The strings I don't mind. Being knee high to a grasshopper and about just as think around the issue I run into with the Combat Shirts is the fact that while the main size goes down, the pocket size does not. My uniform looks like a large patch of 4 pockets, with maybe one inch between upper and lower pockets and the pockets are so close together that my epaulet (sp?) cannot sit flat. Its one of the smallest sizes available and is still super baggy and droopy around the pockets. If I put something in them they hang down to my waist pulling my whole top part away from my body (strings tied up as well)