Unissued Swiss Poncho TAZ 83/Alpenflage Camo

Genuine Swiss Armed Forces Unissued Alpenflage Camouflage (TAZ 83) Rain Poncho

• One Size Fits Most 
• New Old Stock -- Never Issued. 
• Multi-purpose design — doubles as a rain poncho, a groundsheet, or a shelter/tent panel, since it can be worn or pitched
• Modular buttoning system — 32 buttonholes and 64 aluminum buttons along the edges in double rows, letting you snap two or more panels together to build larger tents or shelters
• Reinforced seams — the chemically treated cotton has high tensile strength, so it holds up to being pitched taut or dragged through brush
• Built-in cordage — comes with a removable 2-meter cord doubling as a "neck strap" for wearing it, plus four corner/center cords for guying it out as a shelter
• Metal corner eyelets — reinforced grommets at the corners accept a tent pole, so it pitches like a proper A-frame or lean-to
• (Sold separately) stake/pole kit — a "Zelteinheit" peg bag with aluminum or steel stakes and either wood or aluminum tent poles
• Lightweight for what it does — the dry tarp weighs about 1.25 kg (2.75 lb), reasonable for something doing poncho, groundsheet, and tent duty at once
• Distinctive camo — the six-color TAZ 83 "Alpenflage" pattern, useful in autumn/alpine leaf-litter terrain (and a great conversation piece even when it's not blending in)

History & Fun Facts

The pattern on this poncho — officially called TAZ 83 (Tarnanzug 83), a Swiss military camouflage pattern used from 1957 to 1993 — has a surprisingly wild backstory. Collectors nickname it "Alpenflage" or "pizza camouflage," and it entered the army surplus market in the 1990s after being retired. Its roots go back to Nazi Germany: the pattern is directly based on an experimental all-terrain design that saw limited service at the end of World War II with the Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht, called Leibermuster. Even stranger, Switzerland reportedly obtained the original WWII-era roller-printing machines used to produce it by way of Czechoslovakia after the war — meaning your poncho's psychedelic red-and-green print traces directly back to actual Third Reich printing hardware. Swiss troops themselves weren't fans of the loud color scheme, affectionately dubbing it "Vierfrucht-Pyjama" — "four-fruit pyjamas". Despite (or because of) its odd looks, the pattern actually worked well for alpine terrain and urban fighting environments, and remarkably, Militärblachen with the TAZ 83 pattern are still in limited Swiss military use today alongside newer green-camo versions — making this decades-old design one of the longest-serving pieces of kit still floating around, even as a cult favorite among scouts, campers, and militaria collectors worldwide

Surplus Odor & Storage Powder: This is an authentic New Old Stock (NOS) item held in long-term warehouse storage. It may arrive with a light coating of protective talcum powder or a distinct "surplus storage" scent. Both wipe away easily or fade completely after airing out.