The spec required that it be stitched with white waxed linen thread of a certain thickness and strength per metre and blah blah blah......... you should see the pages of pure guff. And then, if you requested a relaxation in the standard or spec, there were more pages of it! Nobody ever told the procurement staff that the snipers just cut them short or took them off and used webbing instead ............ then used the straps as belts!