Uniform Shirts

Stone Cold said:
That’s what Incheon and Anchorage are for. Absolute max for me wearing a uniform shirt is 2 days, and that’s if it’s cooler out. Granted, I’m always hitting Anchorage or Incheon, but I’ve done my whites in numerous states over the years, as I’m not going to be “that guy.”

For the record, I make that work with 3 uniform shirts and 2 work pants, along with 5 undershirts.
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Now I never see either of those places except day one, or the last day. But to be fair I could be gone 17 days, and only have five operating legs. So my shirts don't get worn often.
 
ASpilot2be said:
Now I never see either of those places except day one, or the last day. But to be fair I could be gone 17 days, and only have five operating legs. So my shirts don't get worn often.
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I need that schedule. My last rotation was a split line, so I worked 1-6, and then 16-22 June. I flew 5 legs the first part, and 6 legs this last time out (7 days).
 
Stone Cold said:
I need that schedule. My last rotation was a split line, so I worked 1-6, and then 16-22 June. I flew 5 legs the first part, and 6 legs this last time out (7 days).
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Ooof. I have six operating legs this trip, and one commercial deadhead to Wuhan, and a couple days in Hong Kong to do laundry.
 
Why does Ginger Ale taste so good inflight? Because altitude dulls the senses.

Same with my shirt on a 5 day trip. Every plane already smells like 100,000 hours of lav floor pee, bad decisions, and cheese farts - my over deodorized pits are not even a data point. (This reminds me of the old DC-9 cargo birds I flew that still smelled like blue juice lavs in the back even though the lavs were ripped out years and years ago and we had to pee in a gator-aid bottle or HD bucket.)

Anyhoo... yy other argument is Florida. (or other swampy layover destinations) No matter how much I shower or prep myself - 30 sec out the door in FL and I am the sweat beast. And it doesn't help that our uniforms are wool and plastic blends. I might as well be wearing a couple of hefty bags.

The only reason we aren't all wearing flight suits is because Juan Trippe had a fetish.

Ok, maybe that last one was a bit too far, but I'm still not gonna spend my short overnights doing more laundry and ironing when I don't need to.

I keep a spare uni in the bag if something happens - otherwise I change shirts with pairing numbers usually.
 
ClearedForOption said:
(This reminds me of the old DC-9 cargo birds I flew that still smelled like blue juice lavs in the back even though the lavs were ripped out years and years ago and we had to pee in a gator-aid bottle or HD bucket.)
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The DC-9 family carries a very unique smell. I can't put my finger on it nor describe it, but you know it when you smell it.

When DFW still had the temporary "trailer park" high-C gates, the whole hallway smelled like Super 80 all the time (that's where they lived most days).
 
ClearedForOption said:
Why does Ginger Ale taste so good inflight? Because altitude dulls the senses.

I keep a spare uni in the bag if something happens - otherwise I change shirts with pairing numbers usually.
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I run a similar game. I carry one uni to wear and one backup in the bag. However at day 3 I often switch - this somewhat depends on whether or not I am doing 3-leg days or 1-2.

The iron and a spritzer bottle with a solution of alcohol/water does a marvelous job for daily touch up and I carry some Dryel cloths in the bag in case a more serious treatment is needed. 30 minutes on medium heat and everything is miraculously fresh.

My ACA shirts have been fine, but I, too need new pieces due to weight loss (non GLP, dontchaknow) and our uniform supplier - how they mightily suck - has been out of my size in pants for a while. Amazon it is. :)
 
I would put India up against China in the "where best to get your shirt laundered" competition. Put it in the bag, drop the bag on the door, and ~6 hours later it comes back so clean and starched that it could probably just walk off and fly the plane for you. Unfortunately, then you have to figure out whether you can tip the kid or he'll be shot at dawn if you do. He may not initially be a Reliable Narrator on this subject.

I take two for a normal trip, three if it's some God-awful 12-14 day slog, but then we also basically wear them from the hotel to the plane and vice-versa, so figure I'm wearing each shirt for fewer total hours than the Obergruppenfuhrers.

@phill1174 you tried the Haggars? Good fit if you're not Captain-Sized, believably Pullman Brown(ish), much more durable than the hammer-pants, and reasonably priced!
 
JordanD said:
#humblebrag

Am I the only one who hasn’t really had issues with A Cut Above? Maybe some varying quality at times but overall I’ve had their shirts last years. I’m still baffled I see good reviews for Flight shirts. I bought into the hype and tried one and the material felt like one of those flimsy paper napkins you get in a takeout cutlery packet. So thin you could see through it, I ended up going through the hassle of sending it back instead of just eating the cost.
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Quality has definitely gone downhill, but I haven’t had a bad experience per se, but after the cost to get mine tailored ( the arms are waaaay to wide in relation to neck size ) I’m pushing $80/per. I got a Flight shirt that is just ok. Really thin and not at all wrinkle resistant, I guess it’s good for Island or Mexico turns. I have 3 more ACA shirts from my expense account back at ZW, then it’s back to the search for the perfect shirt.
 
ozziecat35 said:
Quality has definitely gone downhill, but I haven’t had a bad experience per se, but after the cost to get mine tailored ( the arms are waaaay to wide in relation to neck size ) I’m pushing $80/per. I got a Flight shirt that is just ok. Really thin and not at all wrinkle resistant, I guess it’s good for Island or Mexico turns. I have 3 more ACA shirts from my expense account back at ZW, then it’s back to the search for the perfect shirt.
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This is why I just get the scrub Van Heusen. The tailored ones just so happen to fit perfect, and I keep them on a 15 shirt rotation without the cost getting out of hand. That means I can keep a constant cycle to the cleaners plus some spares. On this plan, they're good for about 2 years before they start to decompose. Toss them and continue the cycle.
 
If I'm home I'll change out my shirt after 3 days but no way I'm carrying an extra for a 4-day. I carried an extra shirt for the first couple years at the regional. It never came out of my bag so I quit packing it. Yes, I too like to live dangerously.
 
word302 said:
If I'm home I'll change out my shirt after 3 days but no way I'm carrying an extra for a 4-day. I carried an extra shirt for the first couple years at the regional. It never came out of my bag so I quit packing it. Yes, I too like to live dangerously.
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Cardigan bruh… intercepts the coffee and crew meal spills. And if it doesn’t, it can cover them up. Also, hypothetically, if one somehow forgot one’s belt in the hotel room it could cover that too
 
ozziecat35 said:
Quality has definitely gone downhill, but I haven’t had a bad experience per se, but after the cost to get mine tailored ( the arms are waaaay to wide in relation to neck size ) I’m pushing $80/per. I got a Flight shirt that is just ok. Really thin and not at all wrinkle resistant, I guess it’s good for Island or Mexico turns. I have 3 more ACA shirts from my expense account back at ZW, then it’s back to the search for the perfect shirt.
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You want JetSeam. The gold stretch fabric, not the standard. The standard will wrinkle if you just stare at it. The stretch doesn’t.
 
I don't remember the company, but I'm fairly sure it was JetSeam. I ordered shirts from them and the size I ordered, the chest fit, but the collar could fit 2 people. When I ordered the right collar size, I couldn't button the shirt (worse than fat guy in a little coat). I called them about my predicament. Their answer? "We don't make shirts that will fit you." MmmmKay.

So now I just go with the M&H Bamboo shirts. They're comfortable. They're readily available from our uniform shop at the AOC and, best of all, they're covered under our uniform allowance.
 
our shirts are actually pretty good, it just took me 3 tries to find the size that fits me. Turns out a tall isn’t just a longer version of the same size but fits like a potato sack.

Our pants are garbage though. When the ones I have start to pill and fade (so in a year if I’m lucky) I might have to check out Jetseam.
 
Roger Roger said:
fits like a potato sack.
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They pretty much all fit my sawed-off self like a potato sack, too. You're not alone, Lurch. Anything that's long enough to tuck in is hilariously broad in both the shoulders and esp. the waist. If I were of a more Conspiratorial bent, I would think maybe a few someones were sitting both on the boards of the shirt-manufacturers and, say, McDonald's.

Flight suits now, flight suits tomorrow, flight suits forever!
 
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