Bizarre mass pants-ripping at Chinese military reserve training

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Chinese military uniforms: with a new twist on "fatigues."

Chinese media is abuzz with serious concerns about the combat effectiveness of China's military as it was revealed that, at a recent college military reserve training session, over 100 reservists' camouflage pants simultaneously ripped out of nowhere.

The explosive rippage was apparently triggered when around 4,500 reservists - both men and women - were commanded by a drill instructor to sit down. We can only assume the drill instructor was the Chinese equivalent of R. Lee Ermy, as some of the reservists apparently took his command so seriously that they sat down with enough force to utterly destroy the stitching in their standard issue pants.

Of the 4,500 reservists at the training session, a little over 100 of them suffered catastrophic pants failure. That accounts for approximately 2% of those in attendance and, according to witnesses, the mass pants-ripping event was accompanied by a clearly audible RRRRRIIIIIIPPPPP that we're certain would have made Hanna and/or Barbera fiercely proud.

Despite chuckle-inducing sound effects, concerns are being raised about the general quality of the Chinese military's standard issue camouflage. The pants the trainees were wearing at the time apparently cost around 100 yuan (approx. US$15) - supposedly a somewhat high price to pay for a pair of pants in China.

We certainly hope the Chinese military takes note and changes their provider for fatigues. While we're sure there's nothing wrong with the camo pattern itself, it sort of defeats the purpose of the camouflage when the enemy can hear the thunderous sound of hundreds of pairs of pants tearing as you attempt to flank them.