Anthrax & 50 other great bands - "Lazy Beast" - Battle Vest (02/2025)

26/02/2025:
After wearing my vest to a day long event, I've decided to optimise the pin/button placement and selection. Some of them have been taken off even before the show because I felt that after a time they were distracting from the patch they hung around. Also being cool pins and all, but they became kind of too much here visually, so they will be displayed in my pin collection someplace else.

I will need to find a better alternative for the butterfly clips or a way to fix the pins better to prevent rotation and/or loss. Maybe some additional glue or tape. I've lost one pin (fortunately, replacement is possible) and one came off, but I've noticed that in time. Still, having to look out for the pins and the butterfly clips jumping off the pins was really getting on my nerves.

Also had to swap the Stallion pin for a button I had: the pin is big, but only has one prong to fix it and that makes it impractical, unfortunately, it was rotating and fell off once. Well, sometimes, less is indeed more.

26/12/2024:
This is the "Lazy Beast" end of the year report!

Here it is again, my wearable patch collection, I call the style "No Backpatch Symmetry" ;)

Thought I'd post this year's final milestone, just finished the Xysma patch and I suppose it's going to be the last one this year, since I'm still missing the final two patches that are planned. There's also space left "in the middle", but I have no idea what patch to use yet and whether there are fitting vertical patches available at all.

I've also added quite some pins which are great for unused space and also add more personality to the vest. It's mostly beer/beverage pins with focus on beer brands from my city, especially the ones I used to drink. Currently I have Kronen, Brinkhoff's, Warsteiner and Krombacher. I'm on the lookout for Hansa, Union and Stifts. I wish I didn't miss out on the Hansa Pils pin I saw on eBay. Heineken is a brand which reminds me of my camping trip to Amsterdam shortly after graduating school. I think I also got addicted to pin collecting in the process of getting these. The small horsey pin is supposed to be a Holsten pin, I do have a Holsten beer can in my collection, but didn't drink that brand often back in the day. It's mostly there, because it looks neat and is a further reference to my equestrian hobby.

Currently, I usually drink non-alcoholic Krombacher, I quit drinking alcohol altogether in 2011. And promptly got addicted to Coca Cola instead. Vita Cola is an original East German Cola which I've discovered in Ilmenau on a trip. Also available around here.

The Jägermeister pins not only signify that I used to be a fan of that drink, their placement reminds me of the after show drinking bout with Skyforger in 2005.

Also of note is the fire symbol pin, which might be actually a pin originally released by Berentzen, but for me it means not only that the Terrorizer show I've attended in 2024 was "on fire", but is also a personal reference to Massive Attack, a band I'm also very fond of.

Current stats:
Total patches: 64 (2 fully hidden by "patch updates", 1 non-music patch: 61 visible music patches)
Album patches: 44 (43 unique album references)
Logo patches: 13
Misc. artwork patches: 4
Vintage Patches: 42
Patches sewn on 2006-2016: 36
Patches sewn on 2024: 28
Unique band connections via patches: 43

Total buttons: 9 (1 non-music)
Total pins: 26 (17 non-music, Slayer pin probably a boot)
Beer pins: 6
Unique band connections via buttons & pins: 8

Total band connections: 51

Also of note is the last photo here. That piece of cloth shows the date on which the first patch was sewn on, it's hidden in the vest. I've accidentally poked myself with the needle while embroidering it and spontaneously decided to sign the cloth with my blood. So the vest is signed by my blood, which certainly adds to its unique personality and further binds it to me.

I've also uploaded all my previous milestones and layout tests to my first vest entry, so it's more of a "making of" documentation now: https://tshirtslayer.com/battle-jacket/anthrax-49-other-great-bands-lazy...

Merry Christmas everyone!