"Poe to Inflate"

I love this. Cinema Blend has reported that intrepid/detail-oriented Tumblr user @youneedapilot unlocked the secret message printed on Poe's flight vest.

I'm sorry but it's just so hard to focus on anything but that look....

Most text in Star Wars is in Aurebesh, the written form of Galactic Basic. But translating this little blurb on Poe's vest was weirdly difficult because none of the characters matched the Aurebesh alphabet. The chances seemed good that this was some sort of funny/cool hidden message, especially given the silly Beastie Boys call-out in Aurebesh on Ello Asty's helmet.

But alas, the message doesn't quite live up to the hype: @youneedapilot eventually realized that the text is printed upside down so the vest's wearer can read it when looking down at it. Once that was sorted out, it was easy to translate the Aurebesh.

It says: "Pull to inflate."

Safety first, Poe!

To nerd out a minute here, it seemed like the similar X-Wing pilot vests from the original trilogy were more like flak vests--at least, that's how various cosplay groups, like the Rebel Legion, conceived of them--and not flotation devices. But perhaps X-Wing pilots have different vests for different terrains? The image above is right after the dramatic over-water assault on Takodana, so maybe it was mission-specific gear?

In any event, the fact that some person was so troubled by the mystery of Poe's vest makes me incredibly happy. It's sort of a bummer that it wasn't more of a cool Easter egg (something like "Tell that to Kanjiklub" or "Stormpilot 4ever"), but the effort and thought that went into decoding it is what being a fan is all about. Nicely done.