Here it is boys and girls!
Issued BDU's on the left, SurplusIG on the right. Now, lets get started.
The Material
Well to start off w/, when purchased from Vlad (SurplusIG) I was told they were the same 50/50 light combat cloth material as used in Issued Cadpat and was used in Frontenac. Unfortunately, it is nothing even close. Neither pants nor jacket have material tags, so I cannot tell what they are made out of. Originally, Vlad claimed after I took our dispute public here:
http://airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=58975
That the manufacturer told him it was 50/50 Cotton/Nylon, then later on, that it was actually 50/50 Cotton/Poly. Now, as stated in the dispute thread, I do not believe either pant or jacket is cotton/poly, the pants feel and I would say are a very heavy cotton/nylon possibly, the jacket, is some sort or nylon ripstop material it is not like the pants, they look different and feel completely different. The jacket is a bit lighter weight material as well. I compared them with various material samples at the shop this weekend and the closest ones I could find were indeed nylon/nylon ripstop twills.
Top: Genuine Cadpat Material
Bottom Right: SurplusIG Top
Bottom Left: SurplusIG Pants
The heavy material make this BDU unsuitable for hot weather, we played a night game last night, it was quite cool temperatures and I was mostly comfortable, even a little warm and all I wore was the BDU's + a Zensah compression shirt.
Vlad also claims the material is water resistant. I tested this, I wouldn't call it water resistant myself, water soaks through both pants and tops in only a few seconds (Cordura, with water resistance coating, takes several minutes for water to soak through) and I expect the coatings will degrade rapidly making the current 'water-resistance' even less.
BUT, on the rest of the review!
The Pattern
First off lets talk about the pattern itself. Vlad originally claimed they were authentic canadian cadpat material however it seems he was talking about the cut of the bdu not the material.
The repro pattern is not terrible, it's not really great either though unfortunately, frontenac is significantly closer even Parklands was quite a lot closer.
The greens in the jacket in particular are very bright, but one can always add a touch of darker spray paint to darken it up a bit. It also looks like they mixed up the frequency of black and dark green which would have made them closer to the actual pattern.
The pants are noticeably darker than actual cadpat which is definitely preferred over brighter imo. They seem to have more brown in them and the digital pattern itself is sort of blurred.
The Build
Now, here's where these BDU's could potentially shine, the build seems really well done. They do suffer from common mass produced/lower end clothing products such as button holes being sewed shut, lots of excess fabric bunches at seams, etc, but they are actually constructed solidly w/ reinforced elbows/knees/seat, although with the material itself so thick already that might be overkill... The material is doubled in most places, combined with the white lining on the inside, and tripled in some, so they should be able to take some punishment. There is also a inner left chest pocket, secured w/ velcro.
Inner Lining
Surplus IG claimed they are cut to exact specs of the CDN cut, which isn't true there are some differences, he said in the thread now after I mentioned that, they had to make some differences due to legal reasons.
The Pockets, all have the cdn style slotted buttons except for the front hip/side pockets, which are secured by a tiny square of velcro... :banghead: which will lose it's securing ability quite fast so closing those pockets won't be possible. The front closure on the jacket is also w/ slotted buttons, the pants have a 2 way nylon/plastic zipper w/ slotted button at the top. The belt loops are 1 1/2" (Yay!), and could be thicker imo but are ok.
As Vlad nicely pointed out below, these bdu's have the silly waist and bottom drawstrings in the jacket that the issued bdu's do have. Although, why they chose to copy THAT feature is unfortunate as I dislike those strings as do most who have used issue.
Pockets
More Pockets
A dislike I have about the pockets is they have a thick flap tab on the inside of the flap to slot the button, making the already thick flaps (due to the thick material) even thicker, it's a bit uncomfortable wearing a vest/chest rig or a drop leg rig that sits on top of the pockets as you can feel the bulges from the flaps pressing on you.
Pants Back
A big complaint about these I have is... The Cuffs. Now, I don't have big wrists/forearms/hands, and I can barely fit my damn hands/arms in the cuffs when they are closed and set to the biggest length. They are WAY to small. When in game the sleeves were halfway up my arms the entire time pretty much and I didn't want to undue the cuffs as it was cooler out and I was crawling around and wanted material buffering my elbows... This is a stupid mistake that shouldn't have been overlooked by the manufacturer, these cuffs are tight like dress shirt cuffs and this is supposed to be a BDU ffs. Luckily, I have the means readily at my disposal to modify them myself, so not an issue for me.
The pants have the much appreciated inner gaitor to stick into your boots and secure the bottom of the pant leg around the outside, a big plus imo as parkland's don't have it and I find it much more comfortable, although if the leg was longer I wouldn't need it...
Which brings me to the next point about the build, the legs/arms are sized for average sized people, I'm taller (6'1) and the legs are ok it would be better if they were longer but it's not bad. The arms are to short, especially combined with the tight cuffs, as soon as I outstretch my arm, I'm wearing shortsleeves
On The Field
Well they worked fine aside from the cuff issues and the legs riding above my boots after crawling... Granted I got laughed at by most who were there upon seeing the infamous SurplusIG bdu's that were supposed to use material like issued, and be the next-gen frontenac, finest quality cadpat BDU available, and clearly weren't.
Again though, I used them in a night game when it was quite cool out, I wouldn't use them in a warm/hot game they just arn't suitable for it.
Pros:
-Good, Loose Cut
-Good Pocket Placement
-Very Heavy Material, Doubled/Tripled Up In Many Places
-Ok Repro Pattern (Aside From The Bright Greens In Jacket)
-1 1/2” Belt Loops
-Slotted Buttons (Cdn Style)
Cons:
-Very Bright Greens In Jacket
-Very Thick Pocket Flaps
-Very Heavy Material, Doubled/Tripled Up In Many Places
-White Lining
-Not Very Breathable
-Only Minimal Water Resistance
-Tight Cuffs
-Not Long Enough In The Arms/Legs
-Waist/Hem Drawstrings
Conclusion
Would I recommend SurplusIG BDU's? If the seller hadn't put me through a bunch of shit as he sold me a highly misrepresented product, and you (the buyer) were looking for an ok repro BDU to use in cooler/wetter (although it won't work as rain gear, but just say spring when it's wet from the snow melting etc) weather, and were average sized, then yes I would say it might be an ok buy, although honestly I would recommend an actual BDU you can use for 3 seasons, and just layer up if it's cooler, and get a waterproof shell if it's wet I think it would serve you much much better.