October 31, 2013

Poopy suits.

From the Navy's FAQ about submarines: Question #26 — out of 61 — "What clothes do you wear?"
When in port, crew members wear regular Navy uniforms. At sea, members wear one-piece blue coveralls called "poopy suits." They are very comfortable to wear and reduces the number of clothes the sailor has to bring to sea. Submarine crews usually wear sneakers or other soft bottomed shoes when at sea, as sound quieting and stealth are always foremost in a submariner's mind.

22 comments:

Wince said...

Do these one-piece "poopy" suits have a trap door in the back in case you have to go poopy?

rehajm said...

From the Navy's a little less FAQ about submarines: Question #1- What is long and hard and full of seamen?

rehajm said...

"< a first element of uncertain origin + SUIT n.
The first element is perhaps < POOP n.2 (compare POOPY adj.2), on account either of the unpleasant smell of the suit when worn for a long time, or of the sound produced when excess air is expelled from it."

Cedarford said...

The sub guys favorite question and answer.

What do you think of the rest of the ships in Navies other than subs?

"They are targets".

rehajm said...

From the Navy's a little less FAQ about submarines: Question #2- "What's the difference between the Navy and the Marines?"

Marine means-

My
Ass
Rides
In
Navy
Equipment

Larry J said...

And Navy means "Never Again Volunteer Yourself".

Proud father (Army and Air Force vet) of a career Navy son.

USAF = You Sure are F*cked.

Mary Beth said...

MST3K Poopy Suit song

Old RPM Daddy said...

In the Air Force, if I recall correctly, a poopy suit was the insulated suit a pilot wore when flying over the ocean, in case the pilot had to eject over water.

Sam vfm #111 said...

Submarines: Where 100 men go to sea and 50 couples come home.

Aught Severn said...

What's the best kind of marine? a Submarine!

BillP said...

Wore poopie suits on and off for 20 yrs -- five different boats -- they just make the most sense. Easy (and fast) to put on, comfortable, low-lint (fire is a *bitch* on a submarine), and not bulky. Only thing you really gotta watch out for is dragging the sleeves through whatever is on the deck in the head when you answer nature's call...

BillP said...

Wore poopie suits on and off for 20 yrs -- five different boats -- they just make the most sense. Easy (and fast) to put on, comfortable, low-lint (fire is a *bitch* on a submarine), and not bulky. Only thing you really gotta watch out for is dragging the sleeves through whatever is on the deck in the head when you answer nature's call...

Larry J said...

Old RPM Daddy said...
In the Air Force, if I recall correctly, a poopy suit was the insulated suit a pilot wore when flying over the ocean, in case the pilot had to eject over water.


I never heard an Air Force pilot refer to them as poopy suits. For normal flights, they wear their Nomex fire-retardant flight suits. For flights over water (at least in fighters), they wear survival suits in case they have to eject. The PJs (pararescue) guys wear dry suits when operating in water.

Gospace said...

EDH said...
Do these one-piece "poopy" suits have a trap door in the back in case you have to go poopy?

Ans: No.

Sam Hall said...
Submarines: Where 100 men go to sea and 50 couples come home.

Only ever heard that said by people who would have volunteerd subs if it were actually true.

And as for the question invariably asked of us insane enough to make several underwater trips, "Why would you want to go on a ship that sinks?, the answewr is, all ships eventually sink- only submarines are designed to return to the surface.

The important equation is that at the end of the run: Number of dives=number of surfaces.

John henry said...

Re Cedarford and the "Targets" quote, very true.

The other difference between submarines and surface ships is that submarines can come back up.

As for the USAF, we used to call it "The alternative to military service"

John Henry
(Ex-Navy 67-74)

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks Bill and Harold for wearing poopy suits and for doing everything else you did for us.

Anonymous said...

Marine means-

Muscles
Are
Required
Intelligence
Not
Essential

BillP said...

YVW.

Re: couples - it will be interesting to see what happens with the upcoming assignment of larger numbers of females to submarines; would be nice if the the boats could avoid the troubles the surface force has battled...

My understanding of human nature says that outcome is doubtful, however.

Anonymous said...

I know the wives are not happy :)

Carnifex said...

Okay. One of my firm beliefs is that you never criticize a farmer with your mouth full.

But...POOPY SUITS?

Ya' know guys, not all traditions are worthwhile.

A10pilot said...

I flew A-10s for 20+ years and had my share of flights in an "anti-exposure suit." We never called them anything but poopy suits. It became somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy on a 10-hour deployment flight. It's a one-piece dry suit with extremely tight bands at the wrist and neck...so tight that after about 5 hours you'd pull out a knife and slice them a bit at the wrist. It compromised the suit somewhat but it was that or go completely insane. This was back before the Hog had an autopilot and it's aerodynamically unstable so you had to be hands-on the whole hop. Oh yeah, some suits had the zipper not go up and down the front (like a flight suit) but ACROSS THE CHEST. When I was flying in Norway, we were sorely tempted to kill our hosts and steal their poopy suits--they were comfortable, easy to get on and off and protected against super-cooled water (liquid but less than 32 degrees) that sometimes occurred in the fjords in the early Spring.

Unknown said...

I was a Maval Aviator flying from Navy Aircraft carriers. When launching over the N Atlantic in the winter, we wore "Poopy Suits" as mentioned above. They were miserable. To check our suits for leaks, our parachute rigger would check them for leaks in the swimming pool. It also took a while to don the suit.
"Zeke"