CAP Talk

I think we've discussed this enough on the uniform committee thread for it to warrant its own discussion.  For those of you who haven't been following it, the uniform committee is apparently thinking of proposing that the pants to go with the golf shirt uniform be khaki rather than medium gray as they are now because (they believe) there are too many interpretations of what "medium gray" is and that as a result senior members wearing this combination aren't as uniform as they could be and that there is less chance that you would see as much variation if they switched it to "khaki".

Personally, I have examples of multiple shades of what everyone would agree is "khaki" in my closet and that almost immediately after any switch was made this would become apparent.  Then, we would hear about multiple shades of khaki being worn. 

To get a better gauge of what the CAP Talk community is thinking, I've designed this poll with a few potential solutions, including the uniform committees proposal.  What say you?

It would be real easy to say Kahki Dockers brand.  Then members know which ones to pick up, they can have choice in deciding which style dockers to get.  Slim front, drop front, smooth, expandable waist, etc.

This is not actually a problem...

IIRC the Bookstore used to sell gray trousers along with the blazer with the distinctive buttons.  Giving members options means interpretation and variation versus standardization and uniformity.

Quote from: mikeylikey on December 09, 2007, 07:50:39 PM
It would be real easy to say Kahki Dockers brand.  Then members know which ones to pick up, they can have choice in deciding which style dockers to get.  Slim front, drop front, smooth, expandable waist, etc.

Not easy, actually.  Khaki colored Dockers are extremely hard to find, except in early spring.

Really.  They are available year round at any Macy's, Kohl's, Boscov's, JC Penny's and Sears.  Everyone should live within some short distance of one of these stores.  If not, the internet is not broken, and last time I checked, small towns (in the sticks) usually have a JC Penny catalog order center.  At least they did When I lived in farm country.

The answer to the concern of khaki pants having too much variation seems to be to name a specific manufacturer and style. The even simpler answer to the whole problem would be to go back to what we had with the bookstore selling the pants, one style, one source, no variation. Since many people still have gray pants that were ordered from the bookstore, this would seem to be the simplest and most cost effective solution.

That being said, if the uniform committee does get the white and grays killed, I'm all for going to khakis with the polo shirt as long as we have some sort of production/purchasing standardization in place FIRST.

Or, what about having the AF blue pants with the polo shirt. Those pants are completely standardized.

Quote from: mikeylikey on December 09, 2007, 09:39:26 PM
Really.  They are available year round at any Macy's, Kohl's, Boscov's, JC Penny's and Sears.  Everyone should live within some short distance of one of these stores.  If not, the internet is not broken, and last time I checked, small towns (in the sticks) usually have a JC Penny catalog order center.  At least they did When I lived in farm country.

I'd never buy pants without trying them on.  Way too many variances (women's pants aren't sized by waist measurement or however men's pants are, so even within a given manufacturer, the same size fits differently).  Anyway, I can say with 100% certainty that khaki pants are hard to find because I recently had to buy a pair...nightmare. 

Plus, like everyone else has been saying, "khaki" is not a standard color.  If we all had to order through Vanguard or something, I guess I could live with it, even though it would add on weeks so I could get them altered to actually fit correctly.

I recently finished a SAR course where I was the only CAP student.  Most of the students were police officers from various statewide departments.  Most wore a golf shirt with khaki pants.  Some departments even rotated the version of their golf shirt - different styles for different days.  The khaki pants varied from cargo versions to dockers.  I sure wasn't going to call any of these gun-toters less than professional.  They looked good and were a lot more comfortable than I was in my gray pants.

Quote from: Short Field on December 10, 2007, 02:30:42 AM
Most wore a golf shirt with khaki pants.  Some departments even rotated the version of their golf shirt - different styles for different days.  The khaki pants varied from cargo versions to dockers.  I sure wasn't going to call any of these gun-toters less than professional. 

As many have mentioned in other threads about pants for the CAP polo, 5.11 pants are easy to find and wearing them would standardize the shade of khaki.

Stores I've seen khaki 5.11 pants sold:

AAFES - PX
Marine Corps Exchange (MCX)
REI
Dick's
Every Law Enforcement or Public Safety Store
Every military surplus/gear store
Lots of outdoor camping stores

Other place:

Every military gear catalog/website
Every law enforcement gear catalog/website
The 5.11 online store

Average price is $39.99, but I've seen them cheaper.

You can press them and make them look nice and professional.  Every public safety type guy wears them.  I've seen search teams wear them as their standardized uniform pants.  The FBI academy wears them with polo shirts.  Every protection course I've been to wears them.  They wear them and sell them at FLETC.  Some federal agencies issue them.

I have a pair that are still in excellent condition that Are going on 9 years old.  Before they changed the line of clothing to "5.11", they were made by Royal Robbins, a high quality producer of outdoor clothing.

I'm just saying, they're professional enough looking; standardized color, relatively inexpensive, will last forever, and will solve the problem of everyone wearing different styles and shades of pants with the blue CAP polo shirt.

I know, Kirt, enough with these goofball ideas, no one will go for it...

I've slightly modified the poll options to clarify them a bit.  You may or may not want to switch your vote. 

Quote from: RiverAux on December 10, 2007, 03:03:39 AM
I've slightly modified the poll options to clarify them a bit.  You may or may not want to switch your vote. 

Unable to change my vote.

Hmm, I guess that isn't an option.  I reset the count.  Sorry.

Why not switch to black or navy blue? Please already this is a civilian uniform that it seems like is not really a uniform at all. I have never seen anyone at a CAP meeting make an issue of what shade of gray the slacks are. There are enough things that are causing people to quit CAP. Why not take a long look at CAPM39-1 and just leave things as they are?