Fully agree with the "...if it ain't broke..." sentiment although I had no idea that what we know as the humble 'hoochie' had such a long history...of all the personal equipment we had, this was the only one that we never asked to have improved - coz we couldn't see what else it might need...a great testament to the KISS principle...have used it in conditions from the Asian monsoon to light snow and have been amazed at the ingenuity with which soldiers can apply such a simple design to protect them from the environment and use it for other tasks like flotation, improvised stretcher, etc