History
PLCE replaced 58 Pattern webbing, which was made of olive canvas: this system was outdated by the 1980s. The US introduced nylon M67 (and later ALICE) type webbing during the Vietnam War to overcome the issues associated with canvas in damp climates. Following their lead, Britain developed 72 Pattern webbing, which consisted of two front ammo pouches and a rear butt pack made of butyl laminate. This was never generally issued, but was a Troop Trials Equipment.
Developments resumed with the introduction of the SA80 weapons system in the mid- to late 80s. Trials of experimental PLCE and combat body armour were conducted with selected units in 1983/84, following which 85 Pattern PLCE was issued on a restricted basis. It was very similar to the first issue PLCE, but used snaps for closure on all pouches.
The first PLCE (90 Pattern) appeared around 1988, in OG. The original type used ’58 pattern c-hooks for belt attachment, and angled D-rings for yoke attachment on the ammunition pouches (so there were separate left and right pouches). The first production utility pouches had additional belt attachments for high mounting, like the ammo pouches of 37 or 44 Pattern webbing.
Newer OG webbing has ambidextrous yoke fittings and standard PLCE belt attachments (see below). The Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) version (95 Pattern/Soldier 95) has been made since about 1992.
Read more about this topic: Personal Load Carrying Equipment
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)