Pith Helmets And A Cool Noggin

[Monk]

Years back I read an article in a travel mag about how the British explorers used pith helmets to keep their head cool in southern climates and the writer gave quite a bit of info on how effective they were. Apparently they were made out of some natural material and SOAKED in water before wearing..when you wore them the evaporative cooling effect kept the wearer's head from overheating plus the dome shape like a bobbies helmet gave air space.
Unfortunately I lost the article.
Has anyone else here any info on pith helmets or how they were used in past times? I'm finding out that the ancients had ways to deal with common problems before high tech kit.
Thanks,
Monk

 

[Toddy]

My brother and I played with my Uncles's pith helmet when we were little; it was incredibly robust, didn't rot and didn't go foosty either even though it lived in one of the old, unheated workshops when we weren't trailing it over (and under!) everything in the gardens. Uncle Andrew said that it was supposed to be rinsed out clean every morning by his batman before (muster?) parade, but I'd never heard about the 'air conditioning' before; interesting Wonder if that could be used for riding/cycling/canoeing/hard hat applications? Has to be better than some of the sweaty overheated things that we have now.
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[ssj]

I once heard that some of them were made from cork with a canvas covering. It probably would be very light. I'm not sure how much water the cork would retain but the canvas covering would be rather cool while the water was evaporating.
Steve

 

[Stuart]

in 1900 is was believed that sunlight contained dangerous rays called "actinic rays" which could penetrate the skull damaging the brain and spinal fluid causing a condition called "coup de soleil" (meaning literally struck by the sun)

This lead to a fashion for wearing sun helmets and felt spinal pads and British soldiers in India were ordered to a pith helmet or solar topee during daylight hours (the punishment for not doing so was 14 days confined to barracks)

It was only in 1917 that the real cause of sunstroke was discovered as a failure of the bodies’ thermoregulatory system rather than 'actinic' rays penetrating the skull

Even after this knowledge became accepted however the military continued its practice of issuing pith helmets

 

[BlueTrain]

The first man to walk the Applachian Trail end to end was famous for wearing a pith helmet, but I can never remember his name. What is less well known is the the US Army continued to issue fibre pith helmets into the Vietman War period, though they were not common and I never saw one.

This same famous thru-hiker was also well known for being an ultra-light hiker, though he used an army rucksack manufactured in 1942, apparently the only one he ever owned. He wore Redwing workboots without socks. Try that someday.

 

[greg2935]

In my opinion they are heavy and not really useful for bushcraft

 

[Monk]

I do recall the article saying that some versions were possibly made out of cork as well. The main gist of the article was that the soaked material be it pith or cork plus the canvas covering gave the wearer of said helmet a cooling effect plus the airspace inside- all were design features for cooling.
They would be a bit heavy for bushcraft but it's an idea for hot weather. Did try using an old canvas bush hat plus a cotton rag both soaked in water-hat on the head and the rag across the neck with both sides going down each side of the neck-you will be cooler or at least feel cooler!
Problem..the hat will eventually shrink/rot/mould if kept wet over a period of time.
Stuart..that's an interesting bit of info on these "rays" -it's amazing the ideas people had in days gone by!

 

[Roving Rich]

On the same kinda idea, but a bit lighter to carry - I wear a felt hat, It keeps the rain of your face and neck, and keeps your head warm. But in hot weather you can soak it, so the water slowly evaporates and keeps your noggin cool. Its an ideal bushcraft hat, but has a habit of blowing off my head in high winds.
Same principle but the felt hat probably dates back a bit further.
They are no good atall in the jungle, they just kinda stay wet (high humidity) and melt, going a bit saggy.

Cheers
Rich