Tiger Board Shorts, “Saigon Cowboy” mfsc spring 2015

 

Tiger Board Shorts
“Saigon Cowboy” mfsc Spring 2015

“Mad Mark was the platoon leader, a first lieutenant and a Green Beret. (…) His attitude and manner were those of a CIA operative. A lover of stealth. A pro, a hired hand. (…) He wore tiger fatigues, not for their camouflage but for their look.”
Excerpt from ‘If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home’ Tim O’Brien (1975)

 

While Camp Pendleton Marines were chasing SoCal surfers out of Trestles, a few selected men of the Green Machine were board-riding the South China Sea waters of war-torn Vietnam. There it is.
Because eeeeverybody’s gone suuuurfin’, surfin’ USA in the 1960’s, the draft was to inevitably send some wave-obsessed kids to Vietnam. If Colonel Kilgore was a fictional character, several real life accounts testify of that. A certain Private Wyatt Miller Jr even managed to technically go MIA, last seen wiping out off Da Nang, on September 13, 1970…
Quite an interesting documentary, the 2008 film “Between The Lines: The True Story of Surfers and the Vietnam War” depicts the contrasting perspectives of combat vet surfer Pat Farley and surfer-dodger Brant Page, amongst others. Of hang tens and M-16s. Not a ton of period footage for obvious reasons, but insightful raw interviews nonetheless, not exactly highlighting the sanity of the Human race…

To accompany our “Saigon Cowboy” in his endless summer safari, we are issuing a tiger stripe edition of the Board Shorts, a model we originally introduced for Spring 2014. These Mister Freedom® board shorts are inspired by several classic pairs of late 60’s~70’s trunks (Hang Ten, etc…), and feature an adjustable waist closure, Velcro® tape fly, side pocket, concealed rear pocket…
We scored some yardage of gold tiger stripe camouflage from our friends at Buzz Rickson’s. I believe this specific tiger pattern is referred to as TSP (Tadpole Sparse Pattern), but I’m probably wrong on that. The correct answer should be inside Richard Denis Johnson’s “Tiger Patterns” (ISBN 0-7643-0756-8).

For the salty look, we ‘partied-up’ our board shorts in two options, each featuring a single patch:
a) Reproduction “Sorry About That” red arc patch, with a local hand-made look.
b) Original 1970’s New Old Stock “Peace sign” patch.
Those inclined to do so will find many other vintage patches out there to spice this up, or a seam ripper to remove them. The older type machine-made patches are soft and have a cotton gaze-like back. They look much better in my opinion than the modern, rigid, iron-on kind found everywhere. Many eBay dealers offer reproduction or original patches from the Vietnam era.
I personally opted for three patches on my trunks, to take on bust-a-twig patrol while doing the jungle cancan.

The Tiger Board Shorts are designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS

FABRIC:
Buzz Rickson’s 100% cotton twill, printed with TSP (Tadpole Sparse Pattern) gold tiger stripe camouflage. Made in Japan.

DETAILS:
* Late 60’s to 1970’s style
* Paracord/eyelet waist closure system.
* Velcro® fly closure.
* Reproduction or NOS patch customization.
* Side pocket with Velcro® closure flap.
* Rear concealed sand pocket.
* Orange poly-cotton contrast stitching.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT
The board shorts are only available RAW.
The tiger board shorts will shrink to tagged size. The way the waistband closure is designed allows for a 1-1½ inch play, according to how tightly pulled the paracord is.
Please refer to sizing chart for soak/line dry measurements (please note that further shrinkage can be expected with hot soak and machine dry.)

CARE:
Low maintenance, machine wash when needed. Color fading to be expected overtime.

Available Raw (unwashed) ONLY
Tagged Sizes
X-SMALL (approx W28)
SMALL (approx W30)
MEDIUM (approx W32)
LARGE (approx W34)
XLARGE (approx W36)
Retail $149.95

Available from www.misterfreedom.com, fine retailers around the World, and our dusty Los Angeles brick & mortar store.
Email [email protected] or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.

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