Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 25,071
- Location
- London, UK
In my experience nomex has never been soaked through with grime, it's just been surface grime which washes out relatively easily. Oil stains don't wash out but after washing they end up being more like a paint stain, i.e. a 'dry' stain. But obviously nylon is a different animal, and it's worth pointing out that nylon was never used by the USN. I think this simply comes down to the USAF not washing 'working outerwear' very often and crud building up on them. I'd be interested in hearing from Atticus who has a huge collection of vintage nylon; he's never mentioned them being dirty, although it's quite possible I think that really dirty jackets got disposed of while the 'clean' ones were kept by their wearers and eventually changed hands. What was the USAF's policy regarding jackets? When you were out the door did you get to keep your jacket? Did airmen get to keep their jackets (probably not), or did only more senior officers and NCO's keep their jackets thanks to their relative clout/immunity from supply sergeants? I think it's possible the jackets we see on the used market are mostly the cleanest examples only and mostly from senior personnel who weren't doing daily 'oil changes' as it were. I think Peacoat's observations are very useful since he was flying helicopters in a combat area - was the army tidier than the air force??
Would be interesting to know. I knew someone who quit the RAF some years ago (in the 2000s), and by that point in time you were supposed to hand back all of your issued uniform and gear, though it was never rally chased and guys would often keep it tucked away for three or four years after, before it found its way to eBay.