Primary Arms

Tachacker – Save Money On Combat Patches When The Transition To OCP Occurs

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With the transition to OCP occurring on July 1st, chances are good there will be quite a few Military personnel out there with UCP patches they’ll have to replace with OCP variants, which can be pretty costly. However, a reader gave us a tip to share.  If you take a generic yellow dry erase market to the foliage parts on a UCP patch, it ends up looking remarkably similar to an equivalent MultiCam color scheme patch. In the image above, the 173rd ABCT patch on the far right is an issued OCP patch, and the 44th Med BBG patches on the left are pre and post-marker.

Major thanks to D. Johnson for the tip!

31 Responses to “Tachacker – Save Money On Combat Patches When The Transition To OCP Occurs”

  1. joe08 says:

    Well there’s your over-dye solution for you.

  2. Riceball says:

    That’s pretty clever, not that it matters to me but I am curious how color fast the dry-eraser method is and whether it would wash out the first time it got wet. I wonder if Rit dye would work the same, if it did it would be another good solution, esp. if the dry-erase proves to be not waterproof and/or color fast.

    • Dan says:

      Dry erase is remarkably color-fast on fabric, and should definitely last a while if you avoid washing the patches. This will work until it’s time for you to buy replacements.

      • Riceball says:

        That’s interesting, I’ll have to remember that for the future if I ever need to re-color patches on the cheap.

    • Adam ayer says:

      Best way to do it is to use household extra strong bleach. Leave it soaking for 24hrs. Then let them dry. It comes out the color that is authorized. Can’t tell them apart.

  3. The Dude says:

    I’ve used old BDU patches and added velcro. It’s hard to tell the difference.

    • Marc says:

      I did the same thing.

    • SimpleSoldier says:

      I did the same thing and also bought a yellow sharpie at the PX and colored my 101st UCP patch and I was like “Holy Cow!, it works”.

  4. Mick says:

    My team leader sent out a similar link with a “not a recommended technique” noted…

  5. CapnTroy says:

    #TacHacks 🙂

  6. Jon, OPT says:

    This is bound to Piss off the Korean sew shop mafia.

    Jon, OPT

  7. Diddler says:

    I wish I saw this a couple of days ago.

  8. jeph4e says:

    What brand was used. My Expo yellow dry erase made mine a very good shade of green but not the color of OCP patches. The gold-green look of issued patches not the same as foliage…

  9. Marc says:

    How much does it glow under IR?

  10. Don John says:

    Did they change the pockets on the uniform from MSG Owen’s first pic with OCP?

    http://assets.cat5.com/images/ContentPages/scorpion-acu/scorpion-ocp-acus.jpg

    to this new type?

    http://images.military.com/media/news/service/army-ocp-1200.jpg

    • SSD says:

      It looks like they canted them backward.

      • Don John says:

        It makes the unit patches look slanted at a weird angle. I wish they would have left those side pockets alone. Leaders keep asking the wrong questions (e.g new black socks with PTs) and people are just saying yes without any real consideration on how it will look.

        • Will says:

          I actually think black socks with PTs is a great idea. Black shorts, black shirts…white socks? Tacky.

        • Johann C. says:

          Most sneakers are of a lighter color or mixed color. Try wearing black socks with them; can you say UGLY!

      • Johann C. says:

        Yes, they are canted backwards and it looks weird with the patches on them! I have a set that I purchased from Ft. Drum Clothing Sales. They should have at least made them straight, if not canted forward; the combat shirts have straight arm pockets. They say that it is canted backwards so that nothing will fall out. Well if you keep your zipper closed, then nothing will fall out! Besides, if you are unzipping your arm pocket, your hand will be there to catch/grab the item that you are reaching for. I foresee many complaints and then an eventual change (again!).

  11. TexAg14 says:

    What is the official color nomenclature of OCP patches?

  12. Jesus Built My Hotrod says:

    Somewhere there will be a Sgt Major whose sole purpose in life will be to check patches to make sure they’re not yellow sharpie modified from foliage patches.

    • Derrick says:

      I hope there is because that’s what we all should be doing as leaders, upholding the standards and discipline. I am pretty sure this is NOT within the regulations