Can you post me a link to one of the wind proof smocks mate,
I will post some links off ebay, these are just random links to show what the jackets look like so I've no idea if these particular ones are a good buy or not. What I will say is to only bid on really inexpensive ones and not to pay more than £10 - £15 for them, if you are careful you can often get one for less than a tenner. On ebay people are often asking crazy money for them, I've seen them at £120. If you want to pay big money for one then look at the Arktis/Country Covers ones as I'm sure they are well made though they are, basically, exactly the same as the surplus ones.
New generation MTP smock:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A1-MTP-PCS-ARMY-ISSUE-WINDPROOF-SMOCK-MK2-180-112-SUPERB-SMOCK-JACKET-/200971903938?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item2ecadbe3c2
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-A...Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item1c37ac9936
Older DPM smocks:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Army-Genuine-Issue-DPM-Camouflage-Windproof-Smock-in-New-Condition-/180736429472?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item2a14bb0da0
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180-112-Smock-Combat-Windproof-Woodland-DPM-GRADE-1-Wired-Hood-/400587939340?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item5d44e6de0c
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROYAL-NAVY-ARMY-AIR-FORCE-COMBAT-WINDPROOF-WOODLAND-DPM-SMOCK-/290995334555?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item43c0ac6d9b
My experience, for what it is worth, is that the older DPM jackets are good jackets and they seem to take the wash in waterproofing well. By and large they are all pretty much of the same design as the design was fairly fixed in recent years as they'd been about a long time. They have 4 main pockets on the front - two chest and two at waist level - plus two large zipped "map pockets" on the chest. The hood is good and as advertised they are windproof in all but the worst conditions. The zips tend to be good, and reliable. The cammo pattern is a little dark, and gets darker when wet, and I suspect it is probably too dark for most stalking. Despite this I usually have one with me and would wear it on occasions for stalking and most of the time when trout fishing.
The MTP smocks, the new lighter coloured cammo pattern, have undergone a number of changes since they first appeared a few years back. The first version was a bit like the DPM smock but was made of a softer material, then there was a 2nd generation and I suspect that in between there were a range of jackets with some of the 2nd generation features. My experience was that the material used in the first generation MTP smocks was very prone to wear but was relatively quiet and both wind and waterproof, when treated, to a reasonable degree. The new generation MTP smocks are like a commercial jacket with handwarmer pockets, mesh lining and pit zips. While this might appear nice to have it seems more of a fiddle to me and I'd prefer if they made the old DPM jackets but with an MTP print. Maybe I just like what I'm used to
The zips on the new jackets appear less reliable than on the DPM ones but a local lady here, and probably somewhere in your area, can replace them for a few quid should they fail so a broken zip is not the end of the jacket. They have 4 front bellows type pockets plus two zipped "map pockets" on the chest which are now mesh lined (a pain as things get caught in the mesh and I worry about things wearing through the mesh and getting dropped) and also two small pockets on the sleeve which are idea for lens cleaning wipes and similar.
I find the MTP pattern very good on mixed ground where, in my view, it can be almost invisible. Where it might not be so good would be against dark sitka spruce type woodland especially in low light but as most of us stalk the margins among the dead grass etc. this is probably not such a big problem.
Here are some photos, firstly tweed, solid green, solid brown and MTP jackets in some woodland:
Now some photos of the differences between the MTP smocks.
This is the inside of the 1st gen MTP smock - note no mesh lining:
This is a pocket on the old 1st gen MTP smock - note exposed buttons which are covered in the new versions:
This is the sleeve of the old MTP smock and you can see the exposed velcro for the attachment of various badges:
This is the inside of the new 2nd generation MTP smocks and as you can see it is, in part, mesh lined:
As well as being mesh lined the new smocks also have handwarmer pockets which are behind the main waist level pockets on the jacket. This is the fleece handwarmer pocket viewed from the inside of the jacket:
The pocket buttons are covered to stop them getting caught in things, or to keep them from banging against stuff:
Plus they now have a pocket on each sleeve and the velcro is usually covered by a "blanking plate" patch (taken off for the photo) which stops bits of twig and stuff getting caught in the velcro as happened with the older version of the smock:
They even have pit zips!! I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time:
