Aye Up Tallywhacker,
'crap-hat' - term (of 'endearment' dare I suggest?!
) used by paras and commandos when they refer to any other
beret colour apart from their own i.e. infantry khaki, armoured/support black/dark navy etc. (except for RMP's for whom special terms were reserved!
).
Crow cap - (CROW = Can't Read Or Write) lightweight, peaked dpm cap with fold down ear flaps originally issued to all soldiers and especially worn by junior soldiers during their initial training before they were
even allowed to wear a 'crap-hat'. In it's
original construction and material (early '70's - see image) many thought that it was a was a decent/useful hat as long as you didn't machine wash it as the peak inner was cardboard! - It was better than a beret, lighter than a steel! helmet - comy if you got the correct size, allowed your head to breathe, kept light rain off, kept the sun off your head and the peak kept the sun out of your eyes, flaps kept the tips of the ears warm first thing but as with most Brit kit it gradually became produced with cheaper materials and so it did become a crap-hat. I got hold of an original, dyed it, replaced the cardboard with plastic and it worked well as previously stated. There may have originally been a plain olive green version in the better material (study some of the FI imagery and you may see what looks like one). You will find the Fjallraven Sarek cap on their web-site(s). Its made from the G1000 material (in dark olive) used on the jackets and trousers which I personally think is over rated and too expensive but I have to confess that I have bought some of those (and the hat) as I find that the tarmac/dark olive combination works extremely well for my purposes. By the way, I have tried a Lowe Alpine with the inner removed - it just doesn't feel right as the outer shell needs some support (how about replacing the fleece with cotton?) Alas, the FJ Sarek (summer unlined version) has what I would describe as a 'Euro profile' in appearance and that brings me back to my previous response (and to a degree to Tonyuk's post) that we don't seem to take well to peaked caps in the UK. Maybe their is a stigma attached to the M43 (German WWII lightweight hat) profile which the crow hat vaguely resembles. The modern day German forces still use it, today in flecktarn but you can still get plain olive versions. The Austrians on the other hand have moved away from that style and have both a new summer and a winter version of a different cap (
KA03 issue - see attached image which is winter version - the summer looks identical to it but not sure about the ear flaps or the materials of which each version is made ) perhaps you could do something with those?
Wet-Weather-MVP-Hat by Alan 13-7, on Flickr
