I was looking at some ham radio apparel (shirts, t-shirts, etc.) and I saw some nice ARES t-shirts and jackets. So my question is, are only ARES members allowed to wear stuff like that? Is it frowned upon if a non-member is wearing stuff like that?
Ham Radio apparel?
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KB7MIB
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)
Be ready to answer questions like, "What is ARES?" "What does ARES do?" "What team are you with?" "How do you join?", from Hams and non-Hams alike, even if you're not a member and don't participate in ARES activities.
Be ready to answer questions like, "What is ARES?" "What does ARES do?" "What team are you with?" "How do you join?", from Hams and non-Hams alike, even if you're not a member and don't participate in ARES activities.
D
DaveNF2G
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Any recognizable entity or agency frowns upon non-members wearing their insignia. It would mark you as a pretender, wannabe, or whacker, depending on local usage.
There are also potential liability issues, under admittedly unlikely circumstances.
That is why fire and police department patches can be so hard for collectors to obtain. People wear them and others then make the logical assumption that the wearers belong to those organizations. Whatever those people do reflects on whoever's patch they are wearing. It doesn't apply for ARES, and I'm not sure about RACES in all jurisdictions, but wearing someone's insignia when you are not entitled to wear it could lead to "criminal impersonation" charges depending on what entity's apparel you have and what you were doing whilst wearing it.
It just is not a good idea to go around wearing "uniforms" or other apparel that associate you with organizations to which you do not belong, unless they sell or provide some variation on their insignia for advertising or branding purposes.
There are also potential liability issues, under admittedly unlikely circumstances.
That is why fire and police department patches can be so hard for collectors to obtain. People wear them and others then make the logical assumption that the wearers belong to those organizations. Whatever those people do reflects on whoever's patch they are wearing. It doesn't apply for ARES, and I'm not sure about RACES in all jurisdictions, but wearing someone's insignia when you are not entitled to wear it could lead to "criminal impersonation" charges depending on what entity's apparel you have and what you were doing whilst wearing it.
It just is not a good idea to go around wearing "uniforms" or other apparel that associate you with organizations to which you do not belong, unless they sell or provide some variation on their insignia for advertising or branding purposes.
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Even ARES members should not wear ARES apparel unless on an official deployment, or attending an ARES event/meeting of some kind.
It should really not be worn casually, IMHO.
At least I don't!
It should really not be worn casually, IMHO.
At least I don't!
Okay, I kind of figured it wouldn't be the best idea to wear it unless you were a member, but I wanted to see what other people said just to make sure my assumption was correct.
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rapidcharger
Member
In summary,
don't be a poser.
don't be a poser.
One time, I was on lunch break with a bunch of union brothers, all if us wearing t-shirts from our local. The union; IATSE, has a logo that is a Maltese Cross, not too unlike a firefighters logo. In fact the first local, Local 1, were stagehands and most of them WERE firefighters, because back then (late 1890's) that is who was hired to work in theaters, as they needed guys that could handle ropes, ladders and etc.
Anyway, the owner of the coffee shop wanted to give us free lunches, thinking we were firefighters. We thought about it for about two seconds and laughing, turned him down, but he still thought we were firefighters.
Anyway, the owner of the coffee shop wanted to give us free lunches, thinking we were firefighters. We thought about it for about two seconds and laughing, turned him down, but he still thought we were firefighters.
RESlusher
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D
DaveNF2G
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VE3JSO
Member
i know some stores won't even sell some ares stuff unless you are a member
Really! I wish they could do that with the actual radio gear; make you show a valid license, but that is kinda off-topic.
That's good to hear, I also agree with Jimru's post above.
gunmasternd
Member
I sell old school tshirts and sweaters at the dayton ham convention. Like collins,heath kit,hellicrafters,etc not like anyhere would care about those old radios. 
oldtimers like them
oldtimers like them
I sell old school tshirts and sweaters at the dayton ham convention. Like collins,heath kit,hellicrafters,etc not like anyhere would care about those old radios.
Well, not sure that is the same as wearing ARES apparel, but not being in ARES.
Wearing a Hallicrafters t-shirt is akin to wearing any brand of any item, you are not acting as if you work for that brand.
Or, did I miss your point?
Btw, I would love a Hallicrafters t-shirt! A model S120-A was my first shortwave receiver.
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