Talking about the card board in this topic, made me think about this.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/272621-hot-weather-field-cap-1967-for-4-bucks/&do=findComment&comment=2194326

 

 

Hey any of you guys who where in the Army in those days with the OGs were worn remember the method of taking thick-ish, (not overly thick) card board, cutting it to a certain size in height and width, and then taping them to make what essentially was a cylinder and then putting them above the boots and then with a blousing rubber blouse the boot to make bottom of the pants round. I did it did sometimes, did any of you?

I did it sometimes, I think I taped a row of pennies on the bottoms to keep them weighted down too.

I did it sometimes, I think I taped a row of pennies on the bottoms to keep them weighted down too.

Yeah those who did do it, got the idea from Drill Sergeants, it was they who I at least first saw doing this.

Here's two 1960s examples of what we're talking about, note the cylinder like appearance of the bloused boots, in the bottom one we see the Drill Sergeants too have affected this. As we also see, it was done by those wearing Class As and Khakis as well as fatiques, in this case normally Paratrooper, MPs too no doubt, but here in these two cases, by troops who bloused their boots while in these uniforms for a special occasion.

 

I did it sometimes, I think I taped a row of pennies on the bottoms to keep them weighted down too.

 

A buddy of mine dd the same.H mentioned the pennies too.

 

He said he had uniforms he bought that only hung in his wall locker for inspections he never wore.lso bought a set of new gear for inspection h didnt wear this was late 80s or early 90s.He ended up in Korea.

Great topic patches..

 

In Berlin we had similar techniques with the cardboard, but we also used linoleum floor tile strips that were cut and tacked together..

 

Here is a picture of me getting ready for a parade in Berlin in the 80's. My pants were bloused with the rolled tile..

 

Leigh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Used cardboard and also a roll of light chain, covered with 100 mph tape. Also remember the blousing rubbers cutting in to your legs.

Yeah I remember people doing that with the cardboard to give the "cylinder" look, but as I recall, by about the late 1980's the style had shifted to the more "peg-leg" look where we'd wrap the lower portion of our BDUs to our legs and then secure it either with masking tape or with an elastic/velcro strip that was sold for that specific purpose.

 

I remember there being an issue with "single wrap" (i.e. wrapping all the excess material one way) vs. "double wrap" (grabbing the excess from both the left and the right side and then wrapping it to the rear before securing with the strap.) Supposedly "single wrap" was a no-go but "double wrap" was OK.

 

I actually wore my BDUs/DCUs and class A's (When I was in an SF Battalion) with a strap like that until I retired in 2005.

Never used cardboard, but when I was a Drill Sergeant, c. 1968, I -- as did several others -- used cans from the Mess Hall: I think they were Number 10's, had been well-cleaned and had both ends cut off (duh, well, yeah). Then we put masking tape all around the cut off ends to prevent any sharp edges from cutting us.

 

Worked really well ... but, we used to joke that if we got caught in a sudden rain storm we'd be rusted up solid just like the Tin Man!

It's kind of funny how there can be "style trends" in the military just like there are in the fashion world. When the BDU first came out I remember people would sometimes wear stiffeners in the BDU cap to make it look "sharp" and have stright sides with no sagging. In fact, I recall that the US Cavalry Store and other military vendors sold a plastic mesh insert that sat inside the earflaps to keep the sides of the cap straight.

 

But then by the late 80's/early 90's the "stiff" hat look was out and the "ranger roll" was in, to the point where some commands had to actually issue order prohibiting the rolling of the BDU cap.

I never used the cardboard but I saw it done. I did the single rap method (as mentioned by martinjmpr) and regular blousing rubbers.

 

As for the hat, I just wet mine and set it over a coffee can to dry. That worked pretty well. I had an officer complain that my hat looked better than his.

 

There was a Sgt I served with in Germany who fixed his cap sort of like a CW kepi. I thought it looked rather cool but didn't want to draw attention to myself...

Jump School Blackhats used cardboard wrapped in 100mph tape. The tape added weight and in the Ft,Benning heat the cardboard was protected from getting wet with sweat and collapsing.

The black baseball caps were also blocked with cardboard.

BUMP

The Ken Nolan Co in CA made Velcro vinyl weighted ones too.  By the mid 90s the trends I saw was “peg legging” your trousers inside the boot. Some even got the lower legs tailored like riding pants so as to be super snug from the calf down.  I always cut the silly strings off the bottom of the pants too. 
Elastic blousing bands over the top of the boot was way more comfortable and that seems to be the trend now as well although they seen to be lower on the boot now, being around the ankle. 

Ft Benning Friday 17 Dec 2021.  My sons graduation from Master Gunner (M2) School. All are NCO from Infantry units Army wide.  Rolled caps is still a thing too. 42% fail rate in this graduating class.  ADA Master Gunner is around 60% fail rate. 
Most in this pix are wearing the lightweight hot weather uniform.  The badges were just awarded, one is already wearing the sew on version…

Korean War Era Blousing Chains

 

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