Pride or Brag Jackets

[rhwestfall]

I liked the one Richie Kohler had. Looked like a MC jacket. Great picture of it in "The Last Dive".

 

[Akimbo]

I suspect the club jackets are all in the dust of early recreational dive history

Nothing stays the same and styles often return. I suspect that the patches and decals will cycle in and out of favor over time. I believe the human tendency to seek recognition is a permanent part of our nature.

Rotary phones will never return because they are less functional. Style is not function.

 

[rhwestfall]

Rotary phones will never return because they are less functional. Style is not function.

My daughter keeps trying to get me to wire one in on the house phone line....

 

[Jcp2]

Patch jackets in general were in style circa Top Gun. Top Gun II is filming now...

 

[Sam Miller III]

Top gun was about USN Airedales...the military has had patches to identify organizations.

The subject is dive patches worn by people who dive now and in the genesis of diving

Most have disappeared -- both the people who wore them and the organizations

Where have then gone??

SDM .

 

[rhwestfall]

@Sam Miller III - Know anything of the "Chicken of The Sea" dive club? I came across a patch a few years ago, and just had to have it....

 

[Sam Miller III]

Chicken of the sea
Was a early California dive club -- recall the patch and a number of members

As I RECALL were located in north LA county and possibly sponsored by Jim Ab???'s dive shop

Best I can do with out researching my files -- which are currently packed away or in great disorder

Never the less a great find and a true artifact of the golden years of dive clubs and dive patches

Sam Miller, III

(cold back there ? Sunny and warm here in Cancal )

 

[WeRtheOcean]

I think patch jackets slowly disappeared because of the changes in the participants and changes in attitudes. Just like Sam and Akimbo stated, patches transferred over from the military and many young and adventurous divers were ex military guys. Bravado and macho were something to be proud of then and not seen as immature, dangerous, or silly.
...
On the other end, tech diving really downplays testosterone driven machismo and heavily recommends people examine exactly why they are motivated to tech dive before they even start. They are advised to proceed with a perfectly neutral attitude and pay close attention to their ego awareness level. Ego and macho have no place in diving anymore.

Perhaps so, but even as the military has also downplayed [unnecessary] bravado, they have not moved away from patches. I still wear my utility jacket, with my ship's insignia patch on one breast, and my Shellback patch on the other. Some of the Old Guard don't think today's Shellbacks are real Shellbacks, because the initiation has been somewhat toned down; but I figure, the Navy did not detail them to decide who is a Shellback. I don't really see a necessary connection between patches and bravado or macho. A patch can represent any sort of noteworthy achievement.

 

[kelemvor]

Patch jackets in general were in style circa Top Gun. Top Gun II is filming now...

I hope they don't **** it up. Hollywood has a record of ruining great movies with horrible sequels/remakes. (point break, ghostbusters, karate kid, etc etc etc).

 

[Neptune Warrior]

Sam and others thank you so much for the responses...a wonderful history lesson. I searched up and down the internet and found nothing on the subject.
As I said we are reviving club jackets in Neptune Warrior. I work with vets and already have quite a collection of patches and decals.
I dropped of the jacket to build a prototype and worked with a vendor for purchasing the jackets and another to build the patches. We will see club jackets return here in Idaho!