Hold your horses

[NIN]

The name tape monster reared his ugly head.  You can see the tailors chalk marking center of pocket and center of nametag.

Right side is folded under about 1/2 inch (good). On the other side that's folded about 1/4 inch (bad) and is still short of the pocket end.

I'll be on the phone tomorrow.

Plus: commaders badge is still awful (probably always will be) and they're merrowing each single piece of grade and not sending them as a single pair.

[Майор Хаткевич]

I noticed that ABU pockets are about 1" wider than BDU pockets.

[Eclipse]

Ssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooccccccccccckkkkkkking...

Plus: commaders badge is still awful (probably always will be) and they're merrowing each single piece of grade and not sending them as a single pair.

Is the merrow at least done properly?  I am not wearing my A/C wings because they come pre-folded INCORRECTLY MEASURED and sewn
down, I frankly didn't care enough to undo the stitching and redo it at the time.

[8416w]

Darn I was hoping that they would not merrow the edges on anything. It's terrible they didn't improve the quality of the embroidery.

[NIN]

I noticed that ABU pockets are about 1" wider than BDU pockets.

They came out at a solid 15cm (I've gone metric when doing nametags.. Easier to go "75mm" vs "2 9/16ths" or whatever) which, as I recall, the last couple sets of BDUs I sewed up were similar.

[NIN]

Is the merrow at least done properly?  I am not wearing my A/C wings because they come pre-folded INCORRECTLY MEASURED and sewn
down, I frankly didn't care enough to undo the stitching and redo it at the time.

Describe "done properly"

Why do it at all?  I'm going to cut down the insignia with pinking shears anyway.  Merrowing it leads people to believe that the insignia should be folded in some way while maintaining all of the included fabric in each direction.  Thats going to cause nothing but heartache, and its an extra set of steps & material thats not needed.

[NIN]

[winterg]

Why on earth would they merrow those edges? It makes no sense that I can think of and probably has an effect on production cost. 

Transmitted via my R5 astromech.

[Okayish Aviator]

That's weird. None of my stuff came that way. Here's my rank patches:



In fact... All my stuff seemed spot on.

[8416w]

Thank goodness there is enough fabric to fold.

[dwb]

Lt Cols get the deluxe merrowed edge.

[NIN]

Lt Cols get the deluxe merrowed edge.

Considering the first thing I did was go in and hack 25+% of the fabric away, its a total waste.

Never mind the fact that there is a solid inch and a half beyond the ends of the branch tapes (I cut off some), but I had to work my butt off to sew down the outboard edge of my nametag cuz there was so little to fold under.

[Eclipse]

The 1st Lt above look like the old versions for the utilities.  Do they match the tapes?

As to the merrowing, if they all start coming like that, we're going to see people sewing them
on that way, ala the people still wearing the luggage tag as a branchtape.

[NIN]

The 1st Lt above look like the old versions for the utilities.  Do they match the tapes?

As to the merrowing, if they all start coming like that, we're going to see people sewing them
on that way, ala the people still wearing the luggage tag as a branchtape.

That's what I'm expecting: "I figured it was right,  it came from Vanguard that way. "

[Okayish Aviator]

The 1st Lt above look like the old versions for the utilities.  Do they match the tapes?

As to the merrowing, if they all start coming like that, we're going to see people sewing them
on that way, ala the people still wearing the luggage tag as a branchtape.

Tapes, and everything else matched including the GTM2 and MO wings

[Eclipse]

Wow - these examples are noticeably different then some of those from "non-standard" sources we've seen
here and I've seen IRL, though lighting is clearly an issue as well.  NIN's look purple, while these look almost denim.

Taste the rainbow.

[Toad1168]

Obviously not folded, but this is how mine came.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Mine are on a UPS truck....and he should have been here around 2 hours ago...

[NIN]

Wow - these examples are noticeably different then some of those from "non-standard" sources we've seen
here and I've seen IRL, though lighting is clearly an issue as well.  NIN's look purple, while these look almost denim.

Taste the rainbow.

FYI, for those keeping score at home:

the color of the nametapes and the insignia backing is a very dark blue.  Like "almost midnight blue".

I got Coats & Clark thread at Joann Fabrics, shade 4940 "Dark Navy", and it is correct against the fabric..
http://www.joann.com/coats-andamp-clark-dual-duty-xp-general-purpose-thread-250yds/xprd840925.html#q=4940&start=1

The "silver" thread is like Sulky Rayon #4111720, "Light Silver" (thats an embroidery thread). No matter the photography, its *NOT* a metallic thread
http://www.joann.com/sulky-rayon-40wt-thread-250yd/prd2918.html#prefn1=refinementColor&prefv1=Silvers&start=1

[NIN]

Obviously not folded, but this is how mine came.

See, you've got a solid 3/8 of an inch or more on the left than I do.

The name tag I'd picked happened to be the *shortest* one in my batch.

I went with the longer one and cheated my name slightly outboard about 1/16th of an inch to gain a bit more.

[Okayish Aviator]

I think the uniform looks pretty nice in person.

[Spaceman3750]

Those wings and badges look really good.

[Eclipse]

The gold bars are on backwards.

[NIN]

The gold bars are on backwards.

Yup. I saw that.

[Okayish Aviator]

The gold bars are on backwards.

I like to fly planes upside down, so I put them on backwards so they will be rightside up when I pass someone important.

[Toad1168]

Obviously not folded, but this is how mine came.

See, you've got a solid 3/8 of an inch or more on the left than I do.

The name tag I'd picked happened to be the *shortest* one in my batch.

I went with the longer one and cheated my name slightly outboard about 1/16th of an inch to gain a bit more.

That's because my name is so long 

[NIN]

[NIN]

That's because my name is so long 

I only have three less than you.

Which is about the number of that Ned guy's last name.

[NIN]

And a cautionary tale for those ordering Insignia from third-party vendors.

These crew wings came from Williams and Williams. Their dark blue is not the same as the Vanguard dark blue

[Майор Хаткевич]

Nin, how can that be? I had a whole bunch of early bird locals say that they KNEW they got the good stuff? 



That said, they shorted me one set of Major Insignia...gonna leave one Major at the unit sad. :/

But maybe one of you fine folks got an extra Major, and were shorted a Ground Team Badge and some Pilot wings? This came in extra:

[Майор Хаткевич]

Doh

[Eclipse]

Wow - three different colors in the same order, and those !@#$ wings, whoever they belong to, are merrowed.

Whiskey Tango (fill in the blank).

The CC badge looks like the clown from Circus Circus at the top.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Color matches. Trick of angle/light.

[Eclipse]

Maybe, but you'll never unsee the clown.

[Garibaldi]

Maybe, but you'll never unsee the clown.

Got dangit....

[Майор Хаткевич]

Maybe, but you'll never unsee the clown.

Got dangit....

Yea...makes me dislike it more than before. Haha

[Alaric]

Maybe, but you'll never unsee the clown.

Got dangit....

Yea...makes me dislike it more than before. Haha

As a Shrine clown I take exception to that remark

[NIN]

Maybe, but you'll never unsee the clown.

Awwwww, now I'm ruined.

[Stonewall]

A CAP friend had Kel-Lac do up military badges and they came out spot on.  I'll see if he can post a pic.

http://m.kellac.com/

[Sapper168]

Interestingly my aircrew wings were not marrowed.  They came like the ranks and ground team badge with unfinished edges.

[Майор Хаткевич]

[winterg]

When did you join the Coast Guard? 

[Okayish Aviator]

When did you join the Coast Guard? 

[Spaceman3750]

Those look great. I need to get in gear and lose those last few pounds to be down a uniform size and switch

[Okayish Aviator]

Those look great. I need to get in gear and lose those last few pounds to be down a uniform size and switch

I'm so happy I'm back in AF height and weight standards. Took some work.... Especially being 6'1", unfortunately my memory on my BDU top size meant I got a slightly larger size than actually fits. Oh well.... Just gotta hem it a bit. By the way, yes I know it's not allowed, and I don't care whether it is or not because I won't be wearing it in public again, but the beret does look pretty nice with these tapes too. Perfect fit I think. *no I'm not posting a picture of it*

[Майор Хаткевич]

Yea, so the ABU pockets are definitely wider

[Garibaldi]

So. Because I was bored on a Saturday, and had finished replacing the ultramarine stuff with the dark blue stuff, I decided to see how hard it would be to "convert" my old stuff to the dark blue. This is with a black Sharpie. Please note, this was an experiment and I'm not condoning or advocating this.



You can still see a little of the ultramarine showing but...close. Silver Sharpie does NOT work to change white.

Again, I was bored.

[Luis R. Ramos]

Oh no no no no nO NO NO!

You gave too many ideas out... We will find, despite your disclaimers, some enterprising souls in CAP will try just that now.

They will try the big Sharpies to cover the biggest part of the insignia, badge, whatever, then mini-Sharpies for touch-ups...

[PHall]

Oh no no no no nO NO NO!

You gave too many ideas out... We will find, despite your disclaimers, some enterprising souls in CAP will try just that now.

They will try the big Sharpies to cover the biggest part of the insignia, badge, whatever, then mini-Sharpies for touch-ups...

What, are you against Scamguard making obscene amounts of money off the CAP membership?

[Stonewall]

I think CAP should consider losing the Vanguard contract and go with IRA GREEN out of Rhode Island, theirs military insignia products are so much better.

When the AF changed the AFI to allow a lot of previously unauthorized badges/tabs a year or so ago, I called Vanguard to see about ordering Air Assault for the ABUs, same as how they had them for the BDUs back in the day.  Vanguard told me I would have to order some insane amount like 100 for them to do so, so I blew it off.  I randomly check the MCSS at Andrews just in case they showed up.  I see AF people all the time with a variety of army badges to include the CAB, pathfinder, and air assault, so someone makes them.

Then I go TDY to Lackland in June and there they are, everything from SCUBA bubbles to Air Assault, but they aren't made by Vanguard, they're made by IRA GREEN, https://www.iragreen.com/. 

For y'all folks who want military badges for you new CAP ABUs, it may be worth it to contact IRA GREEN and see if they'll make them in silver on dark navy.

[Garibaldi]

Oh no no no no nO NO NO!

You gave too many ideas out... We will find, despite your disclaimers, some enterprising souls in CAP will try just that now.

They will try the big Sharpies to cover the biggest part of the insignia, badge, whatever, then mini-Sharpies for touch-ups...

We can figure out who actually did it. They'll be the ones smiling like doofuses in formation from the fumes. And the Sharpie on their hands.

[NIN]

I think CAP should consider losing the Vanguard contract and go with IRA GREEN out of Rhode Island, theirs military insignia products are so much better.

I seem to recall that Ira Green declined to bid due to not being equipped for retail fulfillment the last time the whole thing was out to bid. They were geared toward 100% B-2-B at the time.

No so now.

BTW, Spur will do "silver on midnight blue" military badges like they used to do "white-on-ultramarine".  you have to buy 5, however.

[Майор Хаткевич]

First time wearing it in the field.

[NCRblues]

I have to admit, the silver on dark has made the BBDU look really nice and professional.

For the first time in my CAP service I am contemplating getting a set of BBDU.

[Майор Хаткевич]

No kidding. Best uniform change since I've been a member.

[DakRadz]

And a way to continue getting use out of my eleventy hundred black shirts!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[Phil Hirons, Jr.]

Very tempted to redo my relatively new BBDUs.
I wonder if dark tapes with the flag would fly?

[Garibaldi]

I have to admit, the silver on dark has made the BBDU look really nice and professional.

For the first time in my CAP service I am contemplating getting a set of BBDU.

Yeah.....me too. Just means more sewing for me as I just finished sewing EVERYTHING new on my regular BDUs.

[SMWOG]

Is it me or does the cloth MO/MP wings look nothing like the metal wings. The AC wings are not the same wing shape as the other CAP wings. I don't get it!

[NIN]

Is it me or does the cloth MO/MP wings look nothing like the metal wings. The AC wings are not the same wing shape as the other CAP wings. I don't get it!

You don't say

[PHall]

Very tempted to redo my relatively new BBDUs.
I wonder if dark tapes with the flag would fly?

Should fly until 2359L on 31 Dec 2016.

[Paul Creed III]

Interestingly my aircrew wings were not marrowed.  They came like the ranks and ground team badge with unfinished edges.

Same here - all of my badges and insignia were unfinished.

[arajca]

My AC wings were folded, not marrowed. The rest were unfinished, except my grade insignia, which is on back-order. I guess they had a lot of Lt Cols making the switch.

[RMW14]

All of my insignia came with unfinished edges. I would pay extra to have Vanguard make the all the wings, badges and ranks with the correct amount of blue showing and the edges finished so everything would be uniform across the board.

[Paul Creed III]

All of my insignia came with unfinished edges. I would pay extra to have Vanguard make the all the wings, badges and ranks with the correct amount of blue showing and the edges finished so everything would be uniform across the board.

+1

I received my Goretex tab yesterday and it was not folded correctly: the insignia was almost touching one of the folds with excess blue on the opposite side.

[Garibaldi]

All of my insignia came with unfinished edges. I would pay extra to have Vanguard make the all the wings, badges and ranks with the correct amount of blue showing and the edges finished so everything would be uniform across the board.

+1

I received my Goretex tab yesterday and it was not folded correctly: the insignia was almost touching one of the folds with excess blue on the opposite side.

Ehhhh, every time I order one, I rip the seam, size it on the jacket tab, and re-sew it. Hate that it's way too big for the tab.

[Майор Хаткевич]

Wish I could wear my goretex USCG thingy. :/

[NIN]

All of my insignia came with unfinished edges. I would pay extra to have Vanguard make the all the wings, badges and ranks with the correct amount of blue showing and the edges finished so everything would be uniform across the board.

But honestly, folding insignia is not difficult. Its exceptionally easy.

[NIN]

once again, a cautionary tale for those of you wishing to obtain badges and insignia from a third party supplier:

"Dark Navy Blue" != "Midnight Blue"



The wings at the top were previously pictured, they come from "nametags4u.com"
The two tags in the middle are from Vanguard.

the tag at the bottom was obtained from another vendor as "silver on midnight blue."

The "Vanguard Dark Navy Blue" color is.. elusive.

[DakRadz]

NIN- AF Blue is the moniker on all my packages of badges. Maybe that helps?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[Майор Хаткевич]

Iirc, someone said it's the blue of af enlisted rank?

[Damron]

once again, a cautionary tale for those of you wishing to obtain badges and insignia from a third party supplier:

"Dark Navy Blue" != "Midnight Blue"



The wings at the top were previously pictured, they come from "nametags4u.com"
The two tags in the middle are from Vanguard.

the tag at the bottom was obtained from another vendor as "silver on midnight blue."

The "Vanguard Dark Navy Blue" color is.. elusive.

Any reference would have described midnight blue as very dark, close to black in indirect light.

I ordered tapes from an eBay vendor and they matched the Vanguard cloth grade perfectly.

http://captalk.net/index.php?topic=21152.msg388560#msg388560

[Jester]

My vanguard tapes had the same length issue. The name has just enough to fold over on each end. CAP tape is fine.

I bought a couple of goretex tab slide-on thingamajigs. One for an actual goretex and the other I'll fold down to 2"x2" and sew Velcro to the back for the fleece jacket since that's not available yet. 

I ordered a set of Velcro tapes for the fleece and I'm not jazzed about them. I'm used to them being folded on the ends then sewn to the Velcro. These are cut on the ends. It's more low profile but I'm worried about fraying. They seem to be sealed or fused so time will tell.

I'm going to take one of my goretex slide-on thingamajigs to Joann's fabrics or something to see if they have a match. If they do I'll try to get some to have my AF badge redone. The nametags4u don't match and it's bugging me. 

[Mustang]

Tapes, and everything else matched including the GTM2 and MO wings

Oh. Em. Gee. Those wings look ATROCIOUS. 

[Майор Хаткевич]

Tapes, and everything else matched including the GTM2 and MO wings

Oh. Em. Gee. Those wings look ATROCIOUS.

Looked decent enough for me:

[RogueLeader]

The one thing that I do like about the GT badges is that the triangle section is sewn solid, then they embroidered the GT in blue over it, so the "GT" is much more clear.

[edited for clarity]

[ranviper]

Found this picture from like 4 years ago. After checking this thread out I immediately want to get the dark blue tapes...