I recently acquired a EM feild uniform, and I want to deck it out with all the equipment a real Soviet soldier would have had. The uniform is like the one in the picture below. I have the jacket, pants, and boots, and need to acquire everything else.
From the picture it appears I need at least a belt with Y-straps, a pilotka, and some collar tabs with camo insignia. Are there supposed to be shoulderboards too?
I imagine the average soldier would have a rifle, ammo pouches, and a canteen/mess kit. What other accoutrements did the Soviets send their guys to the field with, and does anyone have pictures of guys in field gear?
07-29-2004, 10:24 PM (This post was last modified: 04-16-2014, 06:23 PM by CtahhR.)
Tim,
Following are a few pics of Soviet Soldiers in typical Afgan style field uniform ( 1979-1985), with various weaponry and equipment.
This one as in the above pic also shows the striped tel'nyashka Viking mentioned in his post.
Not the same uniform but this pic may give you an idea as to what webbing etc. could be worn with the different weapons.
The Russian AK-74 magazine pouch, featuring four cell design, with side pocket for oiler bottle and four stripper clip front slots. Side pocket flap is cotton while the tabs for main flap and inner right front cell are brown leather. Both brown, black and natural leather examples exist. The overall webbing material is a medium weight cotton textile. Flap inner side stamped with inkstamps. Hardware (tab thorns) are natural brass. The cleaning kit is of the metal tube type, and the stripper clips are displayed with the loader (1) in place on the lead clip. The oiler bottle is black plastic, with the raised emblem of the Izhevsk Arsenal (Arrow-in-Triangle) molded in.
MAGAZINE POUCH:
Standard Russian production four pocket pouch, this example dated 1993. Stripper clip slots have been lengthened to reach below the bottom reinforcement sew line. The oiler bottle side pocket has a cotton flap, while the tabs are dark brown leather. Some versions have leather oiler pocket flaps. Both black and brown leather versions exist. These pouches have varied little in color since their inception, most being a light green, and there seems to be no chronological order for some being dark and some lighter, other than the lot of the materials. Inside of main flap is normally stamped with white or black Russian manufacturer's inkstamps, which often include "OTK" and date. Most have a very high quality fit and finish. Brass tab thorns are standard.
RIFLE SLING:
This is a late pattern Russian AK sling, with D-ring snap hook on one end and the captive belt buckle on the other. Finish of the hardware is either zinc dichromate or cadmium plating. The web material is the traditional tight weave cotton. Loop material is of dark brown leather. Some late model slings have pebble textured leather. Slings almost always have white or black stencilled Cyrillic manufacturing emblems, or military contract data, stamped into the backside of the web strapping, to include in some cases, legible dates.
MAGAZINE POUCH:
This is a late Russian RPK-74 magazine pouch, with both shoulder sling and belt loops. It has the customary Russian thick dark yellow-olive webbing, dark brown tabs, and brown leather side oiler pocket. The four slots for the stripper clips has been moved to the entire front section of the pouch, and directly behind them is a large open pocket that goes from end to end. The four cells for magazines are sized for the 45-round 5.45mm magazines.
RIFLE SLING:
The RPK-74 uses the standard Russian AK sling pattern. This example is of lighter yellow ochre color. All hardware is cadmium plated.
Everybody's equal, But some more than others!
"Those who come to us with the sword - will be killed by the sword" - Alexander Nevski
I just acquired a bunch of 1970’s-80’s field uniforms, and several of them show signs that various pins or badges were worn on them. I can tell one had a guard’s badge, another had a star-shaped sports badge, etc.
So my question is, did soldiers wear all the badges/pins/etc on their field uniforms that they would have worn on their regular uniforms?
It seems strange that guys would wear shiny metal things on their chests when they were trying to avoid being shot…
T. Nackowicz Wrote:I just acquired a bunch of 1970’s-80’s field uniforms, and several of them show signs that various pins or badges were worn on them. I can tell one had a guard’s badge, another had a star-shaped sports badge, etc.
So my question is, did soldiers wear all the badges/pins/etc on their field uniforms that they would have worn on their regular uniforms?
It seems strange that guys would wear shiny metal things on their chests when they were trying to avoid being shot…
The thing is, these uniforms also doubled up as service uniforms so they would have worn their badges on them when worn as service uniforms.
When soldiers were running around in the field, they needed something to put all their stuff in, and hence, were issued backpacks. But, the Soviets seemed to use the same kind of pack from WWII until the end of the empire...
So, when no markings are present, does anyone know how to tell the age of a pack? Perhaps by the material, stitching, hardware, etc?
Here is an example, can anyone venture a guess as to its age? (And if anyone can tell me what the writing says, I'd be grateful for that as well).
The difference was, the later models had a small pouch on the outside with a leather surround and clear plastic "window". I have one of these have been reliably informed that this was the only difference from the WWII model.
I understand that airborne personell wore a blue-and-white striped shirt under their uniform jackets, otherwise known as a "telnyashka."
Were these shirts long-sleeved, or like a tank top?
Are they they same thing as the blue-and-white-striped navy shirts?
What is the approximate going rate for one?
Both the airborne (light blue) and marine (darker blue) striped shirts come in tank top and long sleeve. I've seen the long sleeve in two different types of cloth, one thin like the tank top for summer wear and the other about twice as thick for cooler climes. As to price, I don't know.
Ok, so if I get this correctly, light-blue and white is airborne and darker-blue and white is naval infantry, but otherwise the shirts are the same. Thanks for the help.
