Military clothing is continually being reviewed to see if there are ways to improve the designs to make them cheaper to manufacture, more durable or to resolve comfort issues that might have arisen during wear. Some of these changes are very minor and do not involve a change to the garment’s nomenclature whilst others are more radical and result in the clothing having a new mark number allocated. The MTP smock, as originally introduced, was based closely on the final CS95 smock with some enhancements and we have covered the original smock on the blog here and here. Today we are looking at the successor pattern, the Smock 2:

At first glance the changes are not obvious, however there are a number of updates. The earlier pattern of smock had a single, large Velcro panel to secure the panels which hold insignia to the sleeve, these add bulk and stiffness to the sleeve so on the Mk 2 this has been replaced by Velcro around the edges only (Mk 1 above, Mk 2 below):

This is repeated on the back of the patches as well:

This was not a universally liked change as one user explains: the Velcro perimeter of the blanking patch is rather annoying as it managed to loosen itself, and generally just doesn’t feel as sturdy. The other major change with the Smock 2 is the internal lining. The original smock had a mesh lining that was prone to tearing and damage. On the smock 2 (upper) this has been deleted:

Another subtle change was to fit zips to the handwarmer pockets so they could be closed when not needed and prevent the pocket linings from getting saturated. The new nomenclature is clearly marked on the label:

It is unlikely that many troops would pay much attention to the exact pattern of the smock, and the two patterns were used side by side with the older design slowly disappearing with natural wastage as damaged smocks were replaced by the newer pattern. This particular smock was used by an Air Cadet rather than a member of the armed forces, and the Air Cadets patch is sewn to the sleeve: