Turkish Air Force Combat Pants, M2008, Surplus

And now for something completely different. Warm weather combat pants in the blueish M2008 camo pattern of the Turkish Air Force. These were taken into use before the current regime but also saw a few years of action during it before replacement. For some reason, this camo pattern has also been used by Syrian rebel troops.

Features

These are pretty simple, functional combat pants without any weird features. These are quite stylish, which isn’t that strange because the uniforms were designed by the noted Turkish fashion stylist Arzu Kaprol. Why is it that the best-looking military uniforms tend to end up in dictatorships?

These pants have a zippered fly together with a hook & bar closure, elastic waistband plus belt loops for a max. 60 mm (2.5") belt. They have six pockets: two open side pockets, two hook & loop cargo pockets, and two hook & loop back pockets. The ankles have elastic adjustment cords to make sure that the pant legs won’t blow in the wind like that famous answer.

The fabric is fairly thin yet strong ripstop polycotton. At least on some, the percentages were 85/15 cotton/polyester, but it can vary to some extent depending on the batch.

M2008 camo pattern

This distinctive camo pattern is the Turkish M2008, or to be precise, the air force version. It was modified from the army pattern and primarily used by the ground defense personnel, but also seen on pilots in photos. The original M2008 (together with the air force variant) saw the light of day in the late 2000s and was eventually used throughout the Turkish military. Patternwise it is similar to this blue-hued version but it uses olive green, reddish brown, and khaki colors. In addition to Turkey, this air force version was for some reason used by the Free Syrian Army that opposed Bashar al-Assad. In the Turkish Air Force, this pattern was replaced by the M2018 and the army version by the M2021.

Some call this the blue Turkish digital camo, and if you see it further away, it does look a bit like e.g. MARPAT. However, when you inspect it more closely, you will notice that it isn’t actually pixelated.

Size info

The pants use the European pant sizes complemented by the Turkish pant leg length code where a larger number means a longer leg. In the chart below, you will see the average waist circumference and leg length. There can be some variation depending on how these have been washed and how accurate the Turkish factories have been.

Condition

Used Turkish Air Force surplus. These have been used pretty nicely. The colors can be a bit faded, and there can be small stains and other minor signs of use, but they are all washed and intact. There are at least undemocratic pants from 2015, but there can also be older ones in the mix.