Daan
Vendor
- Messages
- 941
- Location
- Wellington, Aotearoa
The pakol (also called Afghan cap, or Ahmad Shah Massoud hat), is the only hat I wear apart from the beret, typically on cold, very windy winter days. The pakol is a soft, round-topped hat made of wool and found in any of a variety of earthy colors: brown, black, gray, stone or ivory.
Before it is put on, it resembles a bag with a round, flat bottom. The wearer rolls up the sides nearly to the top, forming a thick band, which then rests on the head like a beret.
I started wearing mine some 25 years ago, when working in medical emergency aid and receiving a real beauty from a colleague who worked in Afghanistan.
They were unknown really, at the time, long before 9/11. Different now, where I have actually heard from customers who wore one when entering the US and being harassed for wearing a “terrorist’s hat”! Nonsense of course, the pakol is much older than the word terrorist, introduced to Central Asia by Alexander the Great, many centuries before even Islam came into being.
Ahmad Shah Massoud, the photogenic commander who so successfully fought the Soviet invaders in Afghanistan, is strongly associated with the pakol (the hat often being referred to as “Massoud Cap”.
It’s presently on SPECIAL for the week at South Pacific Berets, available in a good selection of colours, perfectly size adjustable and genuine Afghan made (@ $29.95 only).
Before it is put on, it resembles a bag with a round, flat bottom. The wearer rolls up the sides nearly to the top, forming a thick band, which then rests on the head like a beret.
I started wearing mine some 25 years ago, when working in medical emergency aid and receiving a real beauty from a colleague who worked in Afghanistan.
They were unknown really, at the time, long before 9/11. Different now, where I have actually heard from customers who wore one when entering the US and being harassed for wearing a “terrorist’s hat”! Nonsense of course, the pakol is much older than the word terrorist, introduced to Central Asia by Alexander the Great, many centuries before even Islam came into being.
Ahmad Shah Massoud, the photogenic commander who so successfully fought the Soviet invaders in Afghanistan, is strongly associated with the pakol (the hat often being referred to as “Massoud Cap”.
It’s presently on SPECIAL for the week at South Pacific Berets, available in a good selection of colours, perfectly size adjustable and genuine Afghan made (@ $29.95 only).