I'm a new senior member (3 months) and am not accustomed to blousing trousers into boots. Currently I'm using a BDU uniform issued by my squadron. If I decide to buy ABUs, where on my ankle should the trousers come to; should it be the same as if I weren't going to blouse them?
Same as your BDU's. It doesn't matter much since you're blousing them, but mine are usually normal pant length.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It depends on the manner that you blouse them.
I use the green curly bands with the metal hooks and blouse the trousers over the boots.
I always ordered my BDU/ACU/OCP trousers in LONG so I had a little more leg to roll when I bloused it.
Quote from: Geber on February 09, 2018, 02:56:54 PM
I'm a new senior member (3 months) and am not accustomed to blousing trousers into boots. Currently I'm using a BDU uniform issued by my squadron. If I decide to buy ABUs, where on my ankle should the trousers come to; should it be the same as if I weren't going to blouse them?
No matter ABU or BDU, they shouldn't reach your ankle. They are to be bloused "over the boot" and there is usually a great amount of discussion about what that exactly means. Some feel that it means at the top of the boot and other think that it means over and literally down to your ankles. It should be at the top of the boot. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy9PRl17uVI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy9PRl17uVI). There is some off color language but the video gives a decent tutorial on how to blouse your boots.
Quote from: kwe1009 on February 09, 2018, 06:49:19 PM
No matter ABU or BDU, they shouldn't reach your ankle.
So, in your view, they should't reach the ankle
after they're bloused; after blousing they should reach the top of the boot. But that could be done with trousers that reach the ankle
before blousing. Seems it would also work if the trousers were 2 or 3 inches above the ankle
before blousing, right?
I always ordered them standard inseam length, so they wouldn't look too stupid when the rare situation called for wearing sneakers instead of boots. Tied above the boot or tucked them and smoothed down the excess over the boot to blouse. Others would use the stretchy blousing bands for a more stylish appearance, but I never bothered with them.
"For what its worth" department:
Over the past 10 years I've worked with a wide range of active duty pilots and maintainers (Army, SOCOM, Navy tacair, and USAF fixed and rotary wing) and have idly observed that the USAF and Navy guys (when wearing ABUs and aquacams, respectively) almost exclusively blouse at the top of the boot with a slight overhang, about 1 inch. (Don't look at me that way! Sometimes design reviews and flight test planning meetings get boring).
The Army/SOCOM guys seem split 50/50 between either letting the trousers hang all the way to the ankle (with boots, yes), OR, tucking in the boot/blousing at the top of the boot. I have not spent enough recent time with active duty Marines to have comparable observations, and didn't think to look back in the day when I was on base every day with them.
My point: we should conform to the USAF norm, while respecting the diverse opinions of our prior service members. That, plus, DON'T OVER THINK THIS!
CAP has a wide diversity of prior service members, who may bring the culture of their former life with them, which is a Good Thing. Thus, we get members pushing for retaining the wear of Wing patches on ABUs (just as the Army still today wears Division patches and reversed American flags) even when our USAF customer clearly wants to minimize patches on the ABUs. My position is that we should follow our parent service - but in doing so, never be jerks to former Army, Navy, and Marine members for holding personal opinions.
$0.02.
Spam
Quote from: Spam on February 10, 2018, 04:38:37 AM
CAP has a wide diversity of prior service members, who may bring the culture of their former life with them, which is a Good Thing. Thus, we get members pushing for retaining the wear of Wing patches on ABUs (just as the Army still today wears Division patches and reversed American flags) even when our USAF customer clearly wants to minimize patches on the ABUs. My position is that we should follow our parent service - but in doing so, never be jerks to former Army, Navy, and Marine members for holding personal opinions.
$0.02.
Spam
But on the other foot they need to not be jerks and try to force their service culture on CAP. CAP is the AF Aux and has assimilated the AF culture not other services.
I put my blousing straps right at the top of my boot, bring my pants leg down all the way and then I blouse them all the way back to the top of my boot.