Lame Patches

[zab1001]

OK Fleet Bubbas, and you TRACOMs types as well...what shoulder patches make you roll your eyes and groan? You know what I mean, some are sooo cool and some just SUCK.
Here's my picks for whammies, in no particular order:

-I'll start by ragging on my own community. Any of those HUGE White/Blue/Gold P-3C Orion "Position" Patches (PPC/TACCO, etc). Horrible. They do make nice coasters though. Also capable of sopping up puke at the Club. We finally went to Tiger's and had them make green/black subdued smaller ones, much less heinous. I was happy to make PPC, I don't need a Franklin Mint serving platter to comemorate it.
-Followed closely by the "Lockheed" P-3C 'shield' patches, in the same colors. FOUL. Why would you EVER put that on?
-Any "funny" patches from "Wings n Things" or whatever. Oh look, the "no spanking the monkey patch", yeah thats great....tool. Oh look, "no shoes", har har. No way the last 20 years worth of API students haven't fallen all over themselves on that one.
-Personally, not a "-Meter" fan.

 

[Dirty Underwear Gang]

Zab,
Agreeance on these. API class patches should be outlawed. Before one decides on whether to purchase one, they should ask themselves if they would buy a drivers education class patch.
Are guys who wear the "fun-meter pegged" patches fun? Not so much.

 

[bch]

Have to agree with Semper Fudge... API class patches are the GAYEST thing I have seen yet. Might as well wear your decoder ring from the cracker jack box as well.

 

[Flash]

My vote has to go for systems patches for your plane. "AIP On-board", how stupid is that? And just because it is stylized does make it cool.

And please do not sew your training command squadron patches on your flight jacket like a fleet guy, it is just gay (yes, I have actually seen it done).

 

[webmaster]

We had a 3P show up wearing his JSUPT patch.... we all just made fun of him behind his back till the next AOM, and then made him take it off. He actually put a sticker up of his JSUPT patch in the shared helmet locker, I took it down, wayyy too tacky.

Tigers is a cool place, but I find it amusing when ppl buy patches to stuff they have never been involved in.

 

[VetteMuscle427]

what is JSUPT?

 

[zab1001]

Yeah that AIP onboard one is pretty awful...yay a new computer....

How about the old-school 70's style weapons patches? I saw a HARM one that looked like it came off an episode of "Spider Man and his Amazig Friends..." It was purple, yellow, and orange...awful

I DO want one of those old school "Harpoon" patches though. Very well done.

The SLAM-ER ones have all sucked thus far.

 

[thumper]

JSUPT is what the Air Force calls Primary. Joint Service Undergraduate Pilot Training (not 100% sure on that). You would think I would know being that I am training at Moody....

 

[Vic]

API patches are are not gay they are cool! You guys should think about getting patches that say POLYWOG or BOOTers!

 

[Jaxs170]

JSUPT is what the Air Force calls Primary. Joint Service Undergraduate Pilot Training (not 100% sure on that). You would think I would know being that I am training at Moody....

Almost right, just change Service to Specialized (as in AETC thinks you are a special ed student and therefore need to be babysat for 12 hours a day).

You want to see patches that should be outlawed, try just about any patch you see on an AF flight suit on the front right side (most especially the AETC patch).

 

[rare21]

arghh! we should just go the Marine way and allow only certain patches on flight suits. I like patches but when i see an LA Lakers or Texas A&M patch that are just out of left field and have nothing to do with the Navy or aviation it makes more hair fall out of the top of my head.

 

[zab1001]

Just thought I'd mention the leather patches I got from Tipsy Gypsy.

About 1.5 yrs ago our Skipper decided he wanted all the officers to buy the full set of custom leather patches for our leather jackets. This was met with MAJOR grumbling, ranging from "you cant ORDER a guy to do that" to "130 bucks??? for patches???" to "F*ck that, I tear the nametap off and wear that out drinking on dets so I dont have to pack another jacket...with patches sewn on i cant anymore".

Anyway, one poor sucker in the squadron got tasked to set it up, and pretty much everybody did it (I'd estimate 98%). In fact, I hear that if you didn't, you had to go see The Man and tell him your reasons.

Anyway, I ordered mine and promptly forgot about them. They showed up on my doorstep 1 month after I left the squadron.

Let me say...they are WORTH EVERY PENNY. Skipper knew what he was doing. They took like 8-10 months to show up (the dude makes them all himself...somehow...), and I got them sewn on at a military tailor shop (4 total, Big subdued brown/tan flag, P-3C PPC patch- which actually looks good, Nametage with wings, and Squadron Patch). I was always one of those guys who swore up and down that I'd never sew anything on mine, mostly because I'd never seen the leather ones and the embroidered patches look like trash on the leather. My jacket is beat to hell, and they look awesome on it. Well worth the money/wait.

 

[zab1001]

arghh! we should just go the Marine way and allow only certain patches on flight suits. I like patches but when i see an LA Lakers or Texas A&M patch that are just out of left field and have nothing to do with the Navy or aviation it makes more hair fall out of the top of my head.

You're kidding me right? Properly done, non-Navy shoulder patches are money. I had a sweet Lucky Bearings 4 Leaf Clover one I wore, that looked like a "7" upside down, I sported that one all the time. Also had a "CKY" (good band) patch I wore. When anyone asked, I told them it was the company that makes TACAN ground station transmitters.

 

[rare21]

it just seems you cant please anyone...if i wear a Texas patch im most likely going to be chastised by an IP so i keep to the generic US Navy patch. i'd love to design one myself, see the patch being awesome and then wear it..once i have wings of course.

 

[zab1001]

Oh yeah...training commands....I forgot...IPs.....just wait, you'll get your chance...

BTW, half the fun is finding those obscure ones and getting away with them in flight school. I had a totally offical looking "US NAVY MESS SPECIALISTS- NAS NORTH ISLAND" with a cook like the guy from Beetle Bailey slinging hash. Maybe it was because it actually had something to do with the Navy, maybe the IPs thought I was a super motivated MS who had gotten a commission, whatever, it was funny.