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Reefer/ Bridge Coat
- Thread starter navy09
- Start date
I always had roomies who went to USNA and borrowed theirs until I found a used Reefer for $100. $500? That's a nice handgun or another toy you can treasure.
Just so we're clear...the Reefer and the Bridge Coat are two different garments. Reefer is shorter...Pea Coat length; Bridge Coat is "overcoat" (e.g., mid-calf) length. Unless you're going to Keflavik or somewhere truly frigid, I'd recommend against the $500 Bridge Coat. Just my two cents. Reefers are a lot cheaper and more useful. They are a bit "old school" and don't really say "aviator underneath" very well, but they are comfortable.
Now...how come no one wears a "Boat Cloak" anymore???
I was just throwing that out as a data point. I assume the NEX reefer is considerably less, but for some reason I can't log on there from school.
For all of you 'paroled' SWOs...is it common to wear these while standing watch on the boat?
You really don't need a reefer or o-coat. I wore mine while at SWOS in Newport in February, but it's been hanging in the closet ever since. You can probably find one at your local base thrift shop for a fraction of that $500, but unless you're in a position to be routinely wearing blues in cold weather (a DC gig, for example), I can't see where you'd need one. Aviators wear their leather when it gets nippy out.
If you're on a boat that insists on blues in-port, and it's cold enough, maybe. My boat was in San Diego, so just blues were plenty warm. Underway, you'll have some sort of foulie jacket. We had nice kapok-lined Mustangs issued to us.
Besides, reefers are wool and smell like wet dog when they get rained on.
FormerRecruitingGuru
Making Recruiting Great Again
Ebay is also another good source to find cheap gear.
$500 dollars is way too much!
For school in the Northeast the reefer was a must, but I don't see myself wearing it again any time soon. The NEX ships fast enough that you can order one in the future if you see yourself needing it. The bridge coat I got as a novelty item during school for $100 on ebay. I wore it in winter to balls and a military funeral, and would have felt silly in the all-weather, but other than that definitely not necessary. If I had to pick one I'd go with the reefer for quality and comfort, but until Pensacola breaks 10 degrees it's staying in the closet.
My roomate's dad suddenly needed an O-Coat since his son has his here at the Academy, and he found some O-Coats on his base thrift for ~ $13 if I recall correctly. Much better route than the hundreds you'd spend on a new one, so as long as it's in good condition.
Never wore mine after USNA; I was stationed in Jax, FL, and then several spots in California, so the weather was never real cold.
My "duty section" as an MM3 in Groton before transferring to Texas for NROTC was as a prisoner escort for the base brig. One of the requirements to check into the brig was a complete sea bag. I would often find myself escorting these guys to the base NEX (in cuffs) so they could purchase the missing items before they checked in. Then, a few weeks or months later, I would escort them to the front gate with their BCD paperwork in hand and directions to the bus station and a quarter to get on the pay phone and call a cab. No money? Well, I'll buy that pea-coat from you for $50. Good deal for them, usually enough for a bus ticket home.
Then I would take the coat to the Army/Navy store in Mystic, sell it to them for $75 and they would turn around and sell it for $100. Same deal with bell-bottom dungarees, but I would have to drive up to Hartford or Storrs to unload those (hippie college students love bell-bottoms).
Other than telling a funny story, the only point is that you can probably get a good deal on a lightly used coat at a thrift store.
Then I would take the coat to the Army/Navy store in Mystic, sell it to them for $75 and they would turn around and sell it for $100. Same deal with bell-bottom dungarees, but I would have to drive up to Hartford or Storrs to unload those (hippie college students love bell-bottoms).
Other than telling a funny story, the only point is that you can probably get a good deal on a lightly used coat at a thrift store.
If you are looking for a P-Coat/Reefer on the cheap, check out the Navy-Marince Corps Relief Thrift shop near you OR you could go to Great Lakes and poke through nearly new coats at the Uniform Re-utilization Thrift shop (somewhat like a lucky bag on a ship).
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