Grading/Sizing

The military grading system as used by the Ministry of Defence and by ourselves is based on the condition of the clothing and/or equipment at the time it becomes surplus.

Simply put: the more worn and/or damaged the item is the further down the system it is. There are four grades that are used:

New/Supergrade: as it states. Either brand new, either in or out of the packaging or as new (i.e. worn but maybe only used once or twice). These items are clean, mark free and in most cases very brightly coloured compared to the other grades.

Grade 1: used. These items have been issued and have been used. In most cases these items have been worn for only a minimum amount of time. A lot of these items have been used as "best kit". They may have name tapes or badges sewn on. Compared to New/Supergrade they may be slightly less exuberant in colour. Boots will have been worn but will be in very good condition with good soles.

Grade 2: more obvious states of wear and tear. These items may have tiny defects (fraying, wearing around collars/cuffs) or small rips and will normally be faded in colour. Most likely these items will have been used for everyday use. Boots may have scratches and scrapes and may have some wear to the soles.

US/Unserviceable: We do not sell any items that are US. These items are so damaged as to be useless. Buttons will be missing, large tears, holes etc. These items are destroyed at source by the MoD's contractors and will not filter into the surplus market. If they do they come direct from the soldiers themselves.


Below is the general sizing systems as used by NATO (with comparisons used in the UK/US). For example when you see a shirt with the NATO size of 180/112 the first number is the height of the person, so 180 is 180cm which is for someone sized 5'10 to 6' in height, while the 112 in cm is the chest size, so 112cm equals 44-46".

Shirts & Jackets UK 65"-69" 70"-72" 73"-76" EU 170cm 180cm 190cm USA 5' 5" to 5' 9" 5' 10" to 6' 6' 1" to 6' 8" UK/US/NATO Sizes NATO Size UK Chest Size US Chest Size  Height 170-88 35-37" 35-37" Short  170 170-96 38-40" 38-40" Short  170 170-104 42-44" 40-42" Short  170 170-112 44-46" 44" Short  170 180-88 35-37" 35-37 Regular 180 180-96 38-40" 38-40" Regular 180 180-104 42-44" 40-42" Regular 180 180-112 44-46" 44" Regular 180 190-96 38-40" 38-40" Long 190 190-104 42-44" 40-42" Long 190 190-112 44-46" 44" Long 190 190-120 48-50" 46-48" Long 190

Trouser Sizes Small Leg 75 Cm 29-30" Leg Regular Leg 80  Cm 32" Leg Long Leg 85 Cm  34-35 1/2 " Leg NATO Size Inseam Size Waist Size Seat Size Example 80=32" Leg 88=35" 104=42" 80-80-96 31-33" 32 38" 80-84-100 31-33" 33.6" 40" 84-88-104 31-33" 35.2" 42" 80-92-108 31-33" 36" 44" 80-96-112 31-33" 38" 46" 85-80-96 33-36" 32" 38" 85-84-100 33-36" 33.6" 40" 85-88-104 33-36" 35.2" 42" 85-92-108 33-36" 36" 44" 85-96-112 33-36" 38" 45" 85-100-116 33-36" 40" 46.5" 85-104-120 33-36" 41.5" 48"

Footwear Sizing British 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 American 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 European 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Asian 23 1/2 24 1/2 25 1/2 26 1/2 27 1/2 28 1/2 29 1/2 30 1/2

Hat Sizes

CM 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Hat Size 22" 22 3/8" 22 3/4" 23 1/8" 23 1/2" 24" 24 3/8" Inches 7 7 1/8 7 1/4 7 3/8 7 1/2 7 5/8 7 3/4

Gloves Size  7 8 9 10 11 Hand Width 7-8" 8-9" 9-10" 10-11" 11-12" Feet Size 7 8 9 10 11 As a rough guide you can use your current foot size as an estimation of glove size. For more accurate results measure around the widest part of the hand and convert the measurement into inches.