Insignia Oddity

[bma21]

Is it just me or do the rank epaulettes from Vanguard look different all of a sudden?  It is as if the insignia and the CAP are crammed together in the middle of the epaulettes rather on the top and bottom like they used to be?

[JC004]

Consistency seems not to be one of their strengths.  Do you have a photo of what you're talking about? 

I have noticed recent embroidery appearing bunched up under the insignia - especially on bars - 2d Lt, 1st Lt, Capt....  I'm having an issue flattening out some cloth insignia for a Capt before I sew his.  Same goes for fairly recent epaulets I've seen.

They do seem to change their vendors a lot.  I wish they could get insignia color, design, and quality consistent.   It doesn't seem like too much to ask to have your insignia match... 

[AirAux]

I do not like their CAP Strips and name strips for utility uniforms.  The material is thin and cheap looking.  I am worried about the durability in the long run.

[PHall]

I do not like their CAP Strips and name strips for utility uniforms.  The material is thin and cheap looking.  I am worried about the durability in the long run.

What is a CAP strip and a name strip?     Could you be talking about CAP tapes and Name Tapes?

[Гугл переводчик]

I actually just ordered name tapes and CAP tapes from vangard, and they used different shades of blue and different thickness of lettering on them... my OCD doesn't like this

[NC Hokie]

I actually just ordered name tapes and CAP tapes from vangard, and they used different shades of blue and different thickness of lettering on them... my OCD doesn't like this

Thanks, now I can never not see that they did the same thing for a set I ordered for one of my new cadets!  The shades are close enough in this case to not be an issue, but it looks like they used a bold version of the font from the CAP tape on the name tape.

[RogueLeader]

I actually just ordered name tapes and CAP tapes from vangard, and they used different shades of blue and different thickness of lettering on them... my OCD doesn't like this

Even the army uses different lettering, depending on how many characters are in the name.  I don't recall what the cutoffs were/are.

[xray328]

There's a seller on eBay that's doing something like that too.  They try to make whatever's on the tape the same length so the 14 letters in Civil Air Patrol and the 9 letters in my last name take up the same space.  It looks goofy because the name tape letters end up being much wider than the CAP side.  It bugs me too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261149274662?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=560176735257&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Seller is quick to get them to you, 2 days in my case but I'll have to clarify what I need next time around.

[TheSkyHornet]

Unfortunate quality control from the contractor side.

The letters should be embroidered in at the same size if both the CAP tape and Name tape lettering fits under normal format, with the extra tape still showing so everything appears standard.

A lot of people/companies who make name tapes don't know that different branches may have different sizes, too. So, they just make a standard size for all and then you line a bunch of CAP people up in BDUs and the tapes don't match from person-to-person.

The moment an organization starts saying "You can order them for yourself online at..." you know uniformity will slip a bit.

[Alaric]

Consistency seems not to be one of their strengths.  Do you have a photo of what you're talking about? 

I have noticed recent embroidery appearing bunched up under the insignia - especially on bars - 2d Lt, 1st Lt, Capt....  I'm having an issue flattening out some cloth insignia for a Capt before I sew his.  Same goes for fairly recent epaulets I've seen.

They do seem to change their vendors a lot.  I wish they could get insignia color, design, and quality consistent.   It doesn't seem like too much to ask to have your insignia match...

Why would they concern themselves with quality?  After all, with the exception of name Tapes, they have a monopoly on most other uniform items.  Monopolies do not concern themselves with quality as the demand curve does not respond to changes in quality

[TheSkyHornet]

Consistency seems not to be one of their strengths.  Do you have a photo of what you're talking about? 

I have noticed recent embroidery appearing bunched up under the insignia - especially on bars - 2d Lt, 1st Lt, Capt....  I'm having an issue flattening out some cloth insignia for a Capt before I sew his.  Same goes for fairly recent epaulets I've seen.

They do seem to change their vendors a lot.  I wish they could get insignia color, design, and quality consistent.   It doesn't seem like too much to ask to have your insignia match...

Why would they concern themselves with quality?  After all, with the exception of name Tapes, they have a monopoly on most other uniform items.  Monopolies do not concern themselves with quality as the demand curve does not respond to changes in quality

Very, very true.

[PHall]

CAP Branch and Name tapes are available through AAFES at Military Clothing Sales.
I've had zero problems with their quality and workmanship.

[bma21]

Consistency seems not to be one of their strengths.  Do you have a photo of what you're talking about? 

I have noticed recent embroidery appearing bunched up under the insignia - especially on bars - 2d Lt, 1st Lt, Capt....  I'm having an issue flattening out some cloth insignia for a Capt before I sew his.  Same goes for fairly recent epaulets I've seen.

They do seem to change their vendors a lot.  I wish they could get insignia color, design, and quality consistent.   It doesn't seem like too much to ask to have your insignia match...

I do not seem to be able to add an image or attachment of it unfortunately.  I have a picture I just can't post them because I cannot find an option to allow it.

[SarDragon]

There's a post minimum before you can do pictures.

[JC004]

Try http://imgur.com/

The attachments tool is mostly for documents. 

[bma21]

This is what I am referring to...

There seems to be far too much space below the railroad tracks for the epaulettes for the shirt, even though the velcro ones were correct.

[SARDOC]

^ Yeah..the one on the right is totally wrong.

[PHall]

Yeah, only General Officers have to "center" their grade insignia on their epaulets.

[MisterCD]

The narrower sleeves are made to the USAF specs (which I was told direct from the company if people are wondering). CAP never provided the exact particulars for the epaulet sleeves, such as exact fabrics, shades, dimensions, etc. leaving the company to opt to base the design off the USAF epaulets.

While these new epaulets fit on the shirt, they do not fit on the service coat, at least not cleanly. This was not accounted for in the initial order, which based on the posts I presume has not been sold out yet.

[JC004]

They made them sized more to AF style, but apparently didn't consider we have uses for them that they don't.  They also apparently didn't check aviator shirt epaulet sizes. 

Those are wrong.  See AF style:


Tell them, so they can speak to the vendor.