The Army's standard nylon coated poncho with hood was adopted in 1961 but was found to be usuitable to the jungles of Vietnam due to its shiny surface and heavy weight. Development of the lightweight poncho was started in Febuary 1966.

The lightweight poncho was the same in design to the older poncho but made of a lighter rip-stop nylon fabric, this reduced the weight by halve. These ponchos were used as improvided sleeping bags by SOG recon teams.