Oakley at SHOT 2017

[Patient_Cero]

I'm all for the special unit editions, but man just changing the icons only feels so lazy. Miss the full the design jobs they would do like for 10th mountain, flying tigers, etc...

Yea, perhaps if they combined the new camo pattern with the icons or similar. Given the direction they have taken a lot of things recently it's nice to see something like the camo pattern emerge. I wouldn't have been surprised had they only done the icon swap and called it a day with "new releases" for the event.

 

[Rustpot]

Aside from collectors unit editions don't really sell outside the actual unit. It's kind of taboo to wear insignia you didn't earn in the military community.

i don't blame them for not putting more effort into these types of pairs.

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

I found this on a google search just now...
SHOT Show 2017: Day 1 Live Coverage

Dissolve Pattern Camo. About 3/4 way down on the link in case the picture gets delinked later from the host site.

View attachment 306581

Those frames are pretty damn nice.

 

[cyclerdoug]

I'm all for the special unit editions, but man just changing the icons only feels so lazy. Miss the full the design jobs they would do like for 10th mountain, flying tigers, etc...

Aside from collectors unit editions don't really sell outside the actual unit. It's kind of taboo to wear insignia you didn't earn in the military community.

i don't blame them for not putting more effort into these types of pairs.

I see both of your sides to this, gentlemen, and am leaning towards Salt. Rustpot, I don't think wearing Oakleys with any unit insignia is taboo...it's not a patch or rank on a uniform or even a t-shirt screaming it in your face, but I'm not a veteran and cannot see it from your perspective so don't take offense. With a little more effort these could have rivaled the 10th mountains. Just does seem a little slack.

 

[Rustpot]

I'm not a vet. Being SI that's mainly who these are being marketed towards, though. I don't know of any guys that wear unit insignia (or branch, for that matter) that didn't serve with that unit.

I think they'd be better served going with branch pairs. I'd bet @Litos would buy a pair with the EGA, even if they weren't Holbrooks or Juliets. But Army SF? Air Force PJs? Doubt it. Probably if he was a collector, especially of the SI stuff, but not as a casual wear piece.

 

[The_Darkone]

I wear it all in support of the branches and teams. Whether it's a shirt or sunglasses that calls out the team or branch. I do it in honor and recognition of the men and women that serve or have served. In fact I would think the special forces teams wouldn't wear the stuff unless retired as not to call attention to themselves.

Just my 2 cents

 

[saltparrot]

if it's intended for only members of those teams to wear them, then they're absurd to manufacture them. The number of people in each of those specialized teams is so small that it wouldn't warrant the manufacture and licensing deals to make them.

Personally, I think they're cool and I wear my 10th mountain division gascans. I've never had someone ask me about them, or think I was in 10th Mountain Division.

It's like all those NYPD and FDNY shirts and hats etc... that were really huge post 9/11. People bought them and wore them for support. Same thing here as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Rustpot]

if it's intended for only members of those teams to wear them, then they're absurd to manufacture them. The number of people in each of those specialized teams is so small that it wouldn't warrant the manufacture and licensing deals to make them.

Personally, I think they're cool and I wear my 10th mountain division gascans. I've never had someone ask me about them, or think I was in 10th Mountain Division.

It's like all those NYPD and FDNY shirts and hats etc... that were really huge post 9/11. People bought them and wore them for support. Same thing here as far as I'm concerned.

It's intended for anybody. It's being sold to mainly active duty and veteran military (government, first responder, et. al.).

In my experience military and veterans do not wear unit insignia for units which they have not served. And if they do, it's normally something given to them like shirt swaps, or from other family. It's not a steadfast rule, you just generally won't see anyone active/veteran wear the Trident if they didn't go through BUD/s, for example. Plenty of people wear Navy Seals swag. T-shirts almost don't count, it's kind of an odd thing, some guys collect them, other guys will stick to their branch & unit. But you're back to the collector aspect.

So my original statement - outside of collectors and those in that unit, they probably don't see a lot of sales. It's very doubtful a Sailor would buy a pair with PJs insignia for his one or two pairs of sunglasses he buys in his life, unless he had family in the unit, or was saved by a PJ.

 

[saltparrot]

That's all fine dandy. My point in this was, and remains, that they've gotten lazy. They used to do more than swap icons, and they were appreciated for that by collectors, service members, and plenty of people that were neither.

 

[Patient_Cero]

Aside from collectors unit editions don't really sell outside the actual unit. It's kind of taboo to wear insignia you didn't earn in the military community.

i don't blame them for not putting more effort into these types of pairs.

Yea I agree with that, it's just they haven't seem to put a lot of effort in much as of late so...