My original tiger stripe fatigues.





I can still fit in them.  





With the 177

Is that optic from Star Wars?

Cool pix. Cool carbine.

I'm impressed that you still fit in your tigers!

Thank you for your service.

I owe it to the Atkin's diet and exercise.  Weighed 168 at Christmas, weighed 140 yesterday.  

The OEGs were donated to our Bn by SOF magazine.  Pete Kokalis actually brought them to us in person.  

Ha!  I'm twice the man you are!

Wait...

Dammit, now I made myself sad.

now thats.....oh wait?

Amazing pic uxb thanks for sharing, kudos on fitting into those tiger stripes.

Awesome pics. I didn't realize Birkenstocks were issue for Central America though...

Good stuff, OP; glad you can still slip back into your old Tigers, not many of us vets can do the same with our own uniforms...

But I can...

Also, are your tigers US made or "locally" made? From the look of the bottom pockets, I assume they were "locally" made.

You beat to to the joke Morg! That was the first thing I thought! USGI sandals!

He could at least be wearing tire tread sandals...

Sweet - I am off to the surplus store to find me some stripes!  I hope they make a larger size!  Nice "then and now" pics!

Nice 177..

Did you build it??

gotta love the Tiger Stripe

Local-made.

Also, no one makes quality reproduction jungle boots in Size 8.  

Yes, it is an NDS lower and a Brick moderator.  The OEG is an original early-style 3-digit serial number.

The rest is all Colt and period correct.  

Wow!  You can tell those Tiger Stripes are from back in the day, look how faded the green is.

Very impressive sir!

I believe that pattern is considered by collectors
to be "sea wave" aka Vietnamese Marine.
A good replica are repro'd by Moore Militaria.

As for repro jungle boots, Moore Militaria does make
vibram soled repros that are quite good.

Thank you for your service uxb!

Their smallest boot is a Size 9.  I need a Size 8.  

Ah.. you're correct.

And It's National Capital Historical Sales
that makes Sea Wave not Moore Militaria.

my mistakes are rampant today...




But...  I have somewhere in my favorites
a Company that had a shit-ton of 67-69
dated Jungle Boots in-stock years ago.

I bought 4 pairs of 10R's all 6-67 dated.

2 I have in reserves, 1 pair are in my home in Hue, Vietnam,
the other worn frequently here in NoWhereVille..



I'll look for the site, I'll IM you if I find it.

UXB,,I have a set of originals size 8R that I emailed you about a long while back when we discussed your special project,,you never replied. These were given to my Son by next door neighbor,former Marine 1980-84.

These were NOS when given to my Son,he used them for maybe 3 living history displays with me and quickly grew out of them.Panama sole

I must have missed that email, or I would have replied.  

Feel free to email again, if you wish.

The special project is still on hold, though someone else here has expressed interest in picking it up if the original offer falls through.

He wanted me to put on egay,BUT we're both annoyed with egay with all the stupid fees. So,,how's shipping plus whatever you think they're worth,OR some kind of real military knife (not to valuable) you may have from your travels?Something unique,or combat used... Yeah,a typical 14 year old boy,,he collects knives.
BTW,these DO have the nylon(?) inserts that say "this side up" and "do not boil".
ETA,,off to a GOOD home!

Now, that sounds like a nice trade for both sides!  Well done!

Definitely. Uxb - you know I was only yanking your chain right?

I love this place!

Feel the (non-gay) Man Love!

Everyone on here is good people!

In all my years of ghosting and posting here I have never seen a single orifice.

My dad brought a set of those back from Vietnam in 1966.  I wore them and my jump boots to school.  The jump boots squeeked like crazy when I walked.  I thought it was cool as hell at the time.  I was in the 4th grade and they fit me just fine.  They must have been originally made for some Vietnamese guy.

A pair of decent, early jungle boots in my size is definitely a hole in my display collection I need to fill. It's just hard to justify shoes you won't wear much. I bought a replica tiger stripe shirt awhile back online and have been pretty impressed with the quality. The stitching is excellent, and it has some brown in the color. I will try and find the ebay seller - I should have bought pants at the same time, but around here brown and tan is more useful generally. BTW uxb - I like the pic of you with the Uzi. I think you need to build one!

I owned one for a while.  IMI converted by Group Indutries.  It was under $700 so that should tell you it was before the MG ban.  Had a Fleming-converted Mini-Uzi and ended up selling them both.

I am 5'3" and weigh 140 pounds.  

I'm kind of short for a Stormtrooper.  

Hey, that's what Princess Leia said.

tell me about the uzi

I had a couple sets of locally made Tigers my uncle sent me from NAM as a kid. I still have some of the same pattern you have and a pair of new M1968 GI ones I'm going to keep. I still have the size medium sea wave shirt in this picture circa 1978-79 that I'll sell.

To Uxb: if you're going to rock the stripes, then you have to bring back the Burt Reynolds' stache!  

Oh Yea! This^

Here ya go Morg! 13 D's just for you! (Laces not included)



UXB I can't fit into clothes I wore 10 years ago! You do MAN!

Tell us how you keep the pounds off.

Is it good clean livin? Is it that pure grain alcohol and beer nut diet? Is it running from all the jealous husbands?

You simply MUST share your secrets so that my big fat middle aged ass can learn!

So any "retro" stories to accompany the gear?

Cal30M1 - I believe that's pretty close to the definition of 'Hell on Wheels.' That is just so wrong on so many levels...I prefer uxb's 'tactical Birkenstocks' by far. I mean, the VC beat us wearing flip flops. I will tell you, I was very impressed by a pair of Teva's I ended up packing a 60 pound pack in - I made the stupid mistake of putting new insoles in my Raichle mountaineering boots just before a trip - it was about 9 to 10 miles in, in the Wind River Range in WY - we were going to fish for Golden Trout at a high mountain lake. VERY rough trail - I knew I was in trouble 2 miles in, but stupidly didn't remove the footbeds. I had blisters on my heel the size of silver dollars by the time we got up there. So, here I am at 9800 feet, and no shoes I can wear. I mean, there was NO WAY I was putting those boots back on. We had crossed rough scree at a 45 degree slope - I mean, it was a crazy trail.

Fortunately my uncle had a pair of Tevas with him which I borrowed, but wore wool socks to hold the bandage and so I wouldn't get blood on his sandals. Frankly, they were amazing. I walked right through water and even with socks my feet dried out right away. I had better grip and they were FAR more comfy than my hiking boots. I got into Merrells right after that, but other than no ankle support, sandals rock.

Bought the Atkins diet book and read it before starting.  No sugar, no potatoes, no milk, no fried foods, no junk food, no beer or alcohol etc...

I went from 168 at Christmas to 140 yesterday.

I highly recommend it to anyone trying to lose weight - and you have to be disciplined and follow what they say.  The longer you go, the easier it gets and more foods are re-introduced that you could not have earlier in the diet.

This is typical fare...it's such a sacrifice...

Great job!

I would miss my sugar and taters a lot. Fried food would be hard! I'm southern. We fry vegetables!

I haven't drank in years so that wouldn't hurt.

Can't I just get a young girlfriend like Rrigs?

No beer!  Dick Cheney is doing this to you instead of waterboarding!

I don't have any good stories.  

RIIIIIIIIGHT.

I have a set of the old Tiger Stripe Products "Advisor Pattern" cammies that I found at U.S. Cavalry in Ft. Campbell back in the late 90s. They were on the close-out rack and in XL so I snagged them, and I think I paid $25 for both the pants and shirt. They also came with the short-brimmed boonie-hat but I traded it to a friend for ammo, so I replaced it with one in the same pattern from Propper. To complete the 'retro-rig' I started to build back in the 90s I found some original Bata jungle boots in 13XW. They look cool, but are HUGE, and are much too wide for my size 13 normal feet. I need a regular or maybe wide width, because I slide around terribly in the extra-wides. As I'm losing weight due to a BIG change in diet and exercise(thanks to being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 3 weeks ago... damn it, I'm only 41!!)I'll be able to fit even better into the 'stripes in a little while. I've lost a pants size and the rest of my clothes fit more loosely than when I embarked on 'Operation Slim-Down', yet I weigh almost 10 pounds more than when I started. The doc says it's due to gaining muscle mass due to my hiking/walking/sorta' running regimen, so I'm not worried.

How do you like the Adkins Diet? I lost over 40lbs on the original diet back in 1993, but due to the limited food selection the Diet had in the beginning, my digestive system felt like it was full of cement, no matter how much cilium husk I took to "unplug the pipes". I promptly put it all back on... plus another 15 or so. Today I've just eliminated sugar, most simple starches like bread and potatoes, and NO BOOZE! I'm lucky so far that insulin isn't necessary, just Metformin 500mg twice a day, along with a finger-stick before breakfast and before bed. Diabetes rates are as high as 60% among Native Americans(full-blood Yankton/Oglala here), and the biological family that I know of all are diabetic. Being 6ft 1in, 300+lbs for much of my adult life hasn't helped, I'm sure, either. Doc says if I lose 40-50lbs I may be able to stop taking the medication, so that's my goal.

Anyway, so much for rambling...

Great pictures!

Be very careful with that Atkins diet. 10 years ago (@ age 44) I used it and some pretty strenuous cardio to go from 225 to 180 in about 9 months. Damned effective and I was able to jog 6 miles after a year, but the hit to my cholesterol level was hideous. I'd never had a high cholesterol concern before, but a blood screening at work got me an offer from the health nurse to check into the local hospital as it was 3x what was considered "healthy". Also, when you discontinue the diet (and you eventually have to) the rebound is pretty quick, so stay on the exercise.

Edit: When you need something sweet, Dad's diet rootbeer and heavy whipping cream (in the pint carton, just a little works) make a great rootbeer float, and no carbs! When you need something crunchy, any brand of pork skins/pork rinds works.

Sweet and crunchy are sadly excluded from Adkins.

You should check out the new Atkins, lots of stuff you couldn't eat before are ok now.  Stouffer's sugar-free chocolate bars are the bomb.  

My cholesterol is better right now than it has ever been.  

Hey guys - if you want some decent aftermarket Tiger Stripes, check out 'Ultra Force' brand. I haven't compared the seams to my original ERDL yet to compare if original is lap-felled, but I will. They are cotton ripstop, have some born in them, come 'pre-washed' (still stiff but not bad) and were pretty cheap. I found them on ebay IIRC - will try and find the seller.

Damn,I'm not in need of a diet (6ft,200 lbs) but if that's on the "diet" menu,,hell,I'm all in!!!! Just make mine medium well...

I have a pair of 8W Genesco jungle boots that my uncle gave me Jan. of 1969 also have set of Camo as well as a set  regular Jungle Fatigues same uncle gave me all he asked in return was that I spend 30 month in SEA.