Seals in Vietnam

[Teufelhunden]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

2 facts

Jeans that were worn were levis

They used jeans as when they operated in water the normal unifor
(poplin) degraded fast and tore when whet

Food for thought

[shoreham]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Having read a lot over the past couple of days on the subject of Seals in Vietnam the "jeans" subject pops up quite a bit. It seems they did prefer a "civvie" cut because they weren't the "bell bottomed" style that sailors were issued, and Levis were/are possibly the commonest type of American jeans. However a large minority of clothing that US forces wore was manufactured "in country" or even posted out by friends and relatives, so it's highly unlikely that Levis were the only type of denim jeans worn.

A lot of jeans were referred to as "Levis" regardless of the actual manufacturer - it's like all fizzy cola drinks are "Coke" whether they're Coke, Pepsi, Tesco or Roller-Cola, and all AK-based guns are "AK-47s" no matter what make they really are.

There's no doubt that a lot of the jeans worn were Levis, but by no means all of them were. Any modern loadout interpretation of Vietnam Seals can be pulled off with a simple pair of modern jeans that have the "classic" look. And you can get a cheap pair of jeans from your local supermarket for way less than a tenner.

[Teufelhunden]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

sorry shoreham, but it was levis preferred, simply beacuse they were the strongest and hardest wearing jeans at the time, they were /as you said/ either posted by friends, bought and brought in while rotating to and from the states and the post exchange

[sniper34d]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Quick question... What type of tape would have been used to tape mags together?

(20 rounders - bottom to bottom)

[Snowdrop]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Jeans in the jungle? Surely that would have given no end of chaffing, infections etc when they got wet. I'm still not overly convinced (happy to see otherwise) that jeans would have been very common, just too heavy for jungle work.
Sniper, does it really matter! Just get some electrical tape from b&q! Besides if you tape them bottom to bottom, how will they fit in the magwell?

[sniper34d]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Yes they wore jeans in the jungle, some of the reasons are above. you only have to google it to see that jeans were very common.

Electrical tape is not great as it streches to easily and is not that strong. I find the edges lift when handled a lot. Its definatly duct tape at very least but possible fabric tape which is very strong (I just cannot remember what its called)

When taped bottom to bottom they fit just fine

[Terry Mcann]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

To be authentic use genuine US issue duct tape or 100mph tape as its sometimes called-i had a roll from the bay of E US-not that expensive.

Dont be tempted to use British sniper tape-wrong colour and wrong material.

[sniper34d]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Cheers

Yep its cheap but P&P is $$$$ ouch

[Teufelhunden]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

snowdrop,

Ive been intrested and collecting nam stuff for over 6 years, my father and uncle have 50 years experiance with nam stuff between them

jeans were used..trust me..

[Pip]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Like the others have said, jeans were absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt used in Vietnam. There are literally tens and tens of photos proving it, as well as numerous mentions within first person accounts (which more often than not also explain why) from SEAL's who served within Indo-China.

Like others, I've been interested in the war and particularly the USN SEAL's/UDT for a number of years, have an extensive library on the subject and am lucky enough to be in contact with a veteran in California through my G/F's family.

Incidentally, for those planning on doing a SEAL impression, please do look at the photos carefully and not just at the kit but how it's worn. The stuff is fairly standard (unless you go into float vest etc country) and easy enough to get hold of the basics, but unless you look at things carefully... guaranteed you will look like rubbish

Pip

[Snowdrop]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Ok, so I concede with the jeans, but the next key question has to be, how big do you want the flares?! Or am I a bit to early for that!
The tape is commonly called sniper tape if it is that green british stuff you are thinking of if you buyit from the shops. Don't buy the cheap and nasty BCB stuff!

[Teufelhunden]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

flares were a none, if anything it was slim fit..the only flares about that were possible ot use were the issue navy ones..

[George_Cartel]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Are you still going to use a chicom rig with an xm177? Would that also be the reason why you are taping the mags up. If you wnt to find gear just keep popping onto ebay every so often. As for tigerstripes you can get some repros pretty cheap. Jeans were used in vietnam by seals...etc. However make sure they get really dirty cause turing up with shiny new pair of jeans makes you look like you have been lazy with your loadout. Other than that I like what your doing. Get some pictures up when your done

[Billyb]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

I've been looking into these loadouts for a while. I have an excellent book on Vietnam, a photographic journal of the war almost, and it often shows the SEALS using Stoners. Which has just been made by G&P YUM!
I'm still on the lookout for an M16VN or Xm177... If only AGM still existed
I thought HK33s were used to be honest, not G3s...

[Sledgehammer]

Re: Seals in Vietnam

Hi guys,

Nice thread going here

I'm a little bit of a Nam buff, loads of pictures and intel to share. I'm new to this Forum so won't jump in too much... yet

Look forward to seeing what you're putting together for SEAL loadouts!

Hey Pip, how's it going?

Bill