For some reason it seems to bug the reservists who have never been further than Borden or Pet the most....why is that. I know MANY combat vets who have been shot at and yet THEY never seem to have a problem with it.

exactly - come on folks, we dress up as military personnel, many of us obviously are not, and run around shooting eachother with toy guns;including the fact that airsoft is NOT kosher to the public eye. None of us in our right minds wear our kit around neighbourhoods, malls, busy urban areas, and whathaveyou. What does it matter if you wear JTF2 on your make-believe costume on saturdays? Yes, you are miss-representing yourself to the few people that understand why you would subject yourself to being shot at for fun. Im sure THOSE are the people that would have a problem with you wearing an insignia....right? point being, when you dress up in private and dont wear your BDU in public, so what if other airsofters dont agree with it - theyre wearing uniforms that THEY are missrepresenting themselves in too.(majority) And those of you who HAVE earned them. <thumbsup> I earned a driver's license. weee

i agree with MM n S_L. its all make belive on the wkend.

Rule of thumb I use when wearing my play clothes on the way to or from a field is take off any rank I wear and my nametape.(I dont wear my playclothes any other times) Usually toss a jacket over my clothes too and minimize the impression of looking like a soldier. Since wearing camo is in **BARFstyleGAG** by many people these days. these attempts to minimize my appearance as anything military are concious and in courtesy to those who have fought and died for our freedoms that many take for granted and to "blend" in.

pardon any above spelling/grammar errors...sleepy and contacts are fuzzy from being in too long. :)

Sorry...I don't judge a book by it's cover.

If you've seen pictures of my combats, you may have noticed some rank slides that you won't see normally. Reason being, I earned them as a Sea Cadet. I wear my combats for cadets and for airsofting. So all my badges are either issued or earned through training.

No one can get mad at me :grin:

I once thought "oh won't it be cool to wear unearned insigna", but now i think its just an ego rush.

I am thinking i rather put on an Stargate patch (http://image.inkfrog.com/pix/Wrestli...Prometheus.jpg) or a Resident evil patch http://gwk2008.com/starspolice.jpg to remind myself (and others) airsoft is a game after all and not to take myself too too seriously just because "i wear swat clothes and walk around with a gun that shoots plastic bb's"

to each their own...

Doesn't bug me one bit.

If I start getting upset at guys wearing surplus stuff they didn't "earn" then I need a vacation badly!!

What people think is cool is up to them, not for me to decide for them.

To clarify. If i wore real insigna then i would feel i did it as an ego thing. If i see others wear insignas, I would not judge them over "choice of fashion" lol. Only things i judge other airsofters on is thier behaviour towards others and how well they play (shoot)."
and yes i would also love a holiday, that would be grand.

Let ME Clarify
 

Perhaps my post was mis interpreted, let me clarify..

You can wear whatever you like, where ever you like. It's a free country.

But if someone walks up to you and asks to shake your hand because they see a medal pinned to your chest you bought at Nick's Army Surplus..

YOU LOOK SHEEPISH AND TELL THEM YOU DRESS UP LIKE THIS TO HAVE FUN AND HAVEN'T SEEN A DAY OF COMBAT IN YOUR LIFE.

I wear camo, and hope to wear privates bars with Wolfpack soon.

Actors? We expect them to lie, like polititians, it's their job. Holloweeners and Military re-Enactors? It's part of a hobby. Worn with respect, there is no issue.

But if you stand there with your $2.50 mail order purple hart knock off and explain to someone how you got it in "the 'Nam", you deserve to get your fucking balls cut off.

I dress up in uniform and run around with a gun because I want to have fun. But I never forget the folks who do it for real, or make myself out to be one.

Blackthorne OUT

yeah that is an extreme example, but i think most airsofters would never wear actual army medals and try to BS. I am talking about wearing armpatches that say "SWAT" or "police" etc. I don't think rank insignas are a big deal either.

When i first saw a group of pseudo swat ppl with the guns out i was intimidated because i am a newbie, but i said wait a sec this is airsoft, then I was able to relax a bit and focus more on shooting.

although i do approve of hotties dressing up as policewoman or in army clothes.
http://images.searchextreme.com/covers/1000003778.jpg

If it's on priviate land it's not a problem (as long as everyone is ok with it) as well most people dont have a problem wearing ranks and such if it's representing a different country (east german, 101st airborne, russia...) as long as it's not current canadian Canadian ranks with current Canadian Cadpat.

P.S I didnt read every post in this thread so if I ansewered a question based on someone elses answer...Sorry

Erik

Leave Affleck alone man, Affleck was THE BOMB in Phantoms.

At any rate, I have nothing new to say in this thread that hasn't already been said. Don't wear bars unless the scenario calls for them, and don't wear unit insignia unless you are prepared to show respect by *researching* the unit and know it's history. Proper knowledge will separate a re-enactor from a punk.

I personally have three unit patches for my Vietnam kit that I've taken off various articles of clothing, simply because I do not yet feel comfortable enough in my knowledge of them to qualify as a true re-enactor. Frig, I'm still learning the finer points of Vietnam life in general.

i dont think i've ever gone to a game assuming any of the medals/badges were actually earned, that's a pretty unreasonable thing to do at an event where people play soldier. the only ranks you ever really see are just for structure within different teams or just to complete a uniform. it's a game of dressup.
anyway, you can kiss my 1st cavalry master sergeant ass at the next game, recruit :P.