Wear of the BDU cover

[Gunny Couture]

I have a pet peave about the wear of the BDU cover. It seems to me that you can have a sharp uniform but if your cover is messed up it makes the whole thing look sloppy. Unfortunately this seems to be one of the most common uniform mistakes. Am I alone in this, and does anyone have any ways they have found to fix this problem with their cadets?

[bosshawk]

For  openers, it isn't a cover in CAP, it is a cap. The Marines have covers, but this isn't the Marines.

That said, wearing a cap correctlly is just as important as wearing a uniform correctly.

[arajca]

Define messed up.

Not starched so it stands on its own when placed on a table?
Covered with mud?
Sweat stains?
Wrinkled from stowing in a cargo pocket IAW CAPM 39-1?

[HGjunkie]

This is one of those topics where it just turns into a giant war where everyone argues what they think looks professional when dealing with the cap.

[AngelWings]

Here is my quick fix for a bad Patrol Cap.
Get a piece of cardboard and use a pencil to circle the caps top.
Cut out the circle.
Place it in cap.
If your cap is wrinkled, throw it through the dry first then put the cardboard in.
If the cardboard is FUBAR then just cut out another one. Pure and simple. It works extremely well on my cap. It was the best thing I have ever done since starching and polishing my uniform and my boots/shoes. The USMC/USN use something similar in their 8 point utility covers, so it is sad they don't sell these for the Patrol Caps premade. Happy holidays!

[davidsinn]

Here is my quick fix for a bad Patrol Cap.
Get a piece of cardboard and use a pencil to circle the caps top.
Cut out the circle.
Place it in cap.
If your cap is wrinkled, throw it through the dry first then put the cardboard in.
If the cardboard is FUBAR then just cut out another one. Pure and simple. It works extremely well on my cap. It was the best thing I have ever done since starching and polishing my uniform and my boots/shoes. The USMC/USN use something similar in their 8 point utility covers, so it is sad they don't sell these for the Patrol Caps premade. Happy holidays!

How do you put a piece of cardboard in your thigh pocket as you are supposed to(per M39-1)?

[AngelWings]

Its a annoying process, but you open the cargo pocket and put in the cardboard first then the PC 2nd. It is mostly used If you have inspection or are outside all day. I use all the time but it is because I usually have a spare in my pockets or in my gor-tex when it is cold or if it is raining and my first PC is too wet to put in my pocket. You get used to it, so it ain't a huge problem. It is alot less work than what it sounds.

[abdsp51]

The last unit I was in we wore ball caps.  The thing I hated was the pins and [mess] from my Insignia hitting me in the forehead.  You think a BDU cap is try having people wear a beret all dicked up.

[SarDragon]

When you wear metal ran on a ball cap, leave off the frogs, and just bend the pins over. Saves the forehead.

[abdsp51]

Not in anymore.

[Eclipse]

There are BDU rings that can be placed into or sewn into the cap so they stand up when worn but can be folded into the
pocket - they cost about $5.

[DakRadz]

I bought one of those ^^^

I wasted $5 so far. It came folded flat and tends to attempt retaining that shape. Not really helpful with forming my Cap.

If anyone knows why or can help me fix it, I'd change my opinion and owe you a Barq's Red Creme Soda (which I can't find in ALWG, GAWG, or SCWG, but is widely available in OHWG )

[caphornbuckle]

I bought one of those ^^^

I wasted $5 so far. It came folded flat and tends to attempt retaining that shape. Not really helpful with forming my Cap.

If anyone knows why or can help me fix it, I'd change my opinion and owe you a Barq's Red Creme Soda (which I can't find in ALWG, GAWG, or SCWG, but is widely available in OHWG )

If you don't mind never stuffing your cap in your pocket, I have always found that a stiff piece of cardboard cut to the size of it keeps it looking sharp.  It's also cheap to replace it when you need to!  The problem I had with those rings, in my experience, is that they seem a little too big for my cap.

[jimmydeanno]

Item in question: http://www.uspatriottactical.com/bdu-hat-shaper.html

[DakRadz]

If you don't mind never stuffing your cap in your pocket, I have always found that a stiff piece of cardboard cut to the size of it keeps it looking sharp.  It's also cheap to replace it when you need to!  The problem I had with those rings, in my experience, is that they seem a little too big for my cap.

My ring is velcro hook and loop pile (dern these trademarks ) adjustable, so that's not a problem in and of itself.

I could use the cardboard, but figure I might as well starch it.
I carry my cap in pocket in a way that a well-ironed/starched cap won't be badly affected for the event/night that I wear it.

Item in question: http://www.uspatriottactical.com/bdu-hat-shaper.html

Looks exactly like that, minus the stiff appearance they have. Mine wants to lie down and play dead.

[a2capt]

Lie down and play dead. .. LOL.
If folded nicely down the middle parallel with the front, it can pop back up when pulled out. But just balled up and shoved in there.. blech.

As well, it doesn't go in there unless it's going to be a while. At the meeting it usually stays on the table/desk/wherever I'm at and since I usually have other stuff, that's just fine. 

[ol'fido]

I have an infantryman's aversion to carrying anything in the cargo pockets and prefer to carry as little as possible in the others. Comes from getting rub spots(strawberries) and sores on my legs during long road marches until I learned better.

[Gunny Couture]

By messed up I mean smashed down on the head, not worn in the correct place forward and back on the head, worn crooked, not having the back of the cap up where it should be so that the side is horizontal to the ground, and just a general lack of looking sharp.

[Hawk200]

By messed up I mean smashed down on the head, not worn in the correct place forward and back on the head, worn crooked, not having the back of the cap up where it should be so that the side is horizontal to the ground, and just a general lack of looking sharp.

Ah, you're talking improper wear as opposed to a fancy starched hat.

Lot of that is not being trained properly. Too many people wear their uniform a certain way because "That's how everyone else is doing it" or "That's what I was told." I correct it in my own local unit whenever I see it, and talk to command staff of other units at activities and functions when I see another unit doing it improperly en masse (not with the intent of causing trouble, but letting the commander know that he/she needs to do some more training).

It doesn't have to stand straight up like the Marines do it. But it shouldn't look like you wore it to bed, or left it under a pile of clothes.

[pperkiro]

As far as the cardboard....never mind that in the summer it becomes a heat hazard. The cap is designed to vent and the cardboard negates those benefits.  As far as proper wear, I agree there seems to be a disconnect on that.


P. A. Perkins
Major, Civil Air Patrol
Deputy Commander for Cadets, Red Oak Cadet Squadron
SWR-TX-803