If you’ve ever been to a college party in the winter, you probably know what a frackit is. The origin of the word comes from the term “Frat Jacket,” and it's just what it sounds like—a regular jacket that has a high risk of being damaged or stolen.
The concept of the frackit probably started when college kids were frustrated that their expensive winter coats were being stolen at parties and damaged by crazy intoxicated people. So people rationally started wearing jackets they didn’t really care about. Frackits come in all shapes and sizes, from just any old rag that you pulled out from under your closet to a six dollar coat your mom bought you from Goodwill to a red crew neck from the lost and found at the gym to a zip up Bar Mitzvah sweatshirt you once wore in seventh grade. Of course some savvy college students created a business out of it: They designed a stylish, cheap (not really) frackit that has a custom patch with the owner’s name on it to prevent leaving a party with the wrong jacket. Although, I love the product and totally support college student’s businesses, in reality people probably won’t pay attention to the tiny customized patch because they’ll be drunk or cold or both. So there’s no guarantee you’ll leave the party with the same frackit you came in with, or anything at all.
The reason the concept of the frackit is annoying is that, at a college frat party, you definitely don’t want to be wearing it—you just need it for that windy ten minute walk from your dorm. When you approach the house, you already start taking it off so the guy at the door and everybody else can take a look at that bod that you’ve been working on so tirelessly at the gym for. Once you enter the party, the last thing you want to think about is where to put your frackit so it doesn’t get stolen. I’ve seen frackits in the weirdest places: behind sofas, in kitchen cabinets, ironically in the refrigerator or the freezer, and even in microwaves. After you hid your frackit as best as you can, you forget about it and go do what you actually came to do: Party. If you play your cards right, you might wake up in your bed the next morning with your frackit on your chair and a very existent hangover, but that seems highly unlikely.
Most likely what will end up happening is that the party will get crowded, you’ll be a couple of drinks in and already sweating because you are hardcore jamming out. After awhile, you'll go outside to cool off without your jacket, and it won’t even seem like a bad idea anymore. But if the DJ isn’t fire, and the party is lame, you’re in a bit of trouble. You need to remember wear you put your frackit, actually find it, and leave before who knows what will happen. In the case that you don’t find your frackit, because someone probably stole it, your best bet is to snatch a random one and hope the owner won’t see you wearing it the next day. Maybe you can even be a good person and return it to them—who knows!
We all know that the cost of higher education in America is way too expensive and therefore college students are straight up broke—we don't have money to pay for a jacket, and we sure don't have money to pay for a replacement jacket. If you’re not interested in loosing your frackit, here are some tips.
One: Don’t wear a frackit. Yeah it’s cold, but alcohol is a type of jacket in itself.
Two: Tie it around your waste. Although it’s not ideal cause you want to show off the junk in your trunk, it will be on you the entire time, and I almost guarantee it will return home with you (emphasis on almost).
Three: You can try hiding it somewhere in the frat house, but this plan has some flaws because you might not remember where you put it, or most likely, someone else will be desperate for a frackit and just steal yours.
But the only way to guarantee OG frackit status is to attend college in a warm place: The South, the West Coast, Hawaii etc.—just make sure you stay out of the Northeast and the Midwest—because you’ll literally never actually need to use a jacket anyway, ensuring that your jackets will never become frackits.
