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Tru-Spec Combat Shirt

2/7/09 - The Tru-Spec Combat Shirt available from USCAV is Tru Spec's 'Combat Shirt' -style garment which was pioneered by Crye Precision's Combat Shirt. This style of garment, with its BDU-fabric sleeves combined with a lighter-weight moisture wicking torso sans pockets, is a logical design for use under gear or body armour, and emerged in the Army's new Combat Shirt made by Massif and the USMC's FROG2 Combat Shirt (produced by Crye).

The Combat Shirt concept addresses the main issues that personnel encounter when integrating body armour with their uniforms. First, the uniform chest and lower pockets cannot be reached when body armour is worn, rendering them practically useless. Not only is the weight unnecessary if they cannot be used, but they also add folds and bulk under the armour. Pockets are located on the sleeves/shoulders instead, where they can be readily accessed. The second issue is comfort. In hot weather, a standard BDU top under armour is hot and uncomfortable, as it's usually worn over an additional base layer, and doesn't breathe well. By having a torso made of a lightweight wicking, breathable baselayer fabric without any pockets, the Combat Shirt eliminates excess material and bulk under gear while increasing comfort when worn under body armour or gear.

Materials - The TRU Combat Shirt is made up of two main fabrics - the shoulders/sleeves are either 50/50 NYCO rip-stop (UCP and Crye MultiCam) or 65/35 poly/cotton (black, khaki and OD), and the torso baselayer is 60/40 cotton nylon no melt, no drip Cordura® Baselayer fabric.

Cordura® Baselayer - Baselayer is Invista/Cordura's new next-to-skin fabric that claims exceptional moisture management, comfort and durability while offering no melt/no drip thermal properties. It's not advertised as fire-resistant nor retardant, but just that it will not melt or drip onto the skin like polyester when exposed to high temperatures. It will act like most other natural fibers like cotton or wool and provide limited insulation against flame/flash fires.

From the Baselayer press release:

"Initially developed as a medium weight CORDURA® NYCO knit in 2007, the new lightweight CORDURA® brand Baselayer was redeveloped to provide greater comfort to the solider.

The CORDURA® brand Baselayer fabric is constructed with a unique blend of INVISTA T420 nylon 66 fiber and cotton to help protect soldiers when exposed to heat in flash fire situations such as IEDs or vehicle fires. The fabric insulates the body under heat threat, and when exposed to these high temperatures, the fabric forms gels and chars around the cotton creating an entirely new fabric structure with a higher ignition resistance that does not drip or melt onto the skin underneath like polyester.

By combining two popular materials, nylon and cotton, INVISTA has created a revolutionary combat-ready t-shirt that offers superior moisture management performance by drying two and a half times faster than a 100 percent cotton t-shirt. Working with convection and evaporation, the body's two most powerful mechanisms, the CORDURA® brand Baselayer provides exceptional blend of breathability, comfort, and protection to today's warfighter.

The durability component of the CORDURA® brand Baselayer is based on INVISTA's T420 staple fiber, the only nylon fiber that is engineered to be specifically blended with cotton and cellulose fibers for long-lasting performance. The result is greater fabric strength, superior abrasion resistance and fewer failures due to tears, holes and abrasions.

For military and tactical consumers, INVISTA launched a micro site at www.defendyourbase.com to communicate the fabric's benefits and where they can find next-to-skin garments and products that are made with CORDURA® brand Baselayer fabric."

 



Pocket closeups

Here are the main features of the TRU Combat Shirt (MultiCam, Medium shown):

  • 50/50 nyco rip-stop sleeves with 60/40 cotton nylon no melt, no drip Cordura® brand Baselayer (ACUPAT/Foliage and MULTICAM®/Sand)
  • 65/35 polyester cotton rip-stop sleeves with 60/40 cotton nylon no melt, no drip Cordura® brand Baselayer (Black/Black, Khaki/Khaki and Olive Drab/Olive Drab)
  • Moisture wicking, lightweight and breathable torso - The Cordura® brand Baselayer fabric is thin and very lightweight. It feels similar to DriFire, but with more stretch to it. It's smooth and very comfortable.
  • No shoulder seams to minimize rubbing and chaffing
  • Mock turtle neck for comfort - this protects the neck from armour rubbing on it, while being more low profile than a Mandarin stand-up collar.
  • Zippered sleeve storage pockets - Each shoulder has an 8" x 8" pocket sewn to it with top zipper access. Why TRU went with top access, I don't know, but they should have gone with a front vertical zipper. The top access makes it very awkward to access the pockets.
  • Anti-abrasion padded elbow patch - An oval, very lightly padded elbow patch protects the elbow from light knocks and scrapes. It's a nice feature, but needs to be relocated to be more effective.
  • Gusseted sleeves - underarm gussets for increased comfort and range of motion when lifting arms.
  • Glint tape holder for IR tape on left shoulder - A tab conceals and protects an IR square and can be secured to expose it.
  • Loop on right sleeve pockets for attaching name tape, rank square and flag patch.
  • Hook-and-loop cuff closures
  • Imported

Collar detail
Under arm gusset
Right shoulder pocket
Left shoulder pocket
Cuff adjustment tab

Observations and notes - The first impression I got with the Tru-Spec Combat shirt was that it looked reasonably well put together. Quality of stitching looked on par with their other BDU offerings. The Cordura® brand Baselayer fabric is very comfortable - it's smooth, very soft, and feels like cotton with more stretch. The fit was good - relaxed around the torso without excess material. In comparison to the Crye Combat Shirt, the Tru-Spec covers more of the upper back with the ripstop fabric over the base layer for additional resistance to abrasion in a high wear area. Going over the shirt in more detail and examining the features, I found a few areas that I felt would benefit from changes/improvments.

  1. Shoulder pockets - As you can see from the photos below, in order to unzip and access the shoulder pockets, you have to reach across your chest to the back of your shoulder to grap the tiny zipper pull. Then, the hand needs to be twisted to reach items inside the pocket through the opening. I found it very awkward normally, and practically impossible to reach the zipper pull when wearing BALCS cut body armour. One trick that helped was to lift the arm so that it was easier to slide my hand in there, but it was still very difficult with armour on. This is an easy fix for TRU - just move the zipper to the front of the pocket so it opens vertically.
  2. Elbow pads - I like the design; they look sturdy and the low profile padding does help cushion the elbow when resting on concrete or hard ground. But, they need to be repositioned, at least for me, to be more effective. For me arms, they'd be better if moved about an inch down and one and a half inches to the inside. Or enlarged to cover that area. When in the prone position, the sleeves will ride up some, plus I rest more often on the inside of the elbows than the outside.
  3. Wrist adjustment tabs - I'd rather they be shorter to allow the cuffs to be cinched down tighter and 1.5" wide instead of 1". Just make it like a regular flight suit cuff.
  4. Rather than the three separate velcro patches on the right shoulder, I'd rather have the single large velcro field like on the left shoulder. This is purely personal preference.
  5. Overall quality/workmanship - stitching and finishing is actually pretty decent overall, except that quality control needs to pay more attention. My shirt came with about 7" of the left torso side seam bunched/pinched (see photo below and the front view photo at the top). While it doesn't affect function, it shouldn't have made it through inspection. Another thing I noticed was that a piece of loop velcro was missing under the IR tab cover on the left shoulder pocket, just to the left of the place where the IR square is. The tab covering the IR square is supposed to fold back and secure on itself, but as it is right now, there's no loop velcro for it to do so.

Awkward shoulder pocket access
Lifting the arm helps
Bunched side seam

Overall fit is good and so is comfort. The underarm gussets are nice. The arm length was perfect for me, but I have short arms. They might be a bit short for the lankier fellows. The torso length is long enough to stay tucked in under movement. I wore the Tru-Spec Combat Shirt at an all day range session and the torso was definitely cooler and less stuffy under gear than a BDU top, but with the added arm protection for which I was thankful. If I was wearing body armour or gear in hot weather, I'd definitely pick this over a BDU top. One thing to note is that the low collar is very comfortable, but doesn't protect the neck from a weapon sling rubbing on it, so take that into account. Using a sling with armour often puts it against the neck instead of sitting on the shoulder. When I'm wearing rigs or armour, I usually connect my rifle directly to the rig with the EMDOM/MM URS instead of using a sling, so that's not an issue.



Given that this is the first commercially available Combat Shirt offered by a major BDU manufacturer, it's a decent 'first cut'. They've got good materials and the comfort factor addressed. Other than my gripe with the shoulder pocket zipper location and the quality control issue, the other small details I can live with, but I'd still like to see Tru-Spec address them all. As-is, it's a decent value and will probably prove to be a very popular item.

Tru-Spec Combat Shirt (Gen 2)

7/2/09 - Tru-Spec has released the second generation of their Combat Shirt, which I featured in the above writeup, and to my pleasant surprise, has greatly improved upon their first version.

Concept and materials are the same, so please read the original writeup above for details. Here, I'll focus on the differences between the original release (I'll call that Gen 1) and the new one (Gen 2). The shirt shown here is a size Medium, in Khaki ripstop (65/35 poly/cotton blend).





Changes to the Combat Shirt - When I featured the first release of the Tru-Spec Combat Shirt back in February, there were some things that I felt could use some improvement. Since then, based on user feedback, Tru-Spec made some running changes to the design, which are seen on the Gen 2 Combat Shirt:

  1. Shoulder pockets - The Gen 1 shoulder pockets were hard to access, due to the top-opening zipper. With bulky armour on, it was practically impossible. The Gen 2 shoulder pockets is the same size as the Gen 1, but has relocated the zipper ot the front of the pocket; flight-suit style. It is now easily accessed. They've also added an elastic shock-cord pull to the small metal zipper pull, which makes it a lot easier to grab.
  2. Elbow pads - The Gen 1 elbow pads weren't positioned effectively on the elbow, and were a bit too small. The Gen 2 elbow pads are larger (8" x 10" vs 6" x 8") and are postioned much more effecitvely on the elbow. They've been rotated to provide better coverage for the inside of the elbow. In all positions now, the elbow is well protected.
  3. Wrist adjustment tabs - The wrist adjustment tabs on the Gen 1 were too long and narrow, and wouldn't allow the cuff to be cinched down tight (on my wrist). The extra length also allowed it to slip off the cuff at times. On the Gen 2, the adjustment tab has been shortened (like a flight suit tab), and the velcro is now 1.5" wide instead of 1". Now, it's very secure, and allows a wide range of adjustment, plus it can be cinched down properly.
  4. Longer sleeves - I have short arms, so the Gen 1 sleeves fit me fine, but they were a bit shorter than normal. The sleeves on the Gen 2 are 2" longer than the Gen 1, and should fit people a lot better now. Long lengths are also now available.
  5. Overall quality/workmanship - I saw none of the workmanship issue that I observed on the Gen 1. No bunched seams and the shoulder IR tab has the velcro where it should be and functions as intended.

Right shoulder pocket
Left shoulder pocket
IR tab
Elbow patch
Cuff adjustment tabs
Colour comparison

Observations and notes - I also noticed that the mock turtle neck collar on the Gen 2 is more snug than the one on my Gen 1. It's a better fit for me now. Everything else is pretty much the same - the Cordura® brand Baselayer fabric is very comfortable - it's smooth, very soft, and feels like cotton with more stretch. The fit was good - relaxed around the torso without excess material. One last thing I'd like to point out is that the colour shown is called Khaki, but it's more of a desert tan. In the photo above, you can see that the Khaki Combat Shirt sleeve is closer to the pinkish-hued desert tan in the U.S. 3-colour desert (DCU) pattern than the khaki/desert sand colours in the 3-colour desert pattern, or the khaki Propper shirt to the right. Under different lighting, the pinkish hue might be more or less noticeable. In the range pics below under bright sunlight, the pinkish hue is less noticeable. Also, the colour combinations for the Multicam Combat shirt are listed as Multicam/sand torso and the Khaki Combat Shirt as khaki sleeves/khaki torso. The torso on my Multicam shirt is exactly the same colour/material as the torso on the khaki combat shirt - it's a light sand.

At the range session below, temperatures were much higher than when I wore the Gen 1 back in February, and the Gen 2 was very comfortable under my rig. No issues whatsoever. So, kudos to Tru-Spec for making the changes to their Combat Shirt so quickly, and for addressing even the smaller issues. The Gen 2 is much improved, and for me at least, now good to go.


 
Aircrew BDU's (ABDUs) - Nomex version of BDU's, issued to aircrews for flame protection. The collar can be stood up and closed with a velcro flap to protect the neck. it has a zipper front, and velcro pocket closures and wrist adjustments. A pen pocket is on the left shoulder, just like a flightsuit. The patch came with it.


COMSUBIN jacket is made of a 'gaberdine' material, with cotton elbow reinforcements and pockets		 COMSUBIN BDU's

Italy's COMSUBIN is an elite amphibious commando unit within the Italian Navy. Volunteers come mostly from the Battalion San Marco (Naval Infantry), whose members wear a very distinctive camouflage pattern, that has an 'airbrushed' look to it. This blends the colours better than distinctly separate colours would. The COMSUBIN pattern is similar to the BSM. This particular jacket is a COMSUBIN jacket made of a gabardine-like material and is cut baggy. The trousers seem to have 5% spandex in the material to give it a slight stretch. A lightweight and very comfortable set of BDU's. Thanks to Dr. Rich Mcaroy for helping me ID this set. For more info on this pattern and lots more, visit Mcaroy's page.

 

South African Police (SAP) camo uniform


Trousers
Closeup of right hip pocket
Short sleeved shirt
Long sleeved shirt
Field jacket

Closeup of field jacket and liner


4/29/04 - Shown here are articles of South African Police (SAP) camouflage uniform (many thanks to Steve B. in SA for his generosity). As I understand it, the SAP Service Durban Reaction Unit uses this camo pattern, sometimes referred to as 'cactus' pattern. The shades of khaki, green and brown are quite similar to those of Rhodesian camo.
Trousers - These are made of a medium-weight cotton material, with two thigh pockets, two slash front pockets and two rear pockets. A small front hip pocket is located on the right front. The cuffs have drawstrings. The fly is button-up, and the front flap closure has two extra buttons for extra security.
Short-sleeved shirt and long-sleeved shirt - Made of light weight, tight-weave material (similar to a Hawaiian shirt), with epaulets and two front flap pockets.
Field jacket with liner - This field jacket is made of the same medium weight material as the pants. There are two large lower flap pockets and two chest pockets. The collar has a tab that comes across the neck to secure it shut. A green polyester fleece vest liner buttons into the jacket.


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