Re: Tom Berenger's vest from Sniper
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sot Consulting</div><div class="ubbcode-body">As far as the features the movie gave me little to go on since Tom never used any of the pouches in the movie. I had to watch it several times (I muted it since the story line is too much) but what I did was pause at the times where the vest was featured. I slow advanced and got some good screen shots. Here what I figured out.
The top two pockets are for boxes of m118 ammo and have side opening silent closures in the form of buttons off a USGI uniform. There are two pistol magazine pouches on the lower left portion. On the front are two zipper pouches that that are the same size and are horizontal in size with the zippers being vertical. On the back is a USGI buttpack attached with ALICE clips and attached at the top. To this he attaches a Ghillie Suit top letting most of it drape down his legs for movie effect. You can tell in the movie when he has the ghillie attached because the chest pouches ride up from the weight and are on his shoulders. There are a few other pouches as well and are both on Tom's left shoulder. Also he has a USGI pistol belt attached with a canteen, Kbar knife, m9 holster for A sig 226 (probably a prop gun), and one USGI compass or battle dressing pouch that looks empty in most shots.
I figured out what the vest was made from and how it was sewed. It took someone who understood military sniping who had access to a custom sewing shop and some time to fit all the pouches to build. I think, despite the movie plot sucking ass, that the equipment was pretty cool. I can imagine that the vest belonged to a techincal advisor who wanted to see his personal gear in the movie. Interesting thing is that 99% of that movie was filmed in Australia and not Panama but I think that the vest looks like something that was home sewn in South America. Im thinking it was made on base at a Special Forces rigger shed since they have sewing machines and build custom stuff from time to time or was contracted to be made in a local sewing shop. I am not giving the producer of that movie much credit because they made a pretty shitty movie overall but I think they hired some ex-military technical advisors that likely owned most of that gear. Consider that the movie was made in 1992-1993 so there would have been lots of ex USMC snipers who were available post Desert Storm available to advise on the movie.
Since I retired I am no longer an operational sniper so field testing will be limited to playing with this at the range. Unlike the movie this vest is the real deal and has many features that I really like. First it blends well with the pistol belt and gives the shooter lots of pockets to store things. Consider that this vest was probably built in 1990 or earlier so many of the tactical vest we know today were only being used by tier one special operations teams at that time. Whoever made it I believe did operate in the jungle and saw the value in a light, breathable, and simple vest built around two boxes of M118 ammo putting them within reach in a simple silent opening pouch. </div></div>
You did a good job copying that design and ended up with an interesting looking vest.
What are the two two closures/pouches on the left hand shoulder (above the the ammo pouch) for?
I like the general design of the vest, but don't care much for the way the buttpack fixes on the back. The two metal "dog clips" permanently on the vest mean it would be uncomfortable in you ever needed to swap the buttpack for a proper bergan or Alice pack.
Also the buttpack would need to be anchored at the bottom corners as well, otherwise it would bounce if you had to run in the thing.
Actually in the old British 1958 pattern webbing, the large pack was attached in a very similar manner, but the clips were on short straps on the pack itself, and came "over the shoulder" and fixed to D rings high on the front of the shoulder straps of the yoke.
The bottom of the large pack also clipped to the webbing, giving four fixing points in total. Not a bad system, but not the best way to carry any significant weight; the introduction of proper bergans was a huge improvement.
Still your vest is a nice rendition of the original movie prop and I bet it attracts a lot of interest on Ebay.
Regards,
Peter
