Campaign hats

[SouthPoleScout]

What is the best way to keep these hats in good shape? I just bought one for my son to wear while staffing JLT and he wants to take it to summer camp as well.

 

We live in the Pacific Northwest - I can see this hat getting wet. I can also see it getting tossed into a locker and/or gear bag....

 

I'd like to see the thing last and look good as long as possible.

 

Any hints?

[jmcquillan]

Most Scout Shops, or the BSA catalog, offer a "board" to slide the hat into by its brim, thereby keeping the shape and protecting the edges. I'm not sure if the same folks offer the rain protector, which is basically a clear "raincoat" for the hat, but you might look. I had one left over from the military, and was able to get more at my local Army/Navy store. You might try that.

 

As to it getting tossed into a locker....well, that's a discussion you'll have to have with your Scout....good luck.

[k9gold-scout]

Some scout shops have a rain cover for your hat. If not any western store will have one.

[yaworski]

There are hat presses available to keep the brim flat. BSA used to sell a nice one, the new one isn't as nice.

 

Rain covers are available from Brigade Quartermasters and U.S. Calvalry (both have websites but I don't know the URL) or just about any place that sells police uniforms.

 

Remember, it's a HAT. Hats are supposed to develop character. I'm not a DI so I didn't want a completely flat hat so my brim looks more like the hats on the AEF. Also, if it gets beat up enough, a hat can be re-blocked for about $25.

 

 

[Twocubdad]

I made a hat press out of two pieces of particle board, one solid and the other with a cutout the size of the crown. It's pressed together with two bungies. Much nicer than the one Supply division sells. I also drilled a hole in one corner to hang it by, avoiding the "stuffed in a locker" look.

 

My campaign hat stays home on campouts. I wear it mostly for Pack meetings and other "Class A" events.

[Art Franz]

I've had two campaign hats for many years. One is dusty, scruffy, and been rained on many times. It has a brim that is curled up front and back, and has an old rattlesnake band and an old Philmont pin in the front vent hole. It has a lot of character.

 

My other hat is kept in perfect condition for more formal occasions by storing it in a rain cover inside an old style hat press.

 

The hat press is made of 1/8" Masonite. The back panel is a solid rectangle with a 1/2" hole near the top center. The front panel is the same size with a "U" shaped cutout at the top for the crown. Between the front and back panels, at the sides and bottom are 1/2" wide strips of the same 1/8" Masonite. The three layers are glued together.

 

Good Luck,

 

Art Franz