Who Among Us Wears a Smokey Bear/Campaign hat?

[TAHAWK]

As a scout, it was the red baret, until our troop pitched in an ordered ball caps with our #s on it. Until then, or SM never wore a hat. In Western PA, don't recall seeing many campaign hats in the '70's and '80s. In high school I picked up a wide-brim felt hat from a truck stop in TN, for its two features. One: its look was more mountaineer than cowboy (living in Steeler country, that was an important distinction). Two: at size 13, it fit perfectly, which was a rare find among headgear. I did not wear that so much for scouting as I did for show (square dances, in particular), but later realized it did a purty good job deflecting the rain off my back -- so from college and beyond it became my go-to headgear for hikes in the woods. The kids found it to be irresistible, and it didn't survive them! So, when they finally grew out of stealing dad's clothes for "dress up", I started looking, and for $35 found me a wide-brimmed leather hat not far off from Headgehog's description. It has a nice braided band for sticking feathers in, and endures my kind of scouting. So, it gets worn with my field uniform. I think a campaign hat would have been in shreds 2-3 times over by now. But truth be told, I've never hiked with a scouter who would wear one through our laurel thickets to know for sure.

SIZE 13 !?  7 7/8 is the largest size I can find- 24 7/8" circumference.  

[Stosh]

SIZE 13 !?  7 7/8 is the largest size I can find- 24 7/8" circumference.  

 

Ya know, these hats aren't meant for real bears, they just call them Smoky hats because of the National Forest Service,  Jus' sayin' guys!

[TAHAWK]

Without applying any science, I suspect the Baseball cap is less objectionable for Scouts than the beret, Garrison Cap, or Campaign Hat that preceded it.

 

BSA could come up with a more practical cap:

(Finnish Field Cap)

 

Maine Hunter's Cap

[Eagle94-A1]

If memory serves, National did make something like mainhunter's cap once upon a time. I think there is a pic of one in my old field book.  Gonna have to pry it from middle son's hands.

[Stosh]

I'll take a pass on the Finnish Field Cap, looks like the military field cap of the German forces during WW II.... Oh, wait, it is.

[TAHAWK]

The enemy of my enemy, Stosh.  What fascinates me is that Stalin stopped at the border he had conquered from Finland in 1939 instead of rolling over Finland as he had Germany's other allies.

 

Found the wool cap on p, 23 of the 1948 Field Book.  The ear flaps tucked inside the hat.  Still, better for cold weather.

[qwazse]

SIZE 13 !?  7 7/8 is the largest size I can find- 24 7/8" circumference.

 

I'm quite sure the truck stop gift shop of 35 years ago did not calibrate measures with the Internet.

[Back Pack]

Didn't Elmer Fudd start the fad in 1937?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e2/1d/8d/e21d8d9c4855c795cd83559c8dc392fe.jpg

[TAHAWK]

I'm quite sure the truck stop gift shop of 35 years ago did not calibrate measures with the Internet.

The Internet didn't create hat sizes.

 

Known Head Sizes of a Few Historical Men:

Chester A. Aurthur  7 1/4

Winston Churchill    7 1/8

Dwight D. Eisenhower 7 1/8

Henry Ford  6 7/8

President H.U. Grant  7  3/4

Abraham Lincoln   7 5/8 

Edited March 6, 2017 by TAHAWK

[Stosh]

One cannot go by the hat size to insure it fits, one also has to take into consideration head shape in a full brimmed hat like the campaign hat.  A person with a oval head will distort the brim of a round formed hat so that the front and back will dip depending on how much pressure is put forward and backwards on the hat.

[TAHAWK]

Does BSA supply the "Perfect Oval these days?

 

What's the matter with the software.  Will not keep making letters

[mgood777]

A follow up question might be: How many scouters under 55 wear the campaign hat.

 

 

I wear the campaign hat and I'm under 55 by 6 years -

 

The scouts in the troop love seeing it, I love wearing it. My old SM wore one, I'll never forget him, the guy was 101 ways of awesome. "The HAT" just kind of belongs. 

 

I'll be 49 in a couple of weeks and I recently ordered a BSA campaign hat.

I'm going to be on Wood Badge staff in the spring, so I sorta need one. Been considering it for a while anyway.

[The Latin Scot]

I got mine for my 33rd birthday last December. It was a gift from some of the boys in my den, and I LOVE it! And mind you I am young-looking - I still get mistaken for an older Scout or Venturer. OFTEN. 

[ham_solo]

A good question I always had was when is it appropriate to wear these hats?   

 

Weekly Troop meetings?  COH? Only when hiking and carrying your hiking stick?  Sitting around at camp?  To the grocery?

[Eagle94-A1]

A good question I always had was when is it appropriate to wear these hats?   

 

Weekly Troop meetings?  COH? Only when hiking and carrying your hiking stick?  Sitting around at camp?  To the grocery?

 

All the above. Grant you, I do have one Smokey that I only use for special occasions, i.e. BnGs, COHs, banquets, etc. But my primary has been through numerous meetings, camp outs, hikes, and yes pre and post meeting errands. It's survived a hurricane, been shot at by German Scouts, and went to a WSJ with me.