I was watching some shows on the FFL last week and kind of dug the parkas they were wearing. Looked online to see if they were available and CTD has them for pretty darn cheap! I ordered one and it arrived today. I like it alot! It seems well made and all the seams are taped on the inside. Im 6ft and 230 and the XXl fits nice and loose! Its without the tags but for all intents and purposes its brand new! There is also a companion fleece you can buy from places like keepshooting.com. My fleece should arrive tomorrow! Ill take some photos if anyone is interested! Just figured I would give you guys a heads up on some quality inexpensive gear!

French CCE Parka

Fleece Fixed

$40+S&H for a surplus coat is a bit much IMHO, especially without the fleece liner.



On top of that, Cheaper Than Diamond's predatory business practices don't exactly help draw me in as a customer

Your second link goes to CTD but yep, smoking deal on a Gore-Tex parka.

Yeah I'm kind of with you on that! I haven't bought anything from them in over ten years. Saying that for a brand new mil spec parka I couldn't pass it up.

I have the fleece jacket...very warm...But the jacket length is short..so if you bend over your
back gets cold lol... I paid $ 20.00 bucks..

Bought my fleece when they were under 20 dollars and got the French Gore tex when they had a special for 40.
The fleece are thick and I have been wearing it from the fall into the winter so far with out needing the shell.
Cannot give a review on the shell, but I am sure it will perform just as well as the fleece
I am extremely satisfied with both.
I'll be buying more when they have a special again.
Forgot to mention they were purchased from Keepshooting.

Don't want to derail the thread, but had anyone tried the british wind proof smocks from keepshooting?

Yes, They are awesome. I bought two. One looked brand new the other was used but in real good shape. I'm now a huge fan of the smock concept. The pockets are big. The breast pockets have loops for dummy cording gear you can't live without. Overall a good water resistant/windproof shell layer.

I ordered one of the French CCE parkas to replace my German surplus flecktarn Sympatex parka, which is getting too small on me and lost a lot of its water resistance (I need to try retreating it). Just from the pics I've seen online the French parka looks a lot nicer than the German coat, having more pockets and pit zips. I'll post a review once I get it.

I ordered one of the french parkas as well.  It should be here Friday.  The price seems good to me.  The shipping was why I heald off for a while.

 

The jacket just arrived.  It looks new to me.  At  first glance it looks to be pretty heavy duty, not something I would carry in my pack just for extra.  Think of a TNF mountain jacket but with even thicker fabric.  Not at all like a more modern jacket like an arc'.  I am 6', 200# and I ordered the XL thinking that they might run small but It is pretty roomy and will allow lots of clothing under.  The sleeve length is more what I would think a smaller jacket would have and would be too short if I had long arms so if you have ape arms be wary.  The hood is a stowaway style but still heavy duty fabric like the rest of the jacket.

Just a quick overview for now.

My first thought is that it is a great value.

ETA:  The jacket is a three layer fabric (outer material bonded to membrane bonded to inner fabric) vs a two layer and liner.  Inner layer of fabric has taped seams.  There is no Gore label on the jacket, unless Gore is spelled differently in French.  There were no tags on the jacket.  It was packaged in a thin plastic bag with English writing on stickers describing product.  The plastic bag reminded me of the shipping bag that manufactures use to protect the item, when shipping to stores.

ETA:  Jacket has vents, "pit zips", which are 12" long extending from the armpit area down the sleeves.  There is no flap over the zipper which are not of the water proof/rubberized type but are the spiral type double ended..  All other zippers, pockets and main are flap covered.  The pocket zippers are the spiral type.  The main zipper is heavy duty molded, double ended and has noisey metal pulls.  

The jacket has four pockets two of which are cargo style on either side and two of which are slit style located off of the main zipper.   There are three bungie pulls, one at the bottom, one at the mandarin collar (used when hood stored), and one on the hood itself.

There is nothing tailor fitted about this jacket.

It's raining now and I'll try to make it out for a walk to test later.

Further thoughts after a ten minute walk in the rain: (See my previous post for details on jacket).

This is the largest fitting XL jacket I own (except for sleeve length).  The hood is likely sized to fit over a helmet, like some mountaineering jackets are.  Since I don't know how to read French I don't know if they have a similar sizing system to the US - ie LG/RG or LG/long.  It could be a XL/short.

Water does bead up on the fabric leading me to think that yes, it is a new jacket but a long down pour would be needed to see for sure if their still is factory treatment on it.

I like the jacket and think that it's a good value even with the shipping charges.

I got my CCE parka today and my initial impressions pretty much mirror those of AHSGA.

• It feels well made. Stitching is neat without any loose threads. Seams are taped.
  
  


• Sizing, specifically the sleeve length, is a bit odd. Generally, I find the sleeves on XL jackets a bit long. On this parka, they are just right for me. FWIW, I am 5'4", about 185 lbs. (damn gut), and wear a 33" sleeve. I figure this parka has about a 34" sleeve.


• I wore mine on a 36 minute walk in freezing rain, using a Polartec 300 SPEAR fleece as my insulating layer. The French parka kept out the wind and freezing rain. Between the high collar and the hood, I was able to keep my head dry. I had a ball cap on under the hood and was easily able to adjust the hood to keep out the weather.


• I was easily able to adjust the pit zips once I warmed up.


• All the zippers are plastic but feel robust.
  
  


• The pockets are nice. The cargo pockets are large and easy to access, but well protected by storm flaps. The Napoleon chest pockets are covered by the dual front storm flaps, so whatever is inside will stay dry.


• I still dislike Euro zippers, which have the pull tab on the left side. Even though I have several jackets with them, they still feel backwards.
  
  

Ya, I forgot to mention the "euro" zippers.  

Some weird design on them at the top as well.  You can run the zipper all the way up, and then a little bit further and it will come off the track on the opposite side.  Kind of weird setup.  Maybe so you can quickly open it up?

This afternoon I took a walk with my daughter and got a pic of me wearing the French parka. Conditions were about 25*F with some wind and snow. I was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, a cotton flannel shirt, and a Cabela's Primaloft jacket, and a knit cap underneath. I was quite comfortable.







 

Nice! I really like the high collars on both the fleece and jacket. For those who are still looking to get one im 6ft and 230 ish. I got them in size 120 and they fit nicely!

+1 on the Fleece from Keepshooting. I bought one and then had to purchase several more for wife, family & friends. Great quality and great price although they were $20 each when I bought them.  They've always got good deals. Wish i would've purchased more than 6 pairs of the czech wool socks when they had them for $2.50 a pair.

Steve

GF took a photo of me doing some highspeed tier 1 dog walking the other day with the jacket and fleece. It was chilly and rainy but I stayed nice and toasty.

I just ordered 2 from Keepshooting.  They were $34.95 each and the shipping to NM was $20

If you call let them know you heard  about it from AR15.com

It's funny, Midway is now selling the French fleece jacket.  Or maybe they had it before, but it was the subject of their recent email ad.  But it is just "NATO" and not French, and $10 more than Keepshooting.  I love that fleece and bought 2 more from KS to put away for the future.

KS also had some interesting British Goretex tops and pants in their Multicam pattern.

Got desert DPM...like 40 bucks....er smock..

The French Foreign Legion Polar Fleece is an incredible bargain for a fleece jacket of that quality; I bought one and was so happy with it that I bought five more, four of which I gave to my friends and family for Christmas, the fifth I'm keeping as a spare.

I'm 6'6".

The list of places who don't make clothes long enough for me is lengthy, but begins with "anything French".

Sounds like a good deal on goretex though for you t-rex's out there.

Yeah I love mine and wear it for everyday wear. This fleece is super thick and warm. Gonna buy another too just to have a spare!

I have been looking at the French Parka since this thread came out.  Decided to pull the trigger yesterday and hope for my delivery soon.  I ordered the XXL+(128) and would rather have it be a bit big than too small. I'm 6'3" and 250...so we shall see.  I also ordered four gray wool scarfs...$2 each and two Polish wool blankets...$20/each.  Since I live in PA...shipping for all this stuff was only $10.31 through USPS.

I did not get the French fleece jacket as a I have a couple of heavy duty ones from Cabelas.

I think Keepshooting will now be my new best friend.  Thanks for the headup gents!

I would get the fleece next time you order! I just ordered a spare a few days ago. What the photos don't show is how thick and sturdy they actually are. Nothing I have worn comes close.

I have to say I am now a big fan of keepingshooting.com.  I got my order and am very pleased with the french parka...for $35...what a steal!  It fits great and have room to put a fleece under it.  I do wish the arms were another inch or two longer...but still fine.

Very pleased with the Polish wool blankets...can't go wrong with them for $20.  The $2 woold scarfs are great as well.

I may go ahead and get the french fleece...can always use it.