South Africa is one of the few countries that rival Israel when it comes to military endeavors on their own soil or nearby. The South African Pattern 83 Battle Jacket is one of the most well-known modern pieces of military kit. It has been copied by numerous manufacturers and is found in a plethora of colors and patterns in service worldwide.

After working together with the Rhodesian security forces in the '70s, the South African military picked up some ideas from the famous James North, and Fereday & Sons combat vest designs and started making their own ones. The first designs were pretty much copies of the Rhodesian ones but led to further development of various models, which were issued primarily to the Special Forces.

After a couple of years, the final design of the Pattern 83 Battle Jacket emerged. It was to replace the aging Pattern 70 yoke-based webbing and did so in the mid-'80s. Since then, the Pattern 83 Battle Jacket has seen continuous use and is still in service today. Outside Africa, these have been most notably used by individual British fighters serving in the Middle East.

The Australian School of Human Movement Studies and Centre for Human Movement found in 2002 that a person wearing a Pattern 83 Battle Jacket consumes significantly less energy on the move compared to a person wearing traditional webbing with a yoke and belt.

The vest in a nutshell

The design process was heavily influenced by experienced bush soldiers and any kind of input from pencil pushers was quickly shot down. While progress has been made since this vest was and still is a prime example of functional fighting gear.

• Durable and breathable mesh construction.
• Tough, Cordura-like fabric in Nutria Brown.
• Generously padded for comfort.
• Adjustable straps on the sides and shoulders for a good fit.
• Pouches with flaps for
• Up to twelve (12!) 35rnd R4 magazines,
• grenades, and
• other necessities.
• Two large pouches on the sides for 2-liter (1/2 gallons) canteens or field radios.
• Two large daypack compartments on the back.