Ok this may sound stupid. I have been there done that enough times to get a good amount of chest candy. By no means am I a "war hero" but I do have a few rows. My question to all of you is, what do you do with the ribbons that you can not use any more. For example when you get a second or third NAM or Battle "E" and then get another one. Do you pull the old device off and put the new one in or do you go out and by new ribbons and put the new devices in them. The reason I am asking is that when I wear my working uniform (coveralls) I am not overly concerned with my appearance, it looks military, but when I put a dress uniform on that requires ribbons I make sure that I look sharp. In the recent week my squadron was awarded another Battle "E" Ribbon, this brings me up to 4 now and I do not want to just throw out the old ones. So is there any one out there that is interested in used ribbon/medal exchange. This could also be useful when you graduate to new ribbon bars. As for my Battle "E"'s I have a retired Chief that mounts ribbons and other uniform item that does most of my pain in the a$$ work (putting those dam "E" on. Anyway he glues them on and they look real sharp, therefore I do not want to trash them. So let the posting begin.
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Ribbons and Medals who wants them
- Thread starter jplampy04
- Start date
I would say put anything you replace in the sh!tcan and replace ribbons as they get worn. I'd also say that anyone who goes through the hassle of contacting you, making plans, then going to pick up your used ribbons so they can save $1.95 needs to have their head examined. I'm certainly not bashing you for your generous offer, but I'd just get rid of them, man.
Brett
Brett
Concur with Brett. Trust me, it gets more painful as you get 5-6 rows, multiple attachements/numbers, et al. I stopped putting mine together quite awhile ago. I have been using:
http://www.ultrathin.com/
And yes, it is a work friendly website!! First go round I bought the ones with magnetic backing, I did NOT like those. Since then I have gotten the regular kind. They do a good job, and the ribbons look sharp, better than I could ever manage.
I also always keep an extra set that only gets used for formal uniform occassions. I would also recomend mounting your medals when you have a change, both mini and regular sized.
My 2 cents...
John
http://www.ultrathin.com/
And yes, it is a work friendly website!! First go round I bought the ones with magnetic backing, I did NOT like those. Since then I have gotten the regular kind. They do a good job, and the ribbons look sharp, better than I could ever manage.
I also always keep an extra set that only gets used for formal uniform occassions. I would also recomend mounting your medals when you have a change, both mini and regular sized.
My 2 cents...
John
I keep a box of all the old ribbons, backings, medals, etc. Always seem to have spares. I always brought my shoebox of junk on cruise and it came in real handy when someone lost a ribbon or attachment.
I use Ultrathins now. I have the top three and also have a full set for dress up time. If you want to save money, you can make your own. use a hot glue gun on the back to keep them altogether and prevent any from sliding off.
Edit: Second best thing I ever bought is the white plastic backings that go behind your wings and medals. They work awesome. Really makes it look sharp.
I use Ultrathins now. I have the top three and also have a full set for dress up time. If you want to save money, you can make your own. use a hot glue gun on the back to keep them altogether and prevent any from sliding off.
Edit: Second best thing I ever bought is the white plastic backings that go behind your wings and medals. They work awesome. Really makes it look sharp.
I always thought it wasn't worth the time or effort until recently, but I've started using one of those ribbon builder sets you get at the exchange. Glue was never really my friend, even back in elementry school, so I still just bend the metal prongs back, but the plastic guides in the set make the devices nice and straight, either way. And since it seems like there's a new device to attach every 6 months (wait, we just got an "E"? Oh, I need another star for that. etc), it's faster than always sending off the ribbons and getting back a NAM w/ 4 stars when you checked the "NAM x4" box, or whatever.
redmariner97
Navy
Schnugg said:
I found Ultrathins and using the plastic lid to a coffee can work great to keep ribbons and warfare devices in place and looking professional.
Slight course correction:
I saw an E-5 uniform shirt hanging in the locker room the other day @ the NAS gym .... a squadron guy, a shipboard guy, not an aircrew guy, all the usual stuff.
The guy sported 5 rows of geedunk ribbons on his shirt ..... Am I the only one 'amazed' at this "phenomenon" these days ... ???
Back-in-the-day .... beaucoup combat hops (boo-coo if you're from the South
) --- including fighting your way up the road to KEP and back on a dark and stormy night w/multiple SAM's and AAA tracking --- would only garner subject pilot/crew a couple of rows at the end of a cruise. Big time war heroes (to include Silver Star and DFC's) might have ... three rows +/- ... or very senior guys w/multiple combat cruises ... four rows, +/-. This total would, of course, included those famous building-block "alive in '65" and expert rifle/pistol ribbons. And some people think there was "medal inflation" during Vietnam ???
I looked over a list not too long ago of medal precedence. I was amazed. I think I'm authorized more ribbons on my chest ... NOW ... than when I got off active duty. "Medal creep" for airline pilots ??? Or an E-5 with 5 rows -- a squadron guy; a "maintainer"??
A strange .... and beautiful phenomenon.
Time for squeezin' limes ..... :icon_rast
Threadjack (kind of ... ) OUT.
I saw an E-5 uniform shirt hanging in the locker room the other day @ the NAS gym .... a squadron guy, a shipboard guy, not an aircrew guy, all the usual stuff.
The guy sported 5 rows of geedunk ribbons on his shirt ..... Am I the only one 'amazed' at this "phenomenon" these days ... ???
Back-in-the-day .... beaucoup combat hops (boo-coo if you're from the South
) --- including fighting your way up the road to KEP and back on a dark and stormy night w/multiple SAM's and AAA tracking --- would only garner subject pilot/crew a couple of rows at the end of a cruise. Big time war heroes (to include Silver Star and DFC's) might have ... three rows +/- ... or very senior guys w/multiple combat cruises ... four rows, +/-. This total would, of course, included those famous building-block "alive in '65" and expert rifle/pistol ribbons. And some people think there was "medal inflation" during Vietnam ???I looked over a list not too long ago of medal precedence. I was amazed. I think I'm authorized more ribbons on my chest ... NOW ... than when I got off active duty. "Medal creep" for airline pilots ??? Or an E-5 with 5 rows -- a squadron guy; a "maintainer"??
A strange .... and beautiful phenomenon.
Time for squeezin' limes ..... :icon_rast
Threadjack (kind of ... ) OUT.
Yeah, it's kind of out of hand these days. I'm on my 7th row now and maintaining that b!tch can be a huge PITA. I blame my VP squadron for incessant hand-raising during the Clinton regime.A4sForever said:
As for the limes...long weekend+warm WX = Mojitos in SOCAL! Eat your rotten communist heart out, Fidel!
Brett