SurplusIG *New & Improved* Cadpat BDU Review

[WARFIGHTER]

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.

[Zombiefruit]

Good review. I was interested to see a comparison between real CadPat and this infamous repro. Looks like a pretty bad copy imo. But best of luck to you and Vlad, and I hope this gets sorted out. Everyone makes mistakes, and forgiveness is usually the right way to go.

[KEVORKIAN]

I saw these BDU's up close and personal at last nights game and let me tell you they look terrible ! The top and bottom are so different in color...you have to see it to believe it!

[Cosmonaut 1]

I also saw this set last night. When I first saw Knyte wear them, what immediately struck me was the top. I couldn't figure out why he was wearing the gortex field coat. After getting a good look at the set, it's not even close to issue (nor was it a field coat). At least parkland's colour is closer, and the top and bottom are made from the same material. Really the pictures Knyte posted don't really convey how bad the set really is.

[KNIVEZS]

here we go again, i believe everyone had made there point about the bdu.
why make things complicated?, if your not satisfied with the product just return it.
btw. a good review !

[THEDRAVEN]

I have also seen these in person the other night, i took the photos lol any way these look like ass the greens in the top are way off and it looks like a rain coat!

[Maverick0]

This was just a review of the actual product.... Vlad thought he should come in and defend himself again, but I don't think that was the point of this thread.

In any case, those were some weird ass colored BDU's to say the least. The parklands stuff at least has the correct coloration before they start to fade. I've been wearing the issue stuff shown in the pics for about a year now, wash them after every game, and they still don't look like those neon things.... lol

[Zekk05]

Very well written review. I wish all products out there had reviews such as this! Would make this crapshoot of gear-purchasing a lot easier on newbs and vet's alike.

Like everyone else ,I saw this camo at last nights game as well. It wasnt total crap. As camoflauge, it worked seemingly fine. (it was night, so all camo worked fine..) If youre goin for a digital pattern that has brighter greens, this would be a good set to get. IT reminds me of the relish-packet stuff Gryphon wears , but in digital form. However, if youre trying to get the Canadian impression, this stuff fails horribly.

[Skladfin]

Originally Posted by Zekk05

Very well written review. I wish all products out there had reviews such as this!

He could put so much work into this review because he hated it with so much passion LOL

[WARFIGHTER]

It's not the product itself that I hate so much, it's how it was sold to me...

I'm like a retail super hero... Fighting injustice and exposing poor retailers one thread at a time...

I should get paid for this.

[Zombiefruit]

OMFG.
Knyte: Isn't it enough that he's apologized, offered a full refend +shipping + tax rebate AND admitted he was wrong? He's already suffered enough. All this bad press cannot be good for a business. Please don't drag this on any longer.

Vlad: I commend you for admitting your mistake but it still does not change the fact that you lied/misled Knyte about the quality of the BDU and the material. Everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes. I think this would have been a lot easier for you and Knyte if you had offered to pay shipping and promised a refund at the very start.

Both: I think both of you became very immature towards the climax of this argument, calling each other names and such but please just forgive each other. Accept the refund and go on with your life.

[WARFIGHTER]

I stated previously, I don't want to send a kid my CC info again and he refused to do it any other way. As well, the 'tax rebate' and 'shipping rebate' he's offering is only if I put more $$$ through him which I'm not going to do. And, he hasn't admitted he's wrong, first he said he had done nothing wrong and I misunderstood him and the fault was mine. Then he admitted maybe there was a miscommunication between us so it was partially his fault, possibly... Nor has he yet answered the questions as to the material being different between the jacket/pants still, which I'm waiting for.

It's not about the shipping refund or even a refund this is about him lying to me about a product, then refusing to accuratly describe his own product (ie misrepresenting it) EVEN after I asked him to originally and explained to him why his description wasn't accurate and needed to be changed. And he refused. Then the dispute thread happened. It's a bit past the time of refunds and me deleting all my posts which Vlad did ask me to do recently btw... But it's not something I'm about to do, I did tell him what he needed to do in order for me to change his feedback from negative to neutral, which was refund me the amount w/o shipping, and giving a correct description, and to change my feedback from negative to positive, refund + pay for shipping charges as well. Which he refused.

Vlad wants to do business like a big boy, he can deal with his actions like a big boy.

[spl01t77]

well I'd say "hope it all works out" but I think that you Knyte have an objective. yeah much like anything else airsoft costs money and yeah sometimes we spend it not all that well, for you this is one of those times. *side note kind like when selective hearing comes into play* Sure create the awareness of you feelings along with perspective and in some ways I see it and feel for you. However given the situation and the amount of time that has gone by. I'd just grow some nads and suck it up. Not trying to bag on ya or anything but I don't see what more needs to be said. if you want to do sidearms at dawn that's one thing if not then take it to PM and the mods if it warrants it and move forward... this is getting a bit stale. the brandy might have a bit to do with this but reading through both threads I'd say that it's done and over with deal with it.
cheers

[Zombiefruit]

Originally Posted by Knyte

I stated previously, I don't want to send a kid my CC info again and he refused to do it any other way. As well, the 'tax rebate' and 'shipping rebate' he's offering is only if I put more $$$ through him which I'm not going to do. And, he hasn't admitted he's wrong, first he said he had done nothing wrong and I misunderstood him and the fault was mine. Then he admitted maybe there was a miscommunication between us so it was partially his fault, possibly... Nor has he yet answered the questions as to the material being different between the jacket/pants still, which I'm waiting for.

It's not about the shipping refund or even a refund this is about him lying to me about a product, then refusing to accuratly describe his own product (ie misrepresenting it) EVEN after I asked him to originally and explained to him why his description wasn't accurate and needed to be changed. And he refused. Then the dispute thread happened. It's a bit past the time of refunds and me deleting all my posts which Vlad did ask me to do recently btw... But it's not something I'm about to do, I did tell him what he needed to do in order for me to change his feedback from negative to neutral, which was refund me the amount w/o shipping, and giving a correct description, and to change my feedback from negative to positive, refund + pay for shipping charges as well. Which he refused.

Vlad wants to do business like a big boy, he can deal with his actions like a big boy.

I wasn't aware that he was forcing you to use a specific type of payment for the refund. And although he hasn't said "I am sorry for lying about the quality and material that said BDU's were made of" I think he has apologized through the offer of a refund and also through changing the description. Still, I think that you are on the right side of this argument and I believe that as the customer you call the shots.

[spl01t77]

Originally Posted by Knyte

I was finished speaking with him it was he who posted in my review of the product...

And I think everyone will agree that the review of the product is welcome regardless of the issues purchasing.

no doubt I truly appreciate the review *owning a set from Vlad I have first hand awarness*

I also think that at least in airsoft land that when the person on the business end calls "hit" you don't continue to light them up.