East German Rain Camouflage Shirt

The East Germans sure knew what they were doing when making this shirt. Comfortable to wear, breathable, functional as it has so many different pockets. I count 4: two chest pockets and two arm pockets (5 if you count the holster on left side of the shirt inside it). Number of pockets and their type (covered or uncovered) as well as their quality may vary from year to year as the East Germans had a letter code printed onto the inside of the shirt below the left chest pocket for the year each uniform was made from 1968 onwards. The letters are as follows: K=1968, Z=1969, M=1970, X=1971, B=1972 ,L=1973*, O=1974, S=1975, R=1976, A=1977, U=1978, F=1979, E=1980, G=1981, I=1982, C=1983, H=1984, T=1985, P=1986, L =1987*, Y=1988, N=1989, D=1990

Note the letter L is used twice, so if you get a shirt with the letter L, it may be from 1973 or 1987.

I wear it quite frequently and have had it for 3 months at the time of writing, and I've got zero complaints. Also came here very expediently, so another plus! Would recommend if you're assembling an East German battle dress Uniform like I am.

Jacket is in good used condition as listed. Lightly faded color looks great, no rips or tears. Large 104 fits me great I’m 6’1” 210lb and usually wear a men’s US 44 size jacket. Thanks from New Orleans!

Original Strichtarn shirt. I recieved mine in excellent condition, no tears or stains. Fits me perfectly too and it's confortable to wear. It's a pretty unique camouflage that the average person doesn't even realize it's camouflage.

I was just in the Auck store and bought one of these shirts off the rack. Great buy for $25. The shirts on the rack each had differences in design. Some had waist pockets and chest pockets, others had chest pockets only. Some had tabs on the rear of the shoulders (sort of like rank attachment points, but don't know what purpose they served). There were other interesting differences too. All were the same basic shirt and showed their varied service history and changing military needs during the cold war. I got my shirt home and found a hidden pocket. It is on the inside of the shirt and sits against the chest and is made of heavier cotton fabric than all the other pockets. The standard top left chest pocket sits on top of it. It is accessed between the storm flaps on the front which means it can be accessed even if the shirt is buttoned up. The pocket is in the shape of a small to medium frame semi-auto hand gun. It is a gun holster. How cool is that, lol?! An East European soldier, if captured and given a field search, can still have a hand gun hidden in his shirt. The guns shape is camouflaged by the shape of the items in his standard chest pocket sitting on top of the hidden pocket. The cold war Americans also were often trained in concealing items within their M65 Field Jackets. If you like, there is a youtube channel which shows some of it. Check out Blackie Thomas, pretty interesting stuff. Thanks for the great shirt and the little piece of surprise history that came with it.

Fits great and was in good shape - is truly better in person than in photos - only one problem- my son will absolutely snake it from my closet when I am at work - thanks