Mitchell Camouflage Jacket

Originally tested in 1953 the reversible Wine Leaf/Mitchell Pattern was initially only used by the United States Marine Corps.  After 1959 the pattern began seeing use by the Army and Navy in Vietnam. Few official Mitchell Uniforms were created for testing, but never went into widespread production. Many servicemen in Vietnam got custom/tailored uniforms and accessories made out of locally produced fabric and genuine issue shelter halves.  Due to the larger availability of the shelter half in the later years of the war, several American Hunting brands bought up the surplus shelters and turned them into coats to be sold to the civilian population.  This is an example of a commercially produced product made by “Ranger” for civilian use, using USMC Mitchell shelter halves.