An acquaintance of mine recently acquired two M42 para jackets and one pair of jump pants at a "yard sale" as we call them in America. It is my opinion that there are likely those issued vests still out there to be had from various places. I agree that if the vest was unpopular amongst the troops, they would have likely opted out of wearing them. After reading the information posted in the link below,I can see why they would be unpopular. Today's vests are much improved: they provide easy access to ammunition, medical supplies, grenades, and a even clip to hang the soldier's weapon on. Today's assault vests used by Special Forces troops are very popular for just those reasons. However, given their unpopularity in The Second World War, most surely would have been left in surplus in Great Britain. Here is a good link for pictures of the assault vest: Assault Vests Thank you for the information, Ryan