Complete Brit Kit guide

I decided to write this to help airsofters out with brit loadouts, feel free to use for websites or whatever if you like it (but i'd appreciate a credit), i was going to submit it to airsoft magazines but thought sod it i'd just stick it up on here.

For reference pics see my loadout pics on this forum section under 'british loadouts'

Wannabe Guide: British Infantry 1995 – present.

The British infantryman is the epitome of professionalism and a hard look to pull of convincingly in airsoft. Getting the look right will require a little more smartness about ones kit than other loadouts. Here I will look at each item of kit and the best and most ‘soldierly’ way to wear it.

The British army does have its own fashions and ways of wearing kit to look more ‘Gucci’ as it is known. Aping these ‘fashions’ is the key to looking more like a Squaddie and not like a first time player in hired combats!

So without further ado we’ll start at the top.

Headgear:

Mk 6 Helmet.

This cumbersome bit of kit requires little modification. Always wear it with a cover (either desert, dpm or UN blue), the only time you will see these worn without a cover is by recruits in training. Avoid any graffiti, the only markings on your helmet should be your surname on the band at the front and if desired your blood type (A pos etc) on the rear of the foliage band. You may wish to attach a broad strip of elastic from the sides of the foliage loop above the ears to rest across the front of the helmet; this is often done by soldiers to make wearing the helmet with a respirator and an NBC suit more feasible and faster to don. Another nbc modification is the attachment of a pull ring from a spent grenade to the metal fastening ring on the helmets chinstrap making the chinstrap a looser fit when using this ring.

You may find the Mk6 uncomfortable on the crown of the head, you can alleviate this with a car washing type sponge under the crown ‘ring’ or simply putting a soft wool cap between helmet and head (although this can get very hot)

If you decide to camouflage the helmet with local foliage on site then one should put in enough grass or whatever to tightly fill each foliage loop, there should be little or no DPM fabric visible on a properly cammed helmet. A few twigs here and there just looks ridiculous. Helmets are cammed as in theory only the head should ever be visible if moving tactically and making best use of cover.

If you are attempting a loadout of a senior NCO then you may wish to attach a pair of ‘cats eyes’ on a band to your helmet, these are generally not worn by private soldiers.

In general I would not recommend one of these for airsofting. Helmets are heavy, uncomfortable and generally left behind on reconnaissance missions similar to the scenarios found in airsoft.

Beret

Often the most poorly imitated and worn part of a British impression is the essential beret.

Each regiment has its own peculiarities, colour and cap badge but I shall deal with the type of beret common to many infantry regiments.

If you are lucky to have bought or acquired a shaped beret then you can skip this part, if on the other hand you have bought a new and unissued beret then read on.

Remove the cap badge (if it has one) from your beret and soak the beret in very hot water, then quickly plunge it in to cold water and wring off excess water, place it once again in hot water, squeeze the worst off then place it on your head… Yes that’s right put it on your head, soaking wet.

Place the beret so that the cap badge area is over the left eye, the leather band at the front should rest about an inch above the eyebrow, the band at the back should be either straight level or ideally rest on the upper part of the crown (some regiments such as the paras have a fashion to wear headgear very low at the front and up at the rear). Pull the fabric of the beret down on the right hand side, folded over to rest above the right ear. You may find it useful to place a plastic ‘shaper’ behind the cap badge are to create a more pronounced ridge.

Wear the beret until it is dry and has shaped and moulded itself to your particular head shape, once shaped in this way it will stay like that for some time.

Finally using hot water and a normal shaving razor shave the surface of the beret to remove any stray fibres and ‘bobbling’, then, using a cocktail stick or similar push the ends of the ties emerging from the leather band into the opposing sleeves of the band itself, do not leave these dangling loosely in a ‘European’ style.

Cap badge should be darkened or removed for field use, some soldiers (particualry snipers) acquire a second beret onto which is sewn a subdued cloth version of their regimental insignia. Similarly officers may wear cloth beret insignia.

Patrol Cap or ‘crap hat’ You could wear this as issued but it looks a bit ‘recruit’ and very eighties, best worn with pull down ear flap cut out and card removed from brim, can make wearing a MK6 more comfortable if worn below it. The crap hat is issued to the parachute regiment before they are awarded their red berets, hence the slightly desultory name and its unpopular status as headwear.

Bush Hat

The issue bush hat is often seen worn with the brim cut down to be either small or non existent, to me this defeats the object of having a bush hat.

The brim can be cut down to reduce the chance of a soaking wet bush hat brim falling in ones eyes and obstructing vision, but when weighed against the advantages of having a brim that protects you from sun and rain (as designed) then it seems slightly pointless. Best worn as it is with little or no modification.

Headover.

A cloth ‘headover’ is simply a fabric tube of elasticated material; this is put on the head like a soft cap. To be worn smartly you should fold the top over and tuck it into the hat by rolling the brim up above the eyebrow, the headover then forms a ridge across the top.

Wool cap rolled up balaclava

If you need advice on how to wear this then you really do need more specialist help than I can offer…

Combat Clothing and Accessories;

Smock.

There are many variations of the DPM smock, the main ones you will see will be the early 90s pattern ‘smock temperate’, soldier 95 rip stop combat jacket and the SAS smock.

All of these should be worn with button all fastened up, unfastened buttons look sloppy and can result in important kit being lost when moving fast or crawling. If the smock is an older type such as the SAS smock or temperate you may wish to place small squares of either electrical tape or green fabric tape over the button holes and thread on each button. This reduces the chance of buttons coming off as a result of snagged or worn thread.

If you have a sleeve pocket with pen holding loops on your smock do not place pens or pencils in these, should you fall or rapidly swing the arm then you may run the risk of stabbing or piercing your arm.

Smocks can further be modified with the addition of sewing in woollen cuffs to the sleeves (which comes as standard on the para smock), additionally the pull ring from a smoke grenade can be attached to any zip fasteners on the front of the smock to make it easier to do up with cold or gloved hands.

Many soldiers ‘blouse ‘the underside of the smock to make if sit higher around the thighs and snag less. To do this simply fold the smock underneath itself so that the draw cords at the bottom can be tied around the waist like a belt. This should half the length of the smocks skirts, this will make the lower pockets unusable but as these are often covered up by webbing this is generally not an issue. A bloused smock in this way allows you to rapidly put spent magazines down the front of your smock rather than having to struggle to replace it in a pouch during a firefight , this is sometimes referred to as the ‘Brecon pocket’

If the smock has a hood this should be left down, even in wet weather is patrolling or skirmishing, wearing a hood drastically reduces your hearing and peripheral vision, instead let you headgear protect you from rain. If you have an SAS smock soldiers often roll the hood in and secure it by tying the pull cords though the fabric loop at the top of the neck (see picture). Doing this prevents the hood flapping about in bad weather or filling up with detritus.

Any badges on the smock should be kept to an absolute minimum, generally, national insignia and rank if anything. The British army is a small professional army, all members of a regiment know each other and have no need to display a multitude of ‘qualifications’ and proficiency badges on their kit, believing instead in their own ability to do the job. Badges and insignia build up an intelligence picture whenever they are spotted by and enemy, to this end the more secretive, elite or specialist a unit you might be attempting to portray the less badges you will see on these uniforms.

For example SAS soldiers rarely if ever have any distinguishing badges or markings on their kit.

Anything ‘individual’ about you or your kit helps distinguish which unit is in which theatre to the enemy, obviously this has no practical application to airsoft but if you’re going for a convincing British forces look , one should bear this in mind.

Shirts, Scarves and Scrim.

Scarves

Around your neck you may want some sort of scarf in cold weather the most ‘squaddie’ type of scarf you could go for is a shemagh (an Arabic square of warm woven cloth) in green (or sand) and black ‘houndstooth’ pattern. Wearing the shemagh is simple. With a smock open quite loosely at the neck, form the shemagh into a triangle with the long point hanging down your body, wrap the end around your neck and tie under this ‘bib’ fasten up your smock.

Resist the urge to use or wear ‘scrim’ this is a very 1970s British Army affectation and hardly ever used now as it has a tendency to entangle and snag.

A headover can also be worn as a form of scarf.

Shirts.

A simple green t-shirt should be worn under the smock.

You may wish to wear a soldier 95 or similar type shirt; I would always recommend that you iron the sleeves to have creases on these (as well as your trousers and possibly your smock) to have a more soldierly appearance.

A soldier 95 shirt worn with the sleeves rolled up should have the sleeves neatly folded over and over until the folded section is four finger widths above the elbow. If you play a lot in summer/hot climates, you may want to cut off the bottom of the sleeve of a spare 95 shirt to reduce the amount of folded cloths when the sleeves are rolled up.

Norwegian shirts and similar.

Great for the safe zone but in general too hot for skirmishing

Trousers.

Trousers should be clean and free from rips or tears with a central ironed crease down the front and back of the leg. Wear these baggy fasten high on the waist and bloused low over the boots. Use either trouser twisters or the integral draw cords to blouse up the trousers. You can wear trousers bloused high at the boot top but this doesn’t help you avoid getting your laces snagged and looks very ‘American’

Don’t wear knee pads outside your trousers for the same reasons, very few units would be allowed to get away with doing this, instead wear them underneath your combat trousers; the baggy cut should make them virtually unnoticeable.

A few years back it was very ‘fashionable’ to use the tropical pattern trousers (distinguishable by their more prominent reds in the colours) as these would dry out much quicker than the old issue temperate trousers due to the high amount of plastic fibre in tropical kit. Now with the prevalence of soldier 95 this is hardly an issue and tropicals are generally only worn by older soldiers as a habit or affectation.

It has also become fashionable to wear desert trousers with a temperate smock, this s does have the advantage of further breaking up your outline and providing better camouflage in arid areas or dry autumn woodland but again, very few regular units would be allowed to dress this way.

Waterproof jacket and trousers:

The old ‘crisp packet’ type nylon waterproofs are nearly never ever seen nowadays. Most units now have Gore-Tex jacket and trousers. Should it be wet enough in the field you would ideally wear the Gore-Tex jacket *underneath * your smock to reduce the ‘rustling’ from it. If you were on a recconaisance or fighting patrol then you would in most likely hood leave it behind, get wet and deal with it. The comfort of being a little drier compared to the risk of being heard is not worth it. I have rarely if ever seen the Gore-Tex trousers worn in the field and never in the sort of attacks that we simulate in airsoft.

Boots:

Issue assault boots are most common, however you will see soldiers in extremely wet or cold climate wearing the issue pro boot. Black Jungle boots or tan desert boots are issued in hot climates and most RSM s will turn a blind eye to these being worn in temperate climates or on exercise. Boots should always be clean and polished (boots being checked and cleaned *every* day)

Privately purchased boots are very common as to the infantryman care of the feet is a paramount concern, popular brands of boots are Lowa, and Altberg.

Gloves:

The issue NI gloves are great but a little fiddly to operate switches and catches with, the lighter ‘gloves contact’ are superb for dexterity but do not insulate very well at all. Many soldiers privately purchase the gloves they feel suit them best, I personally wear Barbour shooting gloves or RAF thin green leather pilots gloves. The old pattern Northern Ireland gloves with back of hand protective pads were once very popular but have become increasingly hard to find.

Webbing:

I was luckily enough to have a Major who gave us the directive ‘if it’s green you can wear it but don’t take the p*ss’ with regards to kit for field use. However most units will insist on particular types and ways of wearing your webbing.

A units Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will usually require each soldier to keep food, ammo, first aid etc in the same pouches on their webbing so if an emergency happens your comrades are not reduced to rummaging though your kit for that much needed hand grenade! If you are intending to replicate a squad or section remember this.

Webbing:

Webbing such as PLCE should fit snugly and not move about all over the place, Soldiers often thread a green bungee rope threaded through their pouches to keep their webbing tightly fastened together. Your respirator haversack should be carried separately on its shoulder strap (your nbc kit should never leave you side and there will be times when your webbing is off, however some units do wear the ressie bag on the belt). If like me you have a fairly small waist then you will struggle to get all the pouches including a ressie bag on the belt. You can alleviate this with a hip pad or ‘tab belt’ that will not only cushion your hips but add a couple of inches to your waist size.

My personal webbing loadout was two ammo pouches to the front, two utility pouches (containing essential survival, cleaning kit and some food) a water bottle pouch used as a third utility pouch and a spade carrying pouch used to carry a water bottle (a common variation across the army) , the spade itself I kept in the bergan.

As with smock and trouser pouches all webbing should be fastened up securely to avoid kit falling out. Some soldiers will sew elastic strips around their webbing to aid in placing local camouflage.

The bayonet sleeve (or ‘frog’) can be worn either vertically of the belt or taped horizontally across the yoke straps on the back of the webbing.

Chest rigs:

Chest rigs are often issued to soldiers engaged in helicopter and vehicle patrols as they are much easier to sit in vehicle seats or benches with. Many soldiers dispense with the rear cross strap entirely on their chest rig and simply tape it up to aid speed of donning and removal.

Assault vests:

The issue assault vest (and similar copies) is fairly self explanatory, again make sure all pouches are securely fastened and straps done up tightly with loose ends of adjustment straps rolled up and taped together.

Belts:

It was at one time considered a ‘Gucci’ to use an old ‘ pattern 58 belt on your combat trousers, possibly as this suggested you’d been about for a while and were something of an old hand. You may occasionally see stable belts in regimental colours on 95 trousers but this is rare in the field as they are not that durable and in many units bright and not very 'tactical'. All in all, no ones going to see your belt so I wouldn’t worry too much about it…

Slings;

The issue SA80 sling works for most weapons, for an MP5 you may have to attach an Enfield clip to the front sling section (see pic)

Personal cam

Cam cream should be applied to the face, neck, ears, hands (even if wearing gloves) and lower forearms (in case your smock rides up while crawling)

To apply place some mid brown cam in your hand and spit upon it, rub this together and then over exposed skin. This takes off the shine from the skins natural oils and flattens the skin to a less noticeable base colour, then with the darker brown or green cream place random streaks across the face, making sure to apply to the ears, behind the jaw and back of the neck. There is school of personal cam that advocates light colours to be placed in areas of shadow (eyes etc) and dark colours to be places on prominent exposed areas (nose, forehead etc). Personally I find a simple base with broad streaks of a darker colour works fine. Personal cam needs to be reapplied several times during an exercise or operation as it wears and sweats off, a US style masterpiece of face painting is simply not practical, you need to be able to apply it in seconds and preferably without a mirror. In reality your ‘oppo’ (the rifleman you are buddied up with) would apply your cam for you.

Under no circumstance attempt the fully painted green head US army look, it takes too long, looks stupid and shines. Any self respecting British soldier would be laughed out of his section.

Miscellaneous do and don’ts

• The beret should not be worn unless fully dressed in smock boots and trousers, *never* wear your beret with a t-shirt only. Similarly don’t wear a beret over a bandanna, most soldiers are immensely proud of their regimental headgear, remember this and wear it well.

• Although not essential, clean and ironed kit makes you look more like a convincing British squaddie, cleanliness is drilled into every British soldier; wear your airsofting kit in the same way to look the part. Combats used for exercise and operation will often have been previously ‘best’ ones for wearing around section lines and barracks, as a result they will have creases ironed indelibly into them, and these will not come out in a hurry even in the field and may even have been sewn in!

• As previously mentioned tropical kit was once quite ‘fashionable’ in the field due to its superior drying qualities, with the advent of the lightweight and quick drying soldier 95 kit this is largely obsolete. As a rule tropical kit was not authorised for Northern Ireland or urban engagements where firebombs were a risk as its high plastic content would cause it to quickly melt to casualties.

• In general make sure your kit is tidy and squared away, avoid random accessories strapped to you or attached to kit, in particular never hang grenades or the like from webbing in the style seen in war films.