Late 80's kept bumping into military types buying Gortex and other gear in outdoor shops who intended to use them.
The precise date escapes me but it was a January, 2002 or 2003, and the need for Army troops to buy their own kit was formally raised at 3 Star level, and a (slightly tongue in cheek, but serious) proposal put forward that they be repaid against production of a receipt. Until that point, many had bought items of personal preference, instead of using issued kit.. But the BOWMAN programme had made an assumption that troops would buy certain kit, and so had not made provision for another version in the first place. This was step change in MoD penny pinching. The item used in the test case cost about £25 from Silvermans, who were doing a roaring trade. No reply received!
edit: 16 January 2002.