’t recommend it for a long-term solution in lieu of dedicated PT gear.
That said, dedicated PT gear needs to be functional – but not necessarily fancy. And simple cotton or poly/cotton blend gym shorts, an issue T-shirt, white cotton socks, grey cotton sweats, a knit cap, and issue gloves (if the weather is cold enough) would fit the bill at less than 50% of the cost.
Hell, you could even have a PT-version of the issue T-shirt if desired that had the Army logo stenciled on it. Don’t really see the need, but it wouldn’t be that hard to do.
But, again: that wouldn’t look as “cool” as new, high-tech gear. So we can’t have that.
And I’m guessing we’ll be doing this same thing again in a few years, too.
Hondo, I think this might be the piece you are missing (italicized by me): ““It just fits better, it looks better,” Chandler said. “Lots of folks that we talked to said, ‘I would actually wear that downtown or at the mall.’ …”
Yeah, how it looks at the mall is the “acid test” for adopting military gear. How stupid of me to forget that!
(Was the sarcasm above obvious enough, or do I need to add a “/sarc” tag?)
Of course, the good Sergeant Major forgot you can’t wear it at the mall if the local CSMs convince the installation commander to have a policy prohibiting it. Or the PX. I was once refused entry to the Fort Bragg exchange because I was wearing PT clothes. On my way home from the orthopedic clinic. On crutches. With a 4 inch screw through my ankle. Because it was against the installation commander’s (read: his CSM’s policy).
I can already hear people complaining about the all black get up. It’s still not as bad as having to wear the Air Force PT shirt. It went from being a reflective shirt to flakes in two washes to a moisture capture and never release sweat box. I’ve put it on twice out here in the sandbox and both times…I wish I grapped a lighter shirt to wear. Just like the millions of uniform changes we see now this won’t be the last one they do.
I would have to agree with killing the mock turtleneck. Nothing says physical training like adding a little sweat to a tight piece of fabric around your throat.
The zipper pulls on the PT jacket was another thing that would have made life better. It’s not a huge deal, but the troopies all complained about it.
Removing the reflective lettering is another good thing, for the same reason Former 11B stated.
Finally, adding the built-in bike shorts will save a bit of money at the PX. Everyone in my platoon was required to buy three pair.
With that said, the mix-and-match will turn out to be officer vs. enlisted, just like when the Staybrite vs. brass hit the market. Sure, you’ll have the one or two troopies buy the high-speed, but then they will find out that they can drink out of training and will only buy the cheapest uniform stuff they can get.
At least PT belt sales will remain the same.
Navy did the same thing. First go round of the new yellow PT shirts were see thru when they got wet. The ladies were not to happy. So version 2 was spun quite quick. Another purchase, but hey that is what clothing allowance is for. So what that it falls short by a grand or so.
Man, they change their minds with the weather report, don’t they?
Let me know if the Navy brings back the light blues summer uniform from the 1960s.
That was the uniform the recruiters wore when I started the enlistment process in the early 2000’s. Those aren’t new at all.
Where is your fashion sense. They keep changing the PT gear, cuz troops have to be able to strut around the base, the BX/PX and show off to the opposite sex. The changes in clothing only show the Army can keep “in style” Sorry, I stopped buying Standard PT gear and lowered my standards by resorting to cut off shorts, T shirt and sneakers. What the hell was I thinking? //Sarc
I remember when (and I’m sure others here do also) when the PT uniform was unbloused OD green fatigue pants, white t-shirt and combat boots. If the Army was so hot to get another uniform, why not bring back the old khakis? A great “casual” uniform for daily wear and easy to take care of. PTs shouldn’t be a fucking fashion statement.
Yup, me too. However, I only wore “issue” PT gear twice a year for the APFT. I only cared about meeting Army Standards, not making a fashion statement.
I remember those days as well, we didn’t have a fancy dress up outfit for PT.
We just ran in our boots and trousers and t-shirts….the only guys wearing reflective belts were fatties running road guard.
Frankly, I was glad to see boots and fatigues/BDUs get the “heave ho” for PT. PT in uniform trou was a bit hard on the uniforms. And boots were NOT made for running on hard surfaces like roads. We were losing troops to needless injuries that way (stress fractures, shin splints, knee/ankle issues, etc . . . ).
Still: a pair of gym shorts, gym shoes, white socks, and an issue T-shirt works well enough. It also reduces the amount of extra “stuff” you gotta issue, pack, and carry.
I still can’t believe the Marines banned silkies. Those were so much more comfortable to run in than the standard PT shorts.
In the 60’s at Bragg (82nd) we wore PT shorts that were so small that a male porn star could not wear them. Those shorts are seared, seared, in my memory. Tried to find them on the WWW to no avail.
Rest of the PT uniform was jump boots and a white T shirt.
Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot, over?
Whatever was wrong with combat boots, fatigue trousers, and tee-shirts?
At least the lightweight heather-grey tee-shirts and shorts weren’t bad. But what’s with all this “high-speed” crap?
“Oh, pretty-please: wait Mr. Taliban while I change into my running shoes so I can chase you.”
–Uggh!
1980, when I went through Basic at Ft Lost in the Woods, that’s what we wore. Until 1989 when I hit Germany for the second time, every unit I was in allowed you wear whatever you wanted. You could tell who stayed out a bit too late partying the night before – they were the ones in jeans and dress shoes.
Boots & uts 4 life!
Females are apparently incapable of running in boots though. Well, at least in the Marine Corps.
I think every branch PT test should be in minimum boot & uts if not with the uniform top on. Train like you fight, right?
Gotta love it–the powers that be just can’t make a decision that outlasts their watch as the senior leaders of our Army. I joined not long after the IPFU was adopted–the older style uniform was still authorized (and worn by some) for another year or so. We wore (more or less) the same BDU that my older brother wore when he joined in the mid-eighties, albeit with that outstanding black beret that made me feel super elite!
Almost thirteen years later I’ve accumulated over a dozen summer IPFUs, three winter sets, and have probably ten serviceable ACUs, not to mention various accoutrements that will be unauthorized in a few years. Digging through/sorting out some of my gear yesterday, I found an assortment of ALICE/MOLLE/DCU/BDU/ACU/ECWSS stuff in Woodland, Desert, Tan, OCP, UCP, Olive, Black, Foliage, and Coyote Brown–right now I have two huge load-out bags, three duffels, a kit bag, and some smaller bags full.
Wearing black in the Georgia heat is something I’m sure all of my coworkers look forward to.
Well at east they didn’t go with the gold w/black lettering.
A photo of your ‘peeps’, Jonn? (smile)
But at least you didn’t post a link to this photo. (smile)
Some of my colleagues now are convinced I am out of my mind, I just burst out laughing while looking at my screen on seeing this….that’s a great outfit and I love the caption…PT BELTS ARE STILL REQUIRED EVEN THOUGH IT”S MADE FROM RECYCLED PT BELTS….
Okay, I know I’m out of my lane – but why do you guys need completely uniform PT gear at all? When *I* was a youngster (Aug. ’80 in the IDF), the IDF issued us green PT shorts. We supplied our own sneakers and wore whatever acceptable T shirt or A shirt we had, same as under our field shirts. Socks were our standard grey wool boot socks (which I think were good all around). As Hondo mentioned, it isn’t a fashion show. It all got muddy and sweaty and torn anyway. Why go through all the trouble and expense for PT? Any HS kid knows how to pick out some workable gym clothes, for Pete’s sake.
I see rgr1480 already covered it well and succinctly.
Pretty much for uniformity’s sake only, medic09. But yeah – an issue t-shirt with a pair of issued gym shorts would handle that.
I’d take issue with using wool boot socks, though. Wool socks IMO kinda suck for working out – hence the recommendation for white cotton ones.
Shoes are already allowed to be user choice items, as I recall.
With all due respect, wool is a proven material for wicking sweat and padding against blisters far better than cotton. I suppose cotton socks are okay, as long as the activity is short. For myself, as a civilian now I only wear cotton socks for dress shoes. SmartWool for everything else.
As for the original issue – uniformity. I don’t see it as being so important for PT. Everyone will be uniformly sweaty and muddy after 15 minutes, anyway! 😉
Also, just for clarity. We only wore PT gear in the first weeks of basic training. After that, only our sneakers came to the field units; and much of the time we just did everything in fatigues and boots. I do agree that we had more minor injuries from working out in boots.
I really miss the 1970’s USMC green wool socks.
Hated them at first and eventually would wear nothing else.
The Army poly/cotton whatever blend was a poor replacement.
I liked the IPFU all right; it was a damn sight better than the all-gray PFU. The gray shorts tended to cling in the most embarrassing places, and sag everywhere else.
It’s about damn time. Looks much more comfy and more breathable than the crap we have now. I know there is a lot of heartache about it because of costs and what-not but in all honesty, this is the PT uniform we should have had all along. That crap we wear right now is horrible. The shirts get dirty and are stained after your first time doing PRT. The shorts are one length so short people look like they are wearing board shorts and tall people like me look like we are in Ranger panties. Then when you run, they work their way up your thighs and it’s really dumb looking. Everything but the shirts is made from trash bag like material that crunches and crinkles and doesn’t breathe worth crap. You’re either freezing or your seating your arse off. I’m personally happy about the new gear.
I’m most heartbroken over the fact that they haven’t used this redesign as an opportunity to resurrectthe hoodie with the hood that you’re not allowed to use.
I use the old grey “hoodie” as an underlayment for winter months here in NH. I like the outer shell set but the shorts have never fit correctly. Nice to be retired….
Nice try US Army but the Corps still has you beat.
http://www.militaryspot.com/gallery/data/544/medium/marines_tank_top.jpg
I wasn’t a Marine, but even I’ll give that a great big OORAH!
HOOAH!
The one thing that gets me about the color is the idea of running on a road at night in it. Sure, you’re going to have your reflective belt, because by god you have to wear them everywhere, but how easy is that going to be to see on, say Railhead Drive at Fort Hood? I think the thing is an accident waiting to happen. At which time all you youngsters who thought black was cool will be wearing orange vests. At least with the current uniform, you have the reflective material in the shirt, for however long it lasts, in addition to the reflective belt.
I wonder how long until they switch to these:
http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Bright-Safety-Belt-Green/dp/B00AFIMHPI/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1407875158&sr=8-6&keywords=reflective+belt+LED
Stop giving ideas to Sergeant Major’s… they have enough of their own.
This was clearly an excuse for the SMA to finally codify that god damned pt belt as an army-wide, by-regulation (punitive now, of course) requirement. I can’t tell you how many people believe it’s a uniform item already. Tell them to show you the policy, order, or regulation and they’ll stutter and mumble some nonsense about “doing what everyone else is doing” or “being careful about what hill you choose to die on.”
Just wondering if the Army Safety Center ever published a list of accidents that shows exactly how many soldiers were injured or killed conducting PT while not wearing a reflective belt.
As for SMA’s “survey”, I seem to recall a “survey” for a replacement for the Class A’s. The survey results and the resulting disaster known as the ASU were NOT the same.
All black uniforms, the Ranger Regiment is going to love that.
I started writing an article for the Duffel Blog about this a few months ago. Looks like it’s time to dust it off and send it in.
Dive PTs have been black and gold forever. No issues OCONUS or otherwise.
PT uniform: take of yer shirt and baseball cap. Unblouse boots. Fuck I’m old.
Black with gold ARMY lettering, because a Ranger tab would have been too obvious.