Thinking About … Velcro

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Thinking About … Velcro

  • Kelly

    Velcro. . . I can't believe they make so many adult's shoes that fasten with velcro. There are few enough styles that come in my size (7W) and I cannot stand velcro. It doesn't last more than 5 refastenings before it wears out. I always choose laces or buckles when selecting dress shoes. Sandals make for the worst season shopping for shoes.

  • Kelly

    Also. . . Beware anything that fastens with velcro to your belt. My boyfriend lost his digital camera that way. The velcro ripped off as he left his car and he didn't notice until he tried to take a picture and noticed that it wasn't there.

  • Kendotek

    Ahhh, “hook and loop” fasteners. That stuff is on practically EVERYTHING that Uncle Sam issued to me… helmet cover, lowering lines, bivvy covers, j-list bag, body armor, molle gear, tents, camo net bags just to name a few. Works great, except for on the uniform. I want to personally kick the fourth point of contact of the joker responsible for doing that. Some REMF, no doubt. I can't believe it took this long to reverse the mistake. Us troopers knew right away, that $h1t ain't gonna fly.

  • Brian

    I'll take velcro over the burden of tying or buckling any day. I have a seat belt in my wheelchair made of velcro. Great invention! When I want to get someone's attention, I just “stick” em on their hairiest body part with my strap and yank em toward me!

  • David

    Velcro has a long history with the US Space Program. Pens and pencils are usually tabbed with velcro, as are lots of tools. Unfortunately, the stuff also played a role in killing three astronauts. In the Apollo 1 launchpad fire, a wire short-circuited and ignited one of several strips of vercro. In the pressurized pure oxygen environment of the spacecraft the velcro burned like tinder. The stuff had been so popular, the astronauts had virtually wallpapered the interior if the command module with it. Subsequent changes such as using air instead of oxygen, changing the escape hatch, and restricting the use of velcro made the rest of the Apollo missions safer.

  • Armycop

    Speaking as a veteran of the 1980s and early 90s Army, I can say that buttons make absolutely the most sense and have the highest convenience. If you want a command inspection uniform, you can do what we did and starch the hell out of it, put plastic into the pockets to keep them flat, and sew everything closed. That uniform just stayed hanging in the closet until it was needed. There's your “parade ready” uniform and no velcro needed.

    The rest of the stuff was happy with buttons. No muss, no fuss, and totally fixable in the field.

  • http://twitter.com/scotslawstudent scotslawstudent

    I would find it hard to trust anything particularly valuable to Velcro alone for that reason. The stuff's supposed to come apart easily.