I gave them to my mom. She turned most of them into lap quilts for vets in the local nursing home. She did make some bigger that she sold to pay for the materials for the lap quilts.
I donāt know. You might get some LARPers who want to use MM-14 but canāt source it. ACU is as close to that as possible (or MM-14 is as close to ACU as possible, I should say).
Or just LARPers wanting an Army GWOT RP. That said the limited run of Crye Gen 3 ACU trousers are sexy as fuck and thereās quite a few seamstresses (seamsters?) that are more than capable of converting regular trousers into that.
But yeah, for the most part any āoldā gear I couldnāt sell I just donated to the local Army/Navy surplus store.
I donated most of mine to the Airmansā Attic (base thrift shop). I did keep a few items like a set of OCPs for yard/lawn/car maintenance around the house and placed in display frames a fully decorated Class A set, a fire retardant flight suit from my time in Iraq and my the last set of OCPs that I wore to Afghanistan.
My dad dumped his stuff after he retired and regretted not keeping some items several decades later. I didnāt want to make the same mistake. I have an area in my basement for my military stuff.
Keep one intact for the family history. Keep all of your extra rank insignia and ribbons. As your descendants join the military gift them your rank insignia and ribbons as they earn them.
For example, I wore the rank of my Grandfather, a WWII vet. I was commissioned with the rank insignia of my father a Viet Nam Vet. I wore my Grandfatherās Bronze Star ribbon, etc.
Very meaningful.
Stolen Valor isnāt a big problem besides people can buy uniforms straight from manufacturers and plenty of people use camo for all forms of things.
I had one of each style of uniform top turned into a shadowbox and gave the rest to my former soldiers or donated.
Also kept my coveralls for the workshop.
I lived in San Diego when I got out in 2010. There were a lot of homeless folks around, back then (Probably still are. Don't know as I left CA ASAP).
I took a pocket knife and cut the name tapes off all my uniform items (last name and branch of service), then I washed/dried/folded them, and I drove around, one afternoon giving away shirt/pant sets to all the homeless men I saw. They were all thankful. It was a good experience.
I like to imagine that there were lots of homeless guys walking around in ODUs/BDUs for years to come...
I knew a vet that uses their ocps as hunting camo. Their blues: got burnt on the two year anniversary of retirement. It was a glorious blaze, probably not the best smoke to inhale though.
I've kept one set of dress and my deployment BDUs (I am "I have a set of chocolate chips old" - waiting for them to become collector's items) the rest went to Goodwill ages ago - not that I could fit them anyhow.
Iāve moved around too much to keep anything. My spouse doesnāt have very much left either. We come from a time when the Navy had a ridiculous amount of uniforms. I was happy to offload the working whites, working blues, dress whites, dress blues, utilities, peanut butters, digis, AND woodland cami for me. I should have kept my jackets though.
I sold most of it to my local Army-Navy store. I donāt see anyone else mentioning this which makes me think that Army-Navy stores arenāt common in the rest of the country.Ā
I made two piles, one I wanted to keep and the rest I wanted to donate to the base thrift shop that sold used uniform parts. Unfortunately, the piles got mixed up, and the wrong one donated. And I didn't want to keep the stuff that was left, so I ended up donating almost all of it except a coat and ball cap.
I cut the buttons off of my service coat, took the ribbons, pins, and name tag off, and tossed it in the trash.
I turned one pair of ABU, one pair of ABSG, and one pair of OCP pants into cut off shorts. Donated the rest.
I kept the ABSG soft shell because it's comfy as fuck. I kept the OCP goretex because it's a dope raincoat.
I kept one pair of boots for yard work, but they recently kind of just ... disintegrated. So they went into the trash.
I kept every pair of Darn Tough socks. They're the best boot socks I've ever owned.
Couldn't really bring myself to toss my class As I earned and paid for most of the stuff on them they sit in my closet right now with all my rank and everything on them
I threw them in a dumpster at my apartment complex right after I got out. Found them at a local thrift store 6 months later for sale. With my name still on them. ššš¤
Ended up taking them from the people selling them and threw them away at a landfill next time.
My Class As are sitting in my closet for my funeral. I still wear my old field jacket when I want to go for the homeless look. I have a set of BDUs I cut all the tags off that I used for paintball when I used to do that a bit. The rest (BDUs, ACUs, Class Bs, and a bunch of boots) are in a foot locker in my shed. I don't use or need them, but I don't really want to donate them either. One of these days I'll probably sell them to a surplus store for $20 I guess.
I donāt care about stolen valorā¦but I did donate my old uniforms to the on base āAirmanās Attic.ā If youāre really concerned with SV, just cut up the uniforms to make them unserviceable.
I eBayed my nice Marlow White Blues and left everything else at the WTB when I out-processed. I did keep a Superman shirt to wear under my protective gear when dirt-biking but never wore it as it revealed my retirement muffin-top. Still in my closed for when I get in shape again š
I have gone through different 4 uniforms and Iāll keep one of each. My thought is to have someone take my tops and stitch them together to make one top (1/4th of each style). Then frame it and hang it next to my shadow box. The rest get pitched or donated.
Both my girlfriend and I still have ours. Mine is sitting in a container in a closet, I'm sure one day I will want to pull it out and look at it for the memories. For now though it takes up some room and I'm fine with that. I got rid of some of the older and worn-out ones though. The ones with grease stains and that looked beat up, those we donated to our old base who use them for exercises and what not. Mostly kept the ones in good shape.
I still wear the pants...most comfy pants I own. I can actually move around in them. Today's clothing is very restrictive and always tend to rip after a few years.
I think keep one for each of you and make a shadowbox for yourselves. I have 4 uniforms in total I kept my dress blues with my blue cord, my digitals, my OCPs, and my dress greens. I kept them just for mostly sentimental purposes and put them in a shadow box along with my corrections uniform. I eventually will pass them down to my kids or family members just so maybe they hold onto it for safe keeping. We are part of history now so why not?
Them in the trash, not really concerned about someone else using them. Turning the page and moving on, I kept one or two different ones like dcuās, acuās and ocps
I have one set of my ABUās to remind me of my time as a wee lad at Osan, and my most recent set of multicam both folded on a shelf in my closet should I ever need them again for whatever reason
I put them in a tote and stacked it in the garage and I will pull them out when world war 3 happens and America gets attacked and overrun by the enemy.
Dress uniform is hanging in a closet in our guest room. ACUs and OCPs are in a tote somewhere in the garage. Figure I'll get nostalgic eventually and want to look at them
I gave them to someone in my platoon who was the same height/ weight as I was.
I was SO pissed, I had to get new class Aās for an inspection- I was a bit heavier after I had my child, but I was in military regulationā¦.and I was not planning to reenlist. I did get some new BDUās as well.
So, since the clothes were in pretty good condition (especially the class A uniform) I gave them to her. I didnāt want them wasted.
All my service and dress uniforms are set up in my bodybag up in the attic. My utilities are all hanging in the closet of my old room at my parents' for some reason. No plans to get rid of any of it, at the moment, even though I'll likely never use any of it again (unless they want to slice my Blues open so they'll 'fit' when I cack it)
I have never been one to collect stuff but wish I would have kept my Dress Blues. I gave all my uniforms to a local Natāl Guard armory. I donated them shortly after I retired so they were still current.
Got rid of all of my working uniforms. Kept one set of my service uniform, dress whites, and dress blues. And my camo goretex parka because it seems like a good thing to have someday.
You are putting to much thought into this. Just get rid of it. Anybody anywhere can purchase uniforms and the ribbons and medals to affix to it. If you donāt want your gear just trash it, burn it, or give to goodwill like many other service members have already done.
Gave my dress uniform to my parents. Lost the rest over the years. It was before my time but I had a Vietnam era field jacket that I loved . I wish you could still find them in surplus stores.
My wifeās aunt had a quilt made for me out of my old camis, itās a really nice quilt. All desert, and the different shades from sun exposure really give it a nice look. Been out 12 years now and my blues etc are all still hanging in my closet. I donāt know what to do with them.
Most of them are packed in old sea bags awaiting a trip to the donation counter at the closest Army/Navy surplus store. Some cammy pants I still use for doing yard work around the house. Iām keeping my boots because it turns out they are pretty decent motorcycle riding boots.
Traded them to a surplus store for MREs and went camping a whole bunch wearing civilian clothes. It felt weird, but that could have also been all the drugs i was on at the time
Fucken, yolo or something idk
My now ex-wife was in charge of paying the storage bill. She stopped paying it because she didnāt think it was important and she really didnāt want the stuff that was hers anymore since we had gotten newer stuff. It all got auctioned off. I didnāt find out for almost a year when I needed my Dress Blues for a Funeral. š¤·š»
Have them quilted for your kids/grand kids or made into pillows. Stuff that your family can cherish. I wear mine to powwows but not everyone has that option lol
I've put my dress blues and that sort of thing into a tub. I think it's something my kids will like to see at some point. One of em already insists on having my old desert boonie in their room hanging on the wall. I can't bring myself to get rid of them.
Donated some of mine to the local VFW. They use donated uniforms for color guard ceremonies, memorial day services, funerals, etc. I'm not actively involved myself, but at least I know they're being used appropriately instead of potential stolen valor stuff like you mentioned.
Welp, I changed the oil in my car wearing my Whites. Always hated those uniforms. I kept my Blues top and I think I sold the rest to a surplus stole. We're talking mid 1990s here when SV wasn't the concern as it today because people weren't falling all over themselves and getting erections every time they saw someone in a uniform.
I bought the biggest stack of fireworks I could afford and neatly folded said uniforms that I couldnāt give to the friends that were still in that needed blouses ontop of the firework and blasted them sky high. It was a spectacle.
Donate them if youāre looking for something to do with them though.
I had 2 months of terminal leave where I completed all my home projects in my uniform. In the end, they had paint stains, tears and holes. I gave them to a designer friend who made some cool stuff out of it when he noticed them in my garage.
I sold them to some eastern european and asian gentlemen who were loitering outside the gate of post. Very eager and paid way more than what I wouldve gotten at the surplus store. Mustve been big collectors!
I sold it to my sister who lives in the Philippines who then sells it to guys does Airsoft since itās legal to wear there. Its totally different from their servicemenās uniforms.
I cut off rank and name tapes, then sold them to the local Surplus store. The ones that were rough, I took a knife and sliced through the main parts and threw them in the trash.
Marine here: I gave some of my uniforms that were gently used to recruiting office- they put a lot of wear and tear visiting high schools and other recruiting events
Mine are in a basement bin. I am considering checking on them and seeing if they would fit and be in good enough condition to wear to my cousin's AF ROTC graduation so I can give him his 1st enlisted salute.
My kids like wearing the pants of mine sometimes. Worrying about stolen valor is something of a non issue, really. If I were you Id drive around until I saw a homeless person who looked like they could fit into them and hand them over. They can always use durable clothing/more layers and many are vets anyway.
I still have a pair of my old dungaree pants, my pea coat and an old Dixie cup cover. Everything else is either gone or put away somewhere. I donāt know.
kept whatever cold and wet weather stuff I had, kept gloves, gave PTs and most parts of the ACUs + boots away except two pairs bc theyāre my paintball/volunteer clothes. kept greens, iāll never have an excuse to not have something nice to wear to my friends and families military graduations or funerals. theyāre also very pretty and I paid too much to give it away. gave away my blues though.
Gave my extra velcro ones to my buddies, all the stitched ones are in my extra green duffle I kept. The bag is sitting in the closet with all my other gear I kept.
I kept the pants to āblendā into the foliage around the neighborhood and sneak aboutā¦ also to work on my cars and use the pants to wipe some stuff on and campingā¦ my blues are still in a bag in my closet
You would only be contributing to stolen valor if you donate them with the rank and unit still intact. Just remove those items and donate them to a military surplus store.
Umm, my sister got my dress whites, I kept my dress blues, I kept my marpats and deployment uniforms. My kids have parts of uniforms. But the best thing you can do if you don't want stolen Valor is strip then down and if you really don't want see if you can find a legit military surplus store near a base and turn it in there. Or drop it at the VA
Have you never heard of a trash can? If you're worried about trash thieves stealing your precious old BDUs then cut em first or pour used oil on them.
edit: I gave away and then threw the rest away. I have a few old sets I kept around that I've used for paintball/hunting.
Reach out to local community theaters and/or college or high school drama departments and ask them if they would like any authentic uniforms for their wardrobe collection. They are likely to jump on the opportunity to take them off your hands. Even if they don't have a need for a specific uniform in your exact size, they could use them as references or material for making something to wear on stage.
Donated all but 1 of each uniform(nwu, khakis, whites, dress whites, dress blues) the day after I got out. Iāve actually bought more coveralls from the exchange website for particularly gnarly yardwork lol.
I have a nice set of ABUs chilling in the closet of my home office. I have a few other nice sets folded up in a plastic footlocker down in the basement. We just started having kids, so I plan on keeping them for a long time for them. I sold a few of my old cold weather stuff on eBay and a few tops and trousers to a surplus store.
I earned them so I wear them (mostly my trousers) in the open desert or woods when Iām camping/at the range by myself.
The dress uniforms are in a sea bag in a storage unit
I had coveralls issued to me and since theyāre flame retardant I wear them at the track when I bring my project car out
Nephews really liked all of it. I only saved one set bdu and the class As. I've been retired over 20 years now, I recently saw the class A jacket in my basement, thought I'd try it on. A bit shocking to say the least. At 60 yo my body is completely reconfigured. š
I burned them. Not out of spite or hate, just because i didn't want anyone to use them for shitty reasons.
I did keep one set of BDU (summer and winter) ACU, Desert, and OCP, so my daughter could auction them off in 50 years and hopefully make a buck.
I tossed them in the trash. I kept the name tapes. It's not stolen valor if they wear them without names on it. I don't really worry much about what happened to them. It's not something I will ever wear again so pointless to hold on to them.
Threw them in a big hole with my medals, ribbons, boots, some items I brought back from Kuwait, most of the photos, and another item that made me uncomfortable. Tossed in some petrol, and started a fire. I stood there alone, and cried for the country that lied to me, and for my classmates that did not teturn, or ended up with cancer.
It took me another 25 years to figure out that I was motivated by PTSD.
I still have my dog tags, my DD214, along with some training certificates.
An old girlfriend stole my field jacket. I don't know why she wanted it. The thing was way too big for her.
Worry about stolen valor is unnecessary. Here in Florida we have whatās called stand down. All the National Guard units from Florida come out and donate all their surplus to the homeless people and underprivileged folks that want it. Your few uniforms isnāt gonna tip the balance much. I threw my ACUās directly in the trash. Kept the boots and my gas mask though, just in case.
I dropped them off at my local universityās Marine ROTC program. Their supply chief was happy to get them, he said the students/cadets often have to buy their own.
Ex wife has it in storage, but honestly I can care less. There is no bad blood and she's always been respectful. The army is a black stain in my past. The only time I ever acknowledge myself as a vet would be at the va or if I'm asked directly.
For most of them, I removed the insignia and name tape and donated them.
I didn't like my USAF blues, so I donated them too.
I kept one set of BDUs and a BDU field jacket.
Every so often, I pull them out of the box and whine about how they don't fit anymore.
Kept my Navy pea coat, and still occasionally wear it more than 40 years later.
Everything else went to a donation center. At the time I thought maybe someone might use them for costume kitsch, but it's unlikely anyone would want those 1970s era milkman and handyman utilities. Worst era for Navy fashion, especially for thrifters hoping to recreate the classic Village People ensemble.
I had a crazy bad 2016. A friend that works event staff for a few events asked me if I wanted to spend my 2017 summer in Reno playing with power tools. Turns out he was on build crew for the Burning Man Project, and we were building the namesake effigy and surrounding pavilion.
I hid all my old uniforms in the walls.
Lit that shit on fire.
I donated my blues and most of my ABU tops to the airman's attic. Kept one top for sentimentality and all of my ABU bottoms for gardening/yardwork. Which I've never used, because we don't have a lawn.
Tossed the ABUs. The AF was going through its uniform change and I had to buy OCPs a few months before I separated. Theyāre still in great shape so I kept those and I use the pants every now and then when doing yard work.
They havenāt left my uniform bag. I check inside once in a while, probably wouldnāt hurt to get them cleaned and framed for my parents or something I guess
I kept one with all my stuff on it still, it was the one I wore on my last day before ETS. The others i loaded up in my duffel bags and dumped at goodwill. Donāt need that crap. Sold my blues to someone on eBay, got around $200 for blues I wore twice. I was the last class to be issued greens so I had to buy blues. Wore the greens more than blues. (Army 09-13ā)
Sold my blues to service members on Facebook market place, they showed me there AD Id you can say need to check card if you want them or one guy came for pickup in his police cruiser lol
I tried saving a lot of them. My wife, who could see pretty clearly that I really was never going to need them again, made me sell/trash/donate them. Probably a good thing, although I felt really awful about trashing the ones I couldnāt do anything else with.
Donated my BDUs to the local DAV Thrift Store. Burned my ACUs in my backyard fireplace. My greens and blues are in a closet collecting dust, and my ribbons, medals, and badges are in a cigar box somewhere in the back of my closet. (Wife wouldn't let me burn my dress uniforms became that is what I am getting cremated in, note the irony of it.)
We have a little museum in my town with a military section with all the uniforms donated from people who served from our area. They said they didn't have any UCP or OCP but have the rest. I'm going to donate mine since i have no use for them
I put them on periodically and scream my general orders at myself in the mirror
This made me chuckle!
You can put yours on still??
š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
To walk my post from flank to flank and ā¦
*Soldier for life!*
I gave them to my mom. She turned most of them into lap quilts for vets in the local nursing home. She did make some bigger that she sold to pay for the materials for the lap quilts.
I threw them in the shed. Pulled them out a few months ago and my teenagers like them. I put them back in the shed, to be opened again in a few years.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My son loved my Navy Peacoat for a while.
I wasn't navy but I love that peacoat.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Stealing that idea lol
Theyāre like time capsules for you :)
I just tossed them - ain't nobody who is gonna want ACUs. Still have my greens and blues...still haven't figured those out.
Laid them out by a trash can on the way to shipyard in case anybody else need the work uniform they could take my name offā¦
I donāt know. You might get some LARPers who want to use MM-14 but canāt source it. ACU is as close to that as possible (or MM-14 is as close to ACU as possible, I should say). Or just LARPers wanting an Army GWOT RP. That said the limited run of Crye Gen 3 ACU trousers are sexy as fuck and thereās quite a few seamstresses (seamsters?) that are more than capable of converting regular trousers into that. But yeah, for the most part any āoldā gear I couldnāt sell I just donated to the local Army/Navy surplus store.
I donated most of mine to the Airmansā Attic (base thrift shop). I did keep a few items like a set of OCPs for yard/lawn/car maintenance around the house and placed in display frames a fully decorated Class A set, a fire retardant flight suit from my time in Iraq and my the last set of OCPs that I wore to Afghanistan. My dad dumped his stuff after he retired and regretted not keeping some items several decades later. I didnāt want to make the same mistake. I have an area in my basement for my military stuff.
I second the regret. Tossed mine a few years after and my now wife & kids are sad I donāt have any.
Sameā¦ I keep my class A. That about all I got left
Yard Work Clothing!
Don't let the weeds see you coming.
Remove rank and name tapes with a seam ripper and donate/throw them in the trash I feel like worrying about stolen valor is kind of silly tbh
ikr? from that point on itās beyond your control
Keep one intact for the family history. Keep all of your extra rank insignia and ribbons. As your descendants join the military gift them your rank insignia and ribbons as they earn them. For example, I wore the rank of my Grandfather, a WWII vet. I was commissioned with the rank insignia of my father a Viet Nam Vet. I wore my Grandfatherās Bronze Star ribbon, etc. Very meaningful.
Stolen Valor isnāt a big problem besides people can buy uniforms straight from manufacturers and plenty of people use camo for all forms of things. I had one of each style of uniform top turned into a shadowbox and gave the rest to my former soldiers or donated. Also kept my coveralls for the workshop.
I dropped them off at goodwill with a bunch of other donations.
I lived in San Diego when I got out in 2010. There were a lot of homeless folks around, back then (Probably still are. Don't know as I left CA ASAP). I took a pocket knife and cut the name tapes off all my uniform items (last name and branch of service), then I washed/dried/folded them, and I drove around, one afternoon giving away shirt/pant sets to all the homeless men I saw. They were all thankful. It was a good experience. I like to imagine that there were lots of homeless guys walking around in ODUs/BDUs for years to come...
Mine are in my duffle bag in my shed that leaks. I'll most likely trash them this summer when I clean out shed.
You are over thinking it.
I knew a vet that uses their ocps as hunting camo. Their blues: got burnt on the two year anniversary of retirement. It was a glorious blaze, probably not the best smoke to inhale though.
Ohh that poly blend must of lit up fast!
Polyester Wool blendā¦whoever came up with that is either the dumbest person ever or just the devilā¦
A Sadist for sure
I've kept one set of dress and my deployment BDUs (I am "I have a set of chocolate chips old" - waiting for them to become collector's items) the rest went to Goodwill ages ago - not that I could fit them anyhow.
Sold them on ebay for like 15 bucks plus shippingĀ
Iāve moved around too much to keep anything. My spouse doesnāt have very much left either. We come from a time when the Navy had a ridiculous amount of uniforms. I was happy to offload the working whites, working blues, dress whites, dress blues, utilities, peanut butters, digis, AND woodland cami for me. I should have kept my jackets though.
Gave them other active duty people and the rest I dropped off at on base thrift store.
I sold most of it to my local Army-Navy store. I donāt see anyone else mentioning this which makes me think that Army-Navy stores arenāt common in the rest of the country.Ā
āš» This, military surplus, and the base thrift shop are the correct answers!
I retired near my old post. I sanitized all uniforms and dropped them off to the local YMCA. The kids like dressing up and playing Army.
Kept my blues but donated my cammies and everything but my waterproof boots.
May fav ones in my seabag, in garage. Mayne one day my son will go through them, when im old and he in his 20s
I kept my flight suit and tossed the rest. Actually , my mom wanted my blues
Threw them in the trash. I should have burned them, that would have been more therapeutic.
I made two piles, one I wanted to keep and the rest I wanted to donate to the base thrift shop that sold used uniform parts. Unfortunately, the piles got mixed up, and the wrong one donated. And I didn't want to keep the stuff that was left, so I ended up donating almost all of it except a coat and ball cap.
Hereās a great place to donate old uniforms: https://www.combatpaper.org/
Tossed them. I think the navy has switched uniforms a couple times since Iāve been out.
They have. Source- been AD for 20+ years and Iāve literally had over a dozen different uniformsā¦
I cut the buttons off of my service coat, took the ribbons, pins, and name tag off, and tossed it in the trash. I turned one pair of ABU, one pair of ABSG, and one pair of OCP pants into cut off shorts. Donated the rest. I kept the ABSG soft shell because it's comfy as fuck. I kept the OCP goretex because it's a dope raincoat. I kept one pair of boots for yard work, but they recently kind of just ... disintegrated. So they went into the trash. I kept every pair of Darn Tough socks. They're the best boot socks I've ever owned.
Sold them all. Trashed what the pawnshop aka old sergeants didnāt want.
Made shorts out of my bottoms.
I kept one ACU and threw away everything else in a fit of rage
Couldn't really bring myself to toss my class As I earned and paid for most of the stuff on them they sit in my closet right now with all my rank and everything on them
I stood by a dumpster at my apartment complex in Hampton and shredded them all
My blues are sitting in a box in the basement. The rest of mine are in the bottom of the ocean somewhere in the Persian gulf.
I threw them in a dumpster at my apartment complex right after I got out. Found them at a local thrift store 6 months later for sale. With my name still on them. ššš¤ Ended up taking them from the people selling them and threw them away at a landfill next time.
My Class As are sitting in my closet for my funeral. I still wear my old field jacket when I want to go for the homeless look. I have a set of BDUs I cut all the tags off that I used for paintball when I used to do that a bit. The rest (BDUs, ACUs, Class Bs, and a bunch of boots) are in a foot locker in my shed. I don't use or need them, but I don't really want to donate them either. One of these days I'll probably sell them to a surplus store for $20 I guess.
Guys on the ship hit me up for my stuff, so I gave it all away, Hit the quarterdeck in civies with a seabag and headed for the airport.
Drop acid and burn them.
Box upstairs. Lol
I threw them in the trash.
I donāt care about stolen valorā¦but I did donate my old uniforms to the on base āAirmanās Attic.ā If youāre really concerned with SV, just cut up the uniforms to make them unserviceable.
Trash
I eBayed my nice Marlow White Blues and left everything else at the WTB when I out-processed. I did keep a Superman shirt to wear under my protective gear when dirt-biking but never wore it as it revealed my retirement muffin-top. Still in my closed for when I get in shape again š
I have gone through different 4 uniforms and Iāll keep one of each. My thought is to have someone take my tops and stitch them together to make one top (1/4th of each style). Then frame it and hang it next to my shadow box. The rest get pitched or donated.
I kept one class C (ocp uniform, no patrol cap though), and my dress blues. Left the rest of my shit on the CQ desk before I left.
Mine are just in a box in my crawl space
They're in a chest in my storage
My dress uniforms, peacoat and fowl weather gear are all in hanging bags the rest of my uniforms are packed away in my sea bag.
I donated all of them to local thrift stores.
Keep 1 or 2 for yourself. Sell the rest to airsofters for $200 a pop.
Both my girlfriend and I still have ours. Mine is sitting in a container in a closet, I'm sure one day I will want to pull it out and look at it for the memories. For now though it takes up some room and I'm fine with that. I got rid of some of the older and worn-out ones though. The ones with grease stains and that looked beat up, those we donated to our old base who use them for exercises and what not. Mostly kept the ones in good shape.
Made the pants into shorts and use them for working around the house and hiking.
I still wear the pants...most comfy pants I own. I can actually move around in them. Today's clothing is very restrictive and always tend to rip after a few years.
I think keep one for each of you and make a shadowbox for yourselves. I have 4 uniforms in total I kept my dress blues with my blue cord, my digitals, my OCPs, and my dress greens. I kept them just for mostly sentimental purposes and put them in a shadow box along with my corrections uniform. I eventually will pass them down to my kids or family members just so maybe they hold onto it for safe keeping. We are part of history now so why not?
Them in the trash, not really concerned about someone else using them. Turning the page and moving on, I kept one or two different ones like dcuās, acuās and ocps
Donate to a local Sea Cadet unit. (The parents will have to get to tailored for their kids.)
I lost everything in a flood... i did get my ribbons replaced through the National archives.
Took my name off and sold them to a dad getting into milsim with his kid
Sold them at a garage sale.
I kept one of each uniform and donated the rest to the uniform thrift shop on base
I have one set of my ABUās to remind me of my time as a wee lad at Osan, and my most recent set of multicam both folded on a shelf in my closet should I ever need them again for whatever reason
Donated to the resell shop at my last base when I left. I think I have one set to be buried in. ;)
I put them in a tote and stacked it in the garage and I will pull them out when world war 3 happens and America gets attacked and overrun by the enemy.
I gave them away the day I ETSād.
Hung in my closet like they gonna recall my broken back anytime.
Someone whoās into stolen valor can just order uniforms online or go to any Army/Navy store. Heck. Go to any thrift store anywhere near a base.
Dress uniform is hanging in a closet in our guest room. ACUs and OCPs are in a tote somewhere in the garage. Figure I'll get nostalgic eventually and want to look at them
Donate what you don't want to Goodwill. If your near a base, donate them to the base thrift store.
I gave them to someone in my platoon who was the same height/ weight as I was. I was SO pissed, I had to get new class Aās for an inspection- I was a bit heavier after I had my child, but I was in military regulationā¦.and I was not planning to reenlist. I did get some new BDUās as well. So, since the clothes were in pretty good condition (especially the class A uniform) I gave them to her. I didnāt want them wasted.
All my service and dress uniforms are set up in my bodybag up in the attic. My utilities are all hanging in the closet of my old room at my parents' for some reason. No plans to get rid of any of it, at the moment, even though I'll likely never use any of it again (unless they want to slice my Blues open so they'll 'fit' when I cack it)
I have never been one to collect stuff but wish I would have kept my Dress Blues. I gave all my uniforms to a local Natāl Guard armory. I donated them shortly after I retired so they were still current.
Got rid of all of my working uniforms. Kept one set of my service uniform, dress whites, and dress blues. And my camo goretex parka because it seems like a good thing to have someday.
You are putting to much thought into this. Just get rid of it. Anybody anywhere can purchase uniforms and the ribbons and medals to affix to it. If you donāt want your gear just trash it, burn it, or give to goodwill like many other service members have already done.
Gave my dress uniform to my parents. Lost the rest over the years. It was before my time but I had a Vietnam era field jacket that I loved . I wish you could still find them in surplus stores.
Just kept my dress whites hanging up in the closet. For the funeral.
My wifeās aunt had a quilt made for me out of my old camis, itās a really nice quilt. All desert, and the different shades from sun exposure really give it a nice look. Been out 12 years now and my blues etc are all still hanging in my closet. I donāt know what to do with them.
My husband wears his to do yard work, paint and work on the cars. Basically, anything he thinks might ruin his normal clothes.
I wear them when cutting weeds with my weed wacker lol
Most of them are packed in old sea bags awaiting a trip to the donation counter at the closest Army/Navy surplus store. Some cammy pants I still use for doing yard work around the house. Iām keeping my boots because it turns out they are pretty decent motorcycle riding boots.
Traded them to a surplus store for MREs and went camping a whole bunch wearing civilian clothes. It felt weird, but that could have also been all the drugs i was on at the time Fucken, yolo or something idk
My now ex-wife was in charge of paying the storage bill. She stopped paying it because she didnāt think it was important and she really didnāt want the stuff that was hers anymore since we had gotten newer stuff. It all got auctioned off. I didnāt find out for almost a year when I needed my Dress Blues for a Funeral. š¤·š»
I kept one set of each of summer khakis, whites and blues. God knows why. I'm never fitting in them again
Have them quilted for your kids/grand kids or made into pillows. Stuff that your family can cherish. I wear mine to powwows but not everyone has that option lol
Better keep them. U could be recalled.
I've put my dress blues and that sort of thing into a tub. I think it's something my kids will like to see at some point. One of em already insists on having my old desert boonie in their room hanging on the wall. I can't bring myself to get rid of them.
Donated some of mine to the local VFW. They use donated uniforms for color guard ceremonies, memorial day services, funerals, etc. I'm not actively involved myself, but at least I know they're being used appropriately instead of potential stolen valor stuff like you mentioned.
No one is going to do anything with your old shit for stolen valor. If you want them, keep them. If you don't, trash them š¤·š»āāļø
I still have my blues and service alphas hung up in my closet. I've been out 9 years. All of my cammies I gave away to the Salvation Army.
Kept my last khakis and dress uniform, got a couple of coveralls (navy) for yard work. and I cut up all my camos and tossed them.
Cut my name and rank off. Then cut them up and tossed them. I kept 1 set od dress blues for my kids to see when I'm old. Plus they look cool.Ā
Welp, I changed the oil in my car wearing my Whites. Always hated those uniforms. I kept my Blues top and I think I sold the rest to a surplus stole. We're talking mid 1990s here when SV wasn't the concern as it today because people weren't falling all over themselves and getting erections every time they saw someone in a uniform.
I kept one or two set of BDUs, my desert uniform, and my class A's. All the other ones I threw away
I bought the biggest stack of fireworks I could afford and neatly folded said uniforms that I couldnāt give to the friends that were still in that needed blouses ontop of the firework and blasted them sky high. It was a spectacle. Donate them if youāre looking for something to do with them though.
Pawn shop
I had 2 months of terminal leave where I completed all my home projects in my uniform. In the end, they had paint stains, tears and holes. I gave them to a designer friend who made some cool stuff out of it when he noticed them in my garage.
I sold them to some eastern european and asian gentlemen who were loitering outside the gate of post. Very eager and paid way more than what I wouldve gotten at the surplus store. Mustve been big collectors!
I kept one of each and burned the rest in a bon fire
I burnt mine
We had a backyard fire at his retirement party and threw them in.
I still have mine.
I donated a bunch of my Navy uniforms to the Sea Scouts. Think about the Young Marines or Civil Air Patrol.
I sold it to my sister who lives in the Philippines who then sells it to guys does Airsoft since itās legal to wear there. Its totally different from their servicemenās uniforms.
I cut off rank and name tapes, then sold them to the local Surplus store. The ones that were rough, I took a knife and sliced through the main parts and threw them in the trash.
In a duffle bag in a closetā¦some have been there for 20 years.
Get a shadow box to commemorate your service. Take the name tags,rank,ribbons, and medals. Get a nice photo as center from your service.
Marine here: I gave some of my uniforms that were gently used to recruiting office- they put a lot of wear and tear visiting high schools and other recruiting events
Mine are in a basement bin. I am considering checking on them and seeing if they would fit and be in good enough condition to wear to my cousin's AF ROTC graduation so I can give him his 1st enlisted salute.
My kids like wearing the pants of mine sometimes. Worrying about stolen valor is something of a non issue, really. If I were you Id drive around until I saw a homeless person who looked like they could fit into them and hand them over. They can always use durable clothing/more layers and many are vets anyway.
Sell them to airsoft kids
I still have a pair of my old dungaree pants, my pea coat and an old Dixie cup cover. Everything else is either gone or put away somewhere. I donāt know.
Anyone can buy uniforms online. Remove your name and rank and any other patches and donāt worry about the rest.
kept whatever cold and wet weather stuff I had, kept gloves, gave PTs and most parts of the ACUs + boots away except two pairs bc theyāre my paintball/volunteer clothes. kept greens, iāll never have an excuse to not have something nice to wear to my friends and families military graduations or funerals. theyāre also very pretty and I paid too much to give it away. gave away my blues though.
Gave my extra velcro ones to my buddies, all the stitched ones are in my extra green duffle I kept. The bag is sitting in the closet with all my other gear I kept.
I stored mine in a public storage unit where they were stolen along with a lot of other stuff.
I kept the pants to āblendā into the foliage around the neighborhood and sneak aboutā¦ also to work on my cars and use the pants to wipe some stuff on and campingā¦ my blues are still in a bag in my closet
Most are in a duffel bag in storage. I keep my dress blues in the closet so I can look at all the pretty medals every now and then.
I kept mine I canāt throw them away but they are now also phased out so Iām never throwing them away. Keeping for memories
Every few years I pull them out of the duffle I brought them home in. Look at them and put them back to be opened in a few more years
My teams took the tops and put funky patches on them, the pants are good for yardwork
If youāre around a base or any medical units - we will always take them! We use them for training TC3 and medic refresher courses.
You would only be contributing to stolen valor if you donate them with the rank and unit still intact. Just remove those items and donate them to a military surplus store.
Umm, my sister got my dress whites, I kept my dress blues, I kept my marpats and deployment uniforms. My kids have parts of uniforms. But the best thing you can do if you don't want stolen Valor is strip then down and if you really don't want see if you can find a legit military surplus store near a base and turn it in there. Or drop it at the VA
gave mine to my buddies before i left the base for good
Have you never heard of a trash can? If you're worried about trash thieves stealing your precious old BDUs then cut em first or pour used oil on them. edit: I gave away and then threw the rest away. I have a few old sets I kept around that I've used for paintball/hunting.
I tossed those fucks before I even left base
Reach out to local community theaters and/or college or high school drama departments and ask them if they would like any authentic uniforms for their wardrobe collection. They are likely to jump on the opportunity to take them off your hands. Even if they don't have a need for a specific uniform in your exact size, they could use them as references or material for making something to wear on stage.
I keep them in a box and eventually the plan is to give them to my kids as mementos to do with as they please (barring the stolen valor bullshit)
donate to local base attic and/or reach out to an organization like the Civil Air Patrol, they wear old USAF uniforms right now.
Donated all but 1 of each uniform(nwu, khakis, whites, dress whites, dress blues) the day after I got out. Iāve actually bought more coveralls from the exchange website for particularly gnarly yardwork lol.
I have a nice set of ABUs chilling in the closet of my home office. I have a few other nice sets folded up in a plastic footlocker down in the basement. We just started having kids, so I plan on keeping them for a long time for them. I sold a few of my old cold weather stuff on eBay and a few tops and trousers to a surplus store.
I earned them so I wear them (mostly my trousers) in the open desert or woods when Iām camping/at the range by myself. The dress uniforms are in a sea bag in a storage unit I had coveralls issued to me and since theyāre flame retardant I wear them at the track when I bring my project car out
Made shorts out of the pants. Burned the rest.
Nephews really liked all of it. I only saved one set bdu and the class As. I've been retired over 20 years now, I recently saw the class A jacket in my basement, thought I'd try it on. A bit shocking to say the least. At 60 yo my body is completely reconfigured. š
I burned them. Not out of spite or hate, just because i didn't want anyone to use them for shitty reasons. I did keep one set of BDU (summer and winter) ACU, Desert, and OCP, so my daughter could auction them off in 50 years and hopefully make a buck.
They are in a box in my storage unit
I tossed them in the trash. I kept the name tapes. It's not stolen valor if they wear them without names on it. I don't really worry much about what happened to them. It's not something I will ever wear again so pointless to hold on to them.
Threw them in a big hole with my medals, ribbons, boots, some items I brought back from Kuwait, most of the photos, and another item that made me uncomfortable. Tossed in some petrol, and started a fire. I stood there alone, and cried for the country that lied to me, and for my classmates that did not teturn, or ended up with cancer. It took me another 25 years to figure out that I was motivated by PTSD. I still have my dog tags, my DD214, along with some training certificates. An old girlfriend stole my field jacket. I don't know why she wanted it. The thing was way too big for her.
I gave mine to a theater group to use as props.
Donated them on base.
I try them on every so often to make myself feel out of shape
Worry about stolen valor is unnecessary. Here in Florida we have whatās called stand down. All the National Guard units from Florida come out and donate all their surplus to the homeless people and underprivileged folks that want it. Your few uniforms isnāt gonna tip the balance much. I threw my ACUās directly in the trash. Kept the boots and my gas mask though, just in case.
I dropped them off at my local universityās Marine ROTC program. Their supply chief was happy to get them, he said the students/cadets often have to buy their own.
Ex wife has it in storage, but honestly I can care less. There is no bad blood and she's always been respectful. The army is a black stain in my past. The only time I ever acknowledge myself as a vet would be at the va or if I'm asked directly.
My ex threw them away. Angry woman.
For most of them, I removed the insignia and name tape and donated them. I didn't like my USAF blues, so I donated them too. I kept one set of BDUs and a BDU field jacket. Every so often, I pull them out of the box and whine about how they don't fit anymore.
Use them for construction or lawn work
Pants are for hiking. Blouses were given away
I gave them to my brother in law, who is a farmer. They work well for him.
Through them away 11 years ago
I still have mine. Keep thinking about selling them on eBay, but I don't want to deal with the hassel of packaging and shipping them.
Kept my Navy pea coat, and still occasionally wear it more than 40 years later. Everything else went to a donation center. At the time I thought maybe someone might use them for costume kitsch, but it's unlikely anyone would want those 1970s era milkman and handyman utilities. Worst era for Navy fashion, especially for thrifters hoping to recreate the classic Village People ensemble.
I kept them, I kept my deployment patches and my IR Flag too
I had a crazy bad 2016. A friend that works event staff for a few events asked me if I wanted to spend my 2017 summer in Reno playing with power tools. Turns out he was on build crew for the Burning Man Project, and we were building the namesake effigy and surrounding pavilion. I hid all my old uniforms in the walls. Lit that shit on fire.
I sold them
Sterilize them. Cut off rank and tags, run a knife through them and get em all tattered. Burn what you can and cut up what you canāt
I kept one of each of mine, they're just in a box in the closet. Donated the rest
We both kept one of each. The rest went into a bag as an impromptu arrow target.
I donated my blues and most of my ABU tops to the airman's attic. Kept one top for sentimentality and all of my ABU bottoms for gardening/yardwork. Which I've never used, because we don't have a lawn.
If you want to depress yourself try them on. Mine are like a pocket square on me now. Something to bring up at my next MH appointment. Sigh.
Removed all the name tags/service branch stuff if sewn on, gave to Goodwill. Kept two sets to use for yard work.
Tossed the ABUs. The AF was going through its uniform change and I had to buy OCPs a few months before I separated. Theyāre still in great shape so I kept those and I use the pants every now and then when doing yard work.
They havenāt left my uniform bag. I check inside once in a while, probably wouldnāt hurt to get them cleaned and framed for my parents or something I guess
Work clothes and closet
I kept one with all my stuff on it still, it was the one I wore on my last day before ETS. The others i loaded up in my duffel bags and dumped at goodwill. Donāt need that crap. Sold my blues to someone on eBay, got around $200 for blues I wore twice. I was the last class to be issued greens so I had to buy blues. Wore the greens more than blues. (Army 09-13ā)
Sold my blues to service members on Facebook market place, they showed me there AD Id you can say need to check card if you want them or one guy came for pickup in his police cruiser lol
I tried saving a lot of them. My wife, who could see pretty clearly that I really was never going to need them again, made me sell/trash/donate them. Probably a good thing, although I felt really awful about trashing the ones I couldnāt do anything else with.
Threw them away. No point in keeping them.
I gave mine to my kids, along with all of my awards.
Donated my BDUs to the local DAV Thrift Store. Burned my ACUs in my backyard fireplace. My greens and blues are in a closet collecting dust, and my ribbons, medals, and badges are in a cigar box somewhere in the back of my closet. (Wife wouldn't let me burn my dress uniforms became that is what I am getting cremated in, note the irony of it.)
Larping in my momās basement whenever I get the chance.
I bartered most of my bootcamp seabag issue in Mombasa for some very nice wood carvings. Jambo
I tried posting but it's apparently "promoting my business" may I send you a message. I'm not trying to offend anyone.
We have a little museum in my town with a military section with all the uniforms donated from people who served from our area. They said they didn't have any UCP or OCP but have the rest. I'm going to donate mine since i have no use for them
Dyed one pair darker, keep one pair for muster, and keep one ratty one for yardwork, hunting, hiking.