Well, not exactly. But close enough:
Laundry instructions for the (USAF) Airman Battle Uniform specify not using any laundry detergents that contain “optical brighteners.” Optical Brighteners make the ABU more detectable by night vision equipment and make the ABU more visible in a low-light environment of any kind, by reflecting more of any available light, according to a talking paper posted on the Air Force Uniform and Recognition Programs page on the Air Force Portal.
Optical brighteners are chemicals that absorb the ultraviolet and violet region of colors in a fabric. They “trick” the eye into seeing a brighter shade and reflect more light. The Near Infrared, or nIR, capability of the ABU is degraded when washed with optical brighteners.
Most commercial detergents contain optical brighteners. There is no way to tell whether a product has optical brighteners alone by the labeling. Impact of optical brighteners is permanent; it cannot be “washed out.”
This is unfortunately all too typical. What a mess.
(H/T to SJBill for the link)
So if the lights go out in the $10,000,000 Airman’s club on base, they will still be able to find each other?
N
No worries, down in grunt world, when they trot out the field laundry unit, you’re lucky if they chuck a bar of soap in the machine stuffed to the gunnels.
Reminds me of the limerick:
There once was a man from Australia,
Who painted his ass like a dahlia.
The color was fine,
Likewise the design,
But the aroma, ooooooo, what a failure.
Twenty-years ago, they were promising a field unit that would microwave your skivvies in minutes. Wonder whatever happened to that?
Clearly a conspiracy between Procter & Gamble and the Pentagon to corner the “Military Battledress Segment” of the US detergent market…its all demographics.
Same rule for the new Army ACU’s as well – no optical brighteners. Same reason I suppose.
Cap’n,
I know this thread is about the USAF, but WHY does the Navy need cammies in the first place?
Senior-
Better to blend in when you fall overboard?
My MARPAT boonie that I use for camping and canoeing (compliments of an active duty buddy out of Pendleton) has the same caveat on the tag…
My MARPAT boonie that I use for camping and canoeing (compliments of an active duty buddy out of Pendleton) has the same caveat on the tag…
Ditto on Army ACUs, I believe.
Meaning no disrespect to our Military, either active-duty or Veteran, but one thought does pop into mind:
Maybe the Military is considering conducting war games in a field of Irises……in Holland……in the spring……perhaps.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
Sim,
We DO NOT fall overboard. We merely perform the annual PMS check to make sure the water line is faked properly.
PMS?!? You guys have PMS too?!?
Wow, who’s a thunk it?
Of course, in our house, when we had a teen-age girl, PMS stood for Poor-Me Syndrome.
Nyuk, nyuk.
(sorry ~ it snuck out and I couldn’t help myself … off to corner to be quiet now …)
What SeniorD said….besides which, Seabees need to blend in at the club, right?
Why not be sure that the bad guys / bad countries get that kind of detergent ??
I don’t know why the Navy would need camo, but I will say that I have always found the extra pockets to be very useful.
What’s the matter with glow-in-the-dark commies?
For washing my hunting garb, I have a product called SportWash by Sno-Seal (if I recall correctly I obtained it from Popular Outfitters). The label states, “KEEPS CAMO, BLAZE ORANGE AND ALL HUNTING WEAR FREE OF U.V. BRIGHTNER (sic) AND SCENT. It is specifically designed for this issue because dear & elk have vision ranges which extend further into the high violet/ultraviolet area of the spectrum. Meaning that if you use normal laundry detergent (almost all commercial laundry detergents use UV brighteners) during low light conditionals, like dawn and dusk (the prime hunting times), in the prey’s vision you will tend to glow. These products are easily available from any hunting/outdoor outfitter but due to the limited sales market they’re really expensive; which is ironic since their principal appeal is that they don’t include something. I’ve always suspected that some equally good product is available from some company (like Amway) at a more reasonable price, but I’ve never taken the time to research it.
And, P-3W, we had PMS long before we had woman aboard ships…now I guess the sailors have (PMS)2 to deal with….
I’ll also say in 1973, in the after fireroom, aft of a boiler, standing over a big pump (purpose long forgotten) on an unnamed GEARING Class DD, I had my first PMS close encounter…Boy, was it HOT!
Just a small question here, all you Navy types. This US Navy group is quite a large body of people, all told. And every man jack of them has quite a few uniforms of various sorts. So that’s a lot of clothes. It would seem practical, if this ‘optical brighteners’ problem is so widespread, that the Navy capture [well, maybe not capture, but negotiate with] a detergent manufacturer who could manufacture a detergent for the Navy uniforms which wouldn’t contain optical brighteners, and then make said detergent available on Navy bases and supply depots, and make considerable money doing so. If the boxes containing said detergent showed a pretty girl in a cammo bikini on the front, I’ll bet it would sell like hotcakes.
Problem solved, hmmm?
Marianne Matthews
P-3W –
Know whereof you speak. I was trapped in a household of four (4) females. When the Daughters 3 reached ‘that age’ Dad quietly disappeared for between 7 to 10 days.
“If the boxes containing said detergent showed a pretty girl in a cammo bikini on the front, I’ll bet it would sell like hotcakes.”
LOL
I believe you’ve solved the problem, Marianne.
Perhaps the JCS shall issue some sort of citation your way.
Hmmm, SeniorD, smart man! We were in the unfortunate position of embarking on a camping trip with the young gel to Glacier Park and she soooo didn’t want to go with us. SNO got to stay home (since he had to go to work and feed the cats) and she never did understand that those three years between them actually made a difference in how we treated them! Her nose was so bent out of joint for the first day that she was smelling sideways.
We ended up having a terrific time — toured all the parking lots searching for all 50 state and Canadian Province license plates at every opportunity and I think we found them. Even a trailer from Hawaii.
But PMS for Poor Me Syndrome stuck in our house when someone got the whingies. Made the boy straighten up a little quicker when we pegged him with it.
Too easy – check out the laundry products sold at any ‘natural’ or ‘health food’ store. The manufacturers specifically list that they do not contain optical brighteners. For example, the “Ecover” brand touts that their products don’t contain optical brighteners, and the “Seventh Generation” brands don’t contain optical brighteners either.
Guess the zoomies now won’t have to wear those wide reflective fashion belts when walking around the base after dark.
Just wear your ABUs for that “deer in the headlights look”…
I’ve got 4 poopie suits (that run ~$50 each once you’re done getting all the bells and whistles sewn on) that demonstrate why the Navy needs cammies.
Unfortunately it means that we no longer have to iron our working uniforms, because those of us who keep the rods up, the shafts spinning, the planes flying, and our steel home from dissolving into the ocean have nothing better to do than put a hot rock on the clothes we’re going to work in.
This “screw-up” actually counters the best argument against the cammies: All we have to do is wash our uniforms with optical brighteners and give the SAR guys near-IR nightvision. I’m pretty sure even a flight crew can manage to find the glowing thing in the ocean.
I attended the “Train the Trainer” class on how to care for the Army’s ACU uniforms… and after reading the list over carefully of the ingredients that the detergent should not carry, I was able to find TWO that could be purchased in any local store.
I can’t remember what they are now, because all of us stopped caring quite a while ago… since whilst deployed we turn our laundry in to the launderers and they washed it in whatever was cheaply sold to the govment anyway.
I just wanted to add as well that we’re also not supposed to use fabric softener, of any sort. None in the detergent and none at all in the sheet type.
If the Army really was concerned about such things, they should have done what they do with every other issue in the military… dummed it down… sold only one type of detergent in the PX, or have been more sensible with the uniforms to begin with.
I am wanting to know how I can tell if my camo glowes in the low light conditions for hunting purposes. I tried a black light and not satisfied.