Your favorite hat

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Your favorite hat

My Tim Allen pecan bee-hive bowler crown that I bought in 1998.....

It's used and abused, and looks fantastic out on campaign for any theater.

I've got so many hats/caps though, it's hard to put one above the other.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Your favorite hat

That would have to be my worn out Type I Columbia Rifles baseball cap from Toppers. Having Angus the black Lab/Pit Bull mix help inspect and repair the freight wagon utility trailer wiring just prior to the 2nd Bull Run NPS LH last year pretty much finished it off. A number of you have met Angus, and understand why there may be a real need for canine Ritalin. Great hat with many a Carpenter Bee kill to its credit.

Oh, you meant reenacting hats?

Golly, I'd say that infamous raggedy a-- kepi a few decades old pretty much wins hands down. Nice coin buttons from a junk shop, a chinstrap recycled from some long lost Bannerman's junk, a rather wild lining that has become subdued from dirt, oil, wear, and age, and they sure don't make jeancloth like they used to, but the repair at front dead center is holding up very well. Every time I wear it (especially when it rains) I'm reminded just how little good a kepi does in the elements. It has a few fairweather events left in it, I suppose.

[tenfed1861]

Re: Your favorite hat

My brown Tim Allen bell crown slouch.I have that nice and broken it.I love that hat.I try to wear it whenever I can.

[Spinster]

Re: Your favorite hat

Out of curiosity...why would you all want your hats / caps to look nice and new???!!!

That question deserves a more thorough answer. Its a part of the 19th century mindset.

The condition of the hat speaks to the condition of the man wearing it. A quality hat will stand up to decades of constant wear--it may need reblocking, relining, a new band, a new silk edge, but a quality hat body is virtually indistructible by anything other than fire. Worn and brushed on a regular basis, moth has no opportunity to eat it.

Rain sheds well off a quality hat body--it is dense and well finished. If it does become soaked, a quality hat body can be reshaped with ease, unlike many modern blend hat bodies.

A man without a proper head covering suffers much in the outdoors--almost before the weapon, the hat is vital to the soldier, for it preserves his health against chill, sun, and rain. A poorly groomed soldier is a poor reflection on his unit---uniforms were inspected. Hats were not treated differently.

There is sometimes the fashion today to artificially age a hat by mashing it, wetting it, bouncing it about in the dirt. This simply produces a dirty shapeless hat that bears little resemblance to those of the period.

Go through all the originals you've handled over the years--those hats are not shapeless, and are often quite clean, unless they were stored improperly. Surely not all of those preserved kepis and Hardees belonged to bandbox soldiers--no, they were worn daily, and kept with the same care that a man kept the tools of his trade.

Still and all, yes, the extended rigors of a campaign will do damage--though we rarely see that rigor imposed on a reproduction hat. Doug Cooper cited Frank Afmuth's 'apology for a hat' above. It was a rare exception to that rule, and a hat that had well and bravely earned its dubious rank.

[aetius123]

Re: Your favorite hat

My black slouch hat made by Dirty Billy. It didn't shrink when wet.

John Winkler
Alamo Rifles

[Coatsy]

Re: Your favorite hat

My zouave fez. It is blue, fits on the back of my scunion, and has a nice tassle. I had fun wearing it as a Fire Zou Zou last year.

[Micah Trent]

Re: Your favorite hat

Would have to be my Tim Allen Enlisted Hardee's Hat. Quite comfy. Has gone through it and still looks good.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Your favorite hat

My favorite hat was an old black slouch I picked up at Fall Creek (yeah, I'm a farb...) in about 1993. I trimmed the brim and replaced the silk ribbon that bound the edge. I removed the modern synthetic lining and pleather sweatband. I relined the hat with homespun and put in a painted cloth sweatband.

I gave the hat away last year to a local kid who is just getting into the hobby. I kinda miss it, but it was for a good cause.

[Johnny Lloyd]

Re: Your favorite hat

Black low-crown bowler from "Filthy William" for my Confederate impression... and another Federal type II forage from him as well bought secondhand.

Thanks ya'll -Johnny :wink_smil

[jacifus]

Re: Your favorite hat

My hat is a Clearwater Slouch Hat ("Shiloh") Coffee-colored......

[DougCooper]

Re: Your favorite hat

Its a tie - Jerry Stiles' Chickamauga "ANV, Bad and We Know It" officer slouch with attitude and Frank Aufmuth's BGR "apology for a hat".

[Rebbeh]

Re: Your favorite hat

simply because my hat hasn't been used to start enough fires yet ;)

[Secesh]

Re: Your favorite hat

Out of curiosity...why would you all want your hats / caps to look nice and new???!!!

[sharpshooter]

Re: Your favorite hat

Mine is my ************ McDowell cap, by far the most comfortable of all my caps. 2nd in line is my Dirty Billy's Beehive Farmer.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Your favorite hat

Favorite would be my NJ ************ forage cap, bought it for $75 from the Jersey Skillet Licker at Boonsboro, Maryland back in 2003. Just wore it at Mill Springs and it looks like the day I got it. 2nd favorite would my Dirty Billy's beehive farmer.