The 100% Cotton ABUs are now available from the Propper site and will also be sold by distributors shortly. There has been a lot of requests for these from folks who are required to wear fire-retardant material such as electricians and firefighters.

These are not permanent press. They do, however, have NIR technology and are much more breathable than the milspec-issue 50/50 NYCO.

outstanding, finally can start wearing ABU's!!!!YEAH!!!!! no it has become a pain in the butt to find cotton BDU's let alone stripes,etc so this is a good thing. Guess I'll wait for the squadron to hook me up with the initial issue. Some folks were thinking we were getting those new combat ABU's with the slank pockets, but I was very skeptical since the AF had rules about that not being a "garrison" uniform

So the 100% cotton will be lighter and will be required to be ironed?

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
So the 100% cotton will be lighter and will be required to be ironed?

You wont see an iron get within 10ft of mine !!!!!

haha I have 12 sets of ABUs... I wont be ironing mine anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
haha I have 12 sets of ABUs... I wont be ironing mine anytime soon.

12 sets!!!! all issued or did you go on a shopping spree for ABU's. THERE ALL MINE!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by PowerProRanger01:

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
haha I have 12 sets of ABUs... I wont be ironing mine anytime soon.

12 sets!!!! all issued or did you go on a shopping spree for ABU's. THERE ALL MINE!!!!

No kidding!

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
haha I have 12 sets of ABUs... I wont be ironing mine anytime soon.

Dang, cheese! No wonder we can't find any uniforms!

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
So the 100% cotton will be lighter and will be required to be ironed?

Yes, it will be lighter and more breathable but this is not the "lighter" ABU the AF is considering. That is still a 50/50 NYCO but with a lighter version of the fabric.

As far as permanent press, there were concerns about the long-term tensile strength of the fabric being affected even though tests did not seem to indicate any problems. To be on the safe side and to make sure the garment would be as long-lasting as possible, they decided to drop the PP application. So yes, you may need to do a bit of ironing. Of course, with 100% cotton, cold water washing is recommended to minimize fading.

Hold off folks. The 100% cotton ABU’s are a safety item issued to certain career fields as PPE. Those include electrical, power pro, fire fighters and EOD to name a few. There may be others. These are considered a safety item per OSHA article 1910 (same as the EH rated boots!). Because they are new and because they are in short supply they will be issued to deplorers first and then the rest of us. Since they are PPE they are free except for the sewing on of the stripes, name tape and AFS badge. The 100% ABU (minus the rank/name tag/AFS badge) is actually lighter then the proposed new ABU. I own a set and they feel like pajamas. They are light weight and comfortable. They also are not as durable. I don’t iron mine but I can already see the tell tale signs of wear and tear. It’s like your favorite t-shirt that you wear all the time, eventually it wears out. I am for this corrective uniform for the ABU because it is an added level of safety. I hope more are available.

Thanks for sharing CB and Bad...

quote:

Originally posted by TheMadOne:

quote:

Originally posted by lovecheese45:
haha I have 12 sets of ABUs... I wont be ironing mine anytime soon.

Dang, cheese! No wonder we can't find any uniforms!

YEAH! Cheese has all of them! I bet you took a bunch of APECS jackets too!

quote:

Originally posted by BadBender:
Hold off folks. The 100% cotton ABU’s are a safety item issued to certain career fields as PPE. Those include electrical, power pro, fire fighters and EOD to name a few. There may be others. These are considered a safety item per OSHA article 1910 (same as the EH rated boots!). Because they are new and because they are in short supply they will be issued to deplorers first and then the rest of us. Since they are PPE they are free except for the sewing on of the stripes, name tape and AFS badge. The 100% ABU (minus the rank/name tag/AFS badge) is actually lighter then the proposed new ABU. I own a set and they feel like pajamas. They are light weight and comfortable. They also are not as durable. I don’t iron mine but I can already see the tell tale signs of wear and tear. It’s like your favorite t-shirt that you wear all the time, eventually it wears out. I am for this corrective uniform for the ABU because it is an added level of safety. I hope more are available.

basically the same as the 100% cotton BDU which lasts about 6 months. After almost 2 years of being required to wear them I've went through 5-6 pairs and now wear a mix of cotton and 50/50 since they are hard to find. I find it kinda weird that they are just coming out with the 100% cotton after folks that have been in electrical careerfields,etc have been deploying with the normal ABU/DCU for awhile now even after incidents of arc flash that occured at homestations. I understand EOD,fire,and folks that are rolling convoys-hence the combat shirt,ABU-G whatever its called but its just another waste of money especially if the uniform cant stand up to normal wear and tear

Yes, basically the same as the cotton BDU. It's the nylon in the regular BDU and ABU that makes it last long but it's that same nylon that will melt to your skin in an arc flash. The long over due issue of this required safety item is typical for the Air Force and government in general. Instead of being proactive it is reactive. Fortunately it is a free item we can get.

*Don't let your bosses tell you they don't have money for it either, they have money for silly stuff all year long. When one of my bosses told me we had no money I wrote a nice letter for them to sign stating that they acknowledge they are not willing to purchase required safety equipment and that they are in violation of UFC 560, 520, OSHA 1910 and other numerous laws and regulations. They also will be held responsible and liable if any injury should occur to a worker. I told them no work could happen until we had the safety equipment or they signed the letter. A quick check with base legal told them I was right and we got the stuff we needed. After that I might have been hated but we always got what we needed for the job.

That's great. I have found a dry cleaners that will launder and iron (heavy starch) for 3$. Look sharp people.

quote:

Originally posted by Tracon81:
Look sharp people.

NOT what I wanted to hear, lol...I'm enjoying the LAZY non-iron and non-boot shine ride...Hopefully it will be a long ride, not a short one...

When we came out with these, we talk to some folks in the AF who indicated that a cap wouldn't be necessary since service members requiring 100% cotton for their application would likely be wearing helmets, or their standard 50/50 NYCO Cap.

For those of you who have gotten these (or are thinking about it), would you like to see a 100% Cotton ABU Utility Cap to go along with them?

Just throwing that out for comments since we've had a few calls asking about that.

I am wearing the ripstops...love 'em! Would love a patrol cap in cotton too.

Still wondering how long the will last, havent punished them yet...

quote:

Originally posted by cbeaudry:
The 100% Cotton ABUs are now available from the Propper site and will also be sold by distributors shortly. There has been a lot of requests for these from folks who are required to wear fire-retardant material such as electricians and firefighters.

These are not permanent press. They do, however, have NIR technology and are much more breathable than the milspec-issue 50/50 NYCO.

I actaully pushed the idea to the CSAF. He liked it and gave me a 100 million dollar bonus. I gave 75 million to charity and the rest towards retirement.

The Rip Stop BDU's were the bomb...those were the days!!!