# What uniforms do you think are obsolete? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549 "2007-08-30T23:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/41 "2007-09-01T03:52:14Z")
Stepping slightly out of the bounds of the OP—Wolverine’s uniform/costume from X-Men. The world of comics have…if not “matured,” at least evolved considerably over the years. That said, Logan no longer requires a costume. At the very least, he no longer requires a yellow costume with face-fins. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/42 "2007-09-01T04:04:40Z")
Stare in awestruck silence at the profoundly silly hats worn by Indian (L) and Pakistani (R) border guards: [http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/\_42350554\_retreat\_getty416b.jpg](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/_42350554_retreat_getty416b.jpg) OK, now you can laugh. I know I did. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/43 "2007-09-01T05:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Stare in awestruck silence at the profoundly silly hats worn by Indian (L) and Pakistani (R) border guards: [http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/\_42350554\_retreat\_getty416b.jpg](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/_42350554_retreat_getty416b.jpg) OK, now you can laugh. I know I did. [/QUOTE] You can laugh, but I’d make sure those guys don’t hear you. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/44 "2007-09-01T05:41:56Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] You can laugh, but I’d make sure those guys don’t hear you. [/QUOTE] Was it the rifles, or the potentially lethal headgear that convinced you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/45 "2007-09-02T22:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Why are Russian and Chinese army officer’s caps so much [larger](http://www.undertheredstar.com/Army/russian.jpg) than their American counterparts? [/QUOTE] I will see your Russian hat, and raise you a [North Korean hat](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/ExpatJane/smileys/genImage.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/46 "2007-09-02T23:15:16Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Stare in awestruck silence at the profoundly silly hats worn by Indian (L) and Pakistani (R) border guards: [http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/\_42350554\_retreat\_getty416b.jpg](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42350000/jpg/_42350554_retreat_getty416b.jpg) OK, now you can laugh. I know I did. [/QUOTE] I just don’t get it. If I really hated the other guy’s guts, I wouldn’t show it by trying to out-do the other guy’s 4-star restaurant napkin-style turban. No, I’d send my guys out wearing out-at-the knees jeans and “I’m with stupid” t-shirts. Better yet, instead of an adult soldier, I’d wheel a playpen with a 16-month old baby up to the border and let the other guy try to look tough in front of that all day. “I think we should launch the nukes. The kid just projectile-vomited on our guy.” “Well, that’s definitely a border incident, but I don’t think the world community would back us on this one. We’d better pull our guy out and replace him with that tank of sea monkeys we discussed.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/47 "2007-09-02T23:18:10Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] I will see your Russian hat, and raise you a [North Korean hat](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/ExpatJane/smileys/genImage.jpg). [/QUOTE] In the spirit of keeping up with Ivan and Kim, US military hats also got bigger, stiffer and more imposing during the Cold War. The Marine dress white “cover”, for example, now looks almost cartoonishly huge, particularly when worn with the regulation high-&-tight haircut and pinch-a-loaf facial expression. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/48 "2007-09-03T00:07:11Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] The Marine dress white “cover”, for example, [/QUOTE] Sorry guy, hat complaints must have a picture. Besides, my GI Joe marine dress covers looked normal. You’re screwing up my “Only Commies got big hats” theory. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/49 "2007-09-03T01:42:30Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Sorry guy, hat complaints must have a picture. Besides, my GI Joe marine dress covers looked normal. You’re screwing up my “Only Commies got big hats” theory. 🙂 [/QUOTE] OK - here’s a [WWI Marine,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DanielDaly.jpg) with a modest crown flare no longer found today except on [firemen’s dress caps.](http://www.cbfiredept.com/cbpage/wtc/wtcnyfd.jpg) While not the flying saucers of the Eastern Bloc, the [modern Marine](http://www.uspharmd.com/usmc/images/rifledressblue.jpg) (and all US) barracks covers do indeed bear out **Beware of Doug’s** observation ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/50 "2007-09-03T02:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove] While not the flying saucers of the Eastern Bloc, [/QUOTE] Good enough for me. Commies got Big Hats. Here’s [US Army Air Force WWII.](http://www.pacificcohistory.org/sw2003_3_07b.jpg) The modern marine covers look much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/51 "2007-09-03T02:55:32Z")
If the opposite of [wide & flat](http://www.thepeoplescube.com/images/Soviet_Army_General_Hat.jpg) is tall & pointy, then [the Commies had that distinction, too](http://russianlegacy.com/catalog/images/hats/SH025.jpg) Devious bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549/52 "2007-09-04T04:10:57Z")
Some of the links are dead now, unfortunately, but this thread may be of interest: [The silliest military hat. - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342555) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-uniforms-do-you-think-are-obsolete/417549.md?page=2)