Cornholio is right: the original ERSA was a UK product, and sized to fit the leg pocket of baggy green skins. Re the size/shape change, since there are a lot of us still wearing flying suits in the civvie world, and an awful lot still in the Mil, it's going to be a PITA stowing the darn thing
Slightly OT, the aussie map fold was designed around the same criteria, fitting the leg pocket of a flying suit, plus being able to unfold one handed in a busy cockpit. But then you all knew that, didn't you
