What is a RAID Mod?

To answer "What?" lets first talk about When and Why

A time-honored tradition originated by pre-9/11 Trap Lords, and perfected by GWOT cool-guys the world over; the RAID Mod field shirt is a simple but ingenious solution to the problem of BDU style tops losing functionality when worn under body armor or modern load bearing gear. 

SEALs in Afghanistan wearing Vietnam Tiger Stripe RAID Mod shirts

"OK, but what is it?"

There are no hard and fast rules for what makes a RAID Mod, but there are a few common features in most of them.

Pockets are removed and rearranged to a pattern similar to a modern combat shirt (where do you think they got the idea?), and loop fields are added for IFF/unit patches.

"Cool, so what do you do?"

We do our shirts a little differently than traditional DIY or battalion seamstress RAID Mods, as we've found a particular flavor we like the functionality of, but that's where the typical RAID Mod treatment from us ends, and if you order via the product listing thats what you'll get.

Every shirt is made-to-order, with all US materials and labor here in Hawai'i.

See our Style Guide for more detail on the typical cosmetic and functional options we offer, and check out our "the making of" post to see more detail on the process of going from musty surplus to new hotness.

For those who want more (or those doing their own modifications)- we discovered some very interesting additional features during research that are available by special request.

A neat extra bit of functionality can be added by making use of the double layer material at the elbow to create a pocket for 3rd party elbow padding by cutting open the top seam and replacing it with hook and loop.

Traditionally the pockets on the chest were tilted inward to allow the wearer to stuff things in under the top edge of their body armor, but our testing showed that tilting them almost completely outward yields better results, and the user can access the pockets through the "armpit gap" of the armor (or chest rig harness) rather than from the top. Your mileage may vary, so chest pocket relocation is available to suit either preference.

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