>>175069>waterproofness is shittyNot really. It's some tightly woven cotton, water can hardly get in.
And considering it's cotton, it can be coated, pic related, and it then becomes as efficient as any other rain gear. The quality of the fabric is so good that waterproofers actually work as advertised. I have yet to be wet with one of these.
It's most commonly called a "plashch palatka", literally "coat tent" in Russian.
It's inspired by large mantles used by Cossacks, that they assembled to make tents, though earlier civilizations have also used things very similar to that. It was later updated by the Soviet Union, and made part of the standard gear. They're still used in the Russian army, though it's getting uncommon.
Several models were made, one by each major country of the URSS, the best ones being Polish ones, triangular, with quality fabric and good buttons. Russian ones tend to be rectangular, of lower quality and with shit buttons. Ukraine apparently made good ones too, but no idea how they are.
Though they really are heavy, between 1.2 and 1.5kg. They're nonetheless extremely tough, and can be used for fucking everything, including ground cloth and protection from thorns and hail, things that will tear your average poncho in pieces.
I have throughout the years converted many people to it, so much we can assemble fucking huge tents with all of them. It's incredible how modular it is, it really is a great concept for an army.
