Whether they go the this jacket or not the RAFAC will not be able to wear it. Same as the goretex waterproof jacket or RAF blue Bergen. It will not be scaled for the ACO do to cost need or somebody in Air Command saying we cant have the cadets with anything RAF on it. It just will not do.
Or until someone ballsâ up the order and they end up with 300000 instead of 30000.
In the meantime can we have our own with RAFAC plastered all over them? My wardrobe needs something else that comes out once in a blue moon.
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It seems to me that Air Command and HQAC are falling over themselves to ensure that we are all plastered with RAF branding.
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Iâve got a lovely softshell with the RAFAC logo on the Sleeve, Sqn Crest & my Name on the Left Chest.
All embroidered for less than a football shirt 
Whatâs the sudden fascination with soft shells anyway? I donât see the big deal why everyone goes mental for them?
As a CI its great to have something smart that identifies me as part of the organisation when in an outside environment - on the range particularly.
Itâs the current âon trendâ fashion. Like shellsuits were when you were young.
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Oh WOW RAF shell suits thereâs something for a duvet day. When can we get one!!
Hereâs the controversial question. If the RAF get these monstrosities, can all RAFAC ranks wear the GPJ?
I doubt that as it will be a replacement to the GPJ
I doubt we will see it for many years yet. (officiallyâŚ)
I hope we never see it in any way shape or form ever again, whether on us or on regular personnel.
In fact, I wish I could unsee it.
[video deleted - was causing issues - DJRice]
All three services are on a perpetual branding exercise. As for the patch that keeps being mentioned, I assume is it a reflective âhigh vizâ material which is becoming compulsory these days when doing any form of travel that isnât in a car.
As for its design - surely anything is better than the GPJ, which pushed the RAF into allowing ground based personnel to wear leather flying jackets (the type that you arenât allow to fly in!). Soft shell is a nice idea, but only if cut and tailored correctly. Looking at the examples, particularly the female case, doesnât necessarily seem to have occurred. Iâm not a fan of velcro cuffs either - they look naff and will no doubt bobble or be badly stitched, fall off and need replacing. Just a sensible cut cuff, not elastication, no velcro (like you can get on the high street) should suffice,
(But Iâd prefer the RAF supply chain to concentrate on important stuff, like not managing to put the flying boot contractor out of business by forgetting to renew a contract, or being able to get basic safety equipment such as flying gloves on a major - actually two major - RAF stations)
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Not really. Weâve gone from the GPJ which looks a bit scruffy and unmilitary, to something that looks it was for Asda, Morissons or the Police.
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A status quo?
Oh no, Tesco are much smarter than the RAFâŚ
It looks cheap, nasty and not particularly practical as a weather resistant piece of working clothing - theyâd be far better off concentrating their resources on a decent gore-tex jacket.
Pay a bit more for decent breatheability so it can be worn in summer rain, drop it down over the backside, put a decent âgrown inâ hood on it, a couple of pockets and reflective bands at the biceps.
Iâm a big fan of the softshell idea - I use Buffalo, Paramo, Rab and Montane softshells and only use a hardshell if Iâm spending hours on the hill in foul weather on the ATV, but effective, wearable membrane softshell is both difficult to and frighteningly expensive to get right.
And some cheap and nasty thing that costs the RAF ÂŁ15 a piece is not going to be itâŚ
Instead of wasting money on replacing something that actually does the job, Iâd rather see further procurement of stuff we are in desperate shortage of, such as aircraft spares.
Does it really matter if the GPJ is looking dated? The armed forces are not an excuse for a fashion parade, after all.
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Branding and subsequent re-branding is a way of trying to make things look new and spend loads of money into the bargain, when what you had already was fine. Just think of sports clubs as an example. What I donât quite understand with the forces is, there are plenty of firms making this sort of thing, so why not talk to them and get something that is off the peg High St, that people might just go and buy anyway. Therefore if they get it as a bit of kit, it looks little different to what they might buy in a shop. Supermarkets do this with a lot of own brand goods, practically the same as the branded stuff. After all there are only so many places set to make things.
Different budgets. We have the devilâs own job to get numbers (budgets) reassigned to place where it might actually be needed.
Youâre missing the point that the MOD is awash with people in jobs which are not exactly defence critical and these people need to do things to ensure they donât get forgotten and are relevant. So re-designing clothing would be something to make it look like that little group are absolutely necessary. Then there are the senior officers Wg Cdr up in jobs that need to ensure they remain relevant and can continue to ascend the greasy pole. These are jobs you could lose and not notice theyâs gone, but they need to keep them to promote people into.
Donât you think Iâm aware that there are areas of self preservation throughout the Armed Forces (not just the RAF)? Doesnât make it right though and I am merely stating my opinion that itâs wrong to waste already tight funds on something we donât need when we are having to rob aircraft wheels to fit to front line aircraft.
Itâs not that hard to re-allocate money either -
eg. 1) they managed to find money to plough into the Typhoon Mission Support Centre by disbanding 6 Sqn (Jaguars) quickly enough.
- I know for a fact that a certain rotary winged unit is currently being funded for routine exercises from the Test & Evaluation budget.
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