Now Forming! the Campaign Hat Corps

[Bud-n-Texas]

Dean, I was just given this photo of my Great Great Grandfather Lee. He fought in the Civil War and lived out the remainder of his life in his home state of Kentucky. I thought that you would appreciate his hat.

 

[RBH]

Dean, I was just given this photo of my Great Great Grandfather Lee. He fought in the Civil War and lived out the remainder of his life in his home state of Kentucky. I thought that you would appreciate his hat.

That is the coolest photo Bud! Looks like he has a fine beard also!

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

That is the coolest photo Bud! Looks like he has a fine beard also!

His beard has a very ZZTop look to it. I was just thinking how amazing or just unbelievable he would find it , having his photo posted on the INTERNET. There is no doubt that anything like this or the world we live in, would never have crossed his mind. The few stories that I have heard about him, he was quite the rounder in his younger days.

 

[indycop]

looks like George Clooney in O'brother where art thou!

 

[Mojave Jack]

Ah, the good ol' "Hollywood Marines vs. East Coast Marines" debate... lol

San Diego, if I recall, has that God-forsaken "Reaper" mountain or whatever it is. I've seen vids of it... I wouldn't want to hike it.

Then again, at PI, there's something to be said for the fact that it's in the middle of a swamp. And, well, I went in at the end of May. So, come July... temps were some of the highest recorded since the 30's.

10-mile humps, sweating so profusely that your cammies are -black-, with sweat steadily streaming from the -brim- of your cover... fun times, that.

Oh, and mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls...

I sort of miss it.

Gaige, you're thinking of Mount Mother... or "female dog" Ridge, both of which are well-earned nicknames! I'll never forget the night we approached Mount MF after a seven mile hump, which has some kind of radio repeater station or something on top. As we got closer, the light on that station kept getting higher and higher. Suddenly it dawned on me that we were going up that thing! My buddy broke his ankle going down the far side. As it's name implies, it was a mother...! B***h Ridge was not nearly as steep, but it was looooong. Still, I'll take Pendleton over Lejeune any day. I'll climb Mount MF ten times a day to avoid the swamps, humidity, and sand fleas of Lejeune. Actually, 29 Palms is best of all, and I'll stay here as long as possible.

My thanks to all those providing info on the Marine Corps service hat. I've finally found a likely conversion hat, a Resistol XXX Beaver. Here are the befores:

First, I dunked it into a bath of denatured alcohol for about a day to take some of the stiffener out of it, and pulled out the liner. Then I reshaped it to a longer center dent and a turned down brim.

I just dropped it off to have the stitching put around the brim. I asked for the stitching to have three rows of color matched thread, the first row 1/4" from the edge, and the inner two rows spaced 1/8" apart. I also asked to have a nice clean hole punched for the EGA on the front. I decided not to try to do the dimensional brim trim, primarily because I wasn't confident enough to try it and possibly ruin it. I also figured that so many hats would have been private purchase and the variety would have been so great that a large percentage probably did not have the dimensional cut anyway. Rationalization on my part, to be sure, but I was just to chicken to take a razor to my brim!

I am now trying to find a suitable source for 5/8" grosgrain, but so far no luck.

One other problem I've run into is that the crown of the hat is so round, it doesn't take the taper seen in so many service hats. It very distinctly wants to go back to a cattleman's crease. That was a common bash, too, so it's no huge deal, but I was trying for a bash like in Dean's post just above. I'm sure with time and wear, though, it will begin to taper on its own.

I should have it back with the stitching and the EGA in place very soon. If I can find a leather punch small enough, I am going to try to put snowflake vents in, too. The guy I took it to for the stitching does leather work, but his punches were all too big. Since a great many of the hats didn't have vents at all, I can live without the vents until I find the right size punch.

I currently have a subdued emblem, a copy of a WWI emblem. The variation was not significant between the Span-Am War and WWI, so it is an appropriate device. I would also like to find a screw back bright version (but not anodized) like some of the pics from the Boxer Rebellion and the Philippines show (and as worn by Charlton Heston in 55 Days at Peking).

I'll post follow up pics soon!

 

[DeaconKC]

OT,but the Marines out there will find this interesting. My Garand was built in 12/43and went to Parris Island in Jan of 44, I wonder where it went after that. And thank you all for your service!

 

[Mojave Jack]

So far, so good. Here are the results, to date. I've dunked it into denatured alcohol for about 24 hours, both to clean it (had a horrible cigarette smell) and to soften it up. Both worked great. Then I took it to a local shop to have the stitches put in the brim. Not the straightest in the world, but I console myself that it was a wartime production hat, and some sloppiness was probably to be expected!

I'm having a heckuva time finding some tan 5/8" ribbon, though. Any suggestions?

Lastly, I went to Michael's last night and picked up some very small leather punches to put the snowflake vent in with the smallest one.

 

[Duck]

Wow!!!

Great job, Jack :eusa_clap :eusa_clap That hat looks fantastic.. Do you have a close-up of the brim stitching? Did you do the stitching? By hand or machine?

I am very impressed!!!!!!!

 

[Mojave Jack]

Thanks, Duck!

No, I had the stitching done by a local outfitters. They do a lot of custom leather work (they quoted a friend of mine $40 for a custom made shoulder rig copied form a late-nineteenth century rig! They do good work and the prices can't be beat! They did a custom leather seat for my camping stool for $15!) and also canvas work. The stitching is not perfect, but that's ok.

I had a devil of a time retraining the crown on that thing! It want to go back to that original cattleman's crease something fierce. Finally I just dunked the whole thing in the sink, then shaped it and worn it around until it held. I had it on outside in the 30-degree temps. hoping that cold wind would dry it faster. Got a bad case of brain freeze during a couple of gusts, but it worked!

 

[deanglen]

MJ,

Terrific job! The stitching is fine! Photos I've seen of originals evidence drifting in the stitches quite often. Yours look as good or better than some I've seen. Honestly, I found 5/8" grosgrain at Wal-Mart, Michael's, Jo-Ann, etc. It's not really hat making ribbon, but I'v used it. I tinted it with wood stain once to get the shade I wanted of the khaki color ribbon. Then I tried really strong coffee, which gives it s subtle darkening. I think a light RIT dye would do better, but I quit making repros of those hats since before I got try it. There are on-line ribbion stores. I bought some 5/8" grosgrain calld "oatmeal" color, a bit light, but with some dye work, would be pretty good. That is a terrific looking 'fore and aft' you have there. WELL DONE!!



dean

 

[RBH]

That is fantastic work!!!
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Speedster]

BRAVO

That is absolutely fantastic work, MJ
:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Mark G]

You got the look right on, congrats.

As to the ribbon, you got me having a hard time finding anything under 3/4".

 

[Mojave Jack]

Thanks, fellas!

Dean, was the ribbon you altered a ployester ribbon? I assumed that wouldn't take any dye, but it's worth a shot. I've been trying to find the cotton-rayon ribbon. I checked both Jo-Ann Fabrics and Michael's, but they didn't even have the lighter colored shades in 5/8". The only places I can find on the web want a minimum order of $25! I couldn't use tha much ribbon in 20 years!

'Course now I have to get all the rest of the uniform, including a Krag .30-40....

Nick Charles was telling me that SASS is about to introduce a category called the "Wild Bunch." The costuming for the event is period military from 1900 to 1916, and it allows 1911 autos in the pistol category. The only weird thing is that the rifles must be .40 or larger. What military rifle was .40?

 

[GWD]

Here is a shot I ran across of my cousin [on the left] from 1965.
Notice how the other guys hat seems to be too small. At least it does to me.
<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6175/carlos65my5.gif" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

RBH, I knew there was something I liked about you. Gunny Hathcock has been my Hero for the last 10 years since I read "Marine Sniper" I think I have read everything about him, I have a poster of him in my gun safe, I have a Carlos Hathcock "Whitefeather" rifle sling for my sniper rifle! What a truly great human being. I'm honored to share this forum with his cousin!

Thanks for sharing.

 

[deanglen]

Thanks, fellas!

Dean, was the ribbon you altered a ployester ribbon? I assumed that wouldn't take any dye, but it's worth a shot. I've been trying to find the cotton-rayon ribbon. I checked both Jo-Ann Fabrics and Michael's, but they didn't even have the lighter colored shades in 5/8". The only places I can find on the web want a minimum order of $25! I couldn't use tha much ribbon in 20 years!

Here is the polyester ribbon I got from Michaels tinted with light oak wood stain. I loved the color. The ribbon was a bit stiffer after applying it, but the color made it worth it. I wasn't planning on removing the ribbon anyway so the stiffening affect wasn't a problem. I just tightened it up under the bow as I tacked it onto the crown.

I will look for some at Wal-mart for you. They have a great tan ribbon that tints nicely with a soak in very strong coffee.



dean

 

[Mojave Jack]

Here is the polyester ribbon I got from Michaels tinted with light oak wood stain. I loved the color. The ribbon was a bit stiffer after applying it, but the color made it worth it. I wasn't planning on removing the ribbon anyway so the stiffening affect wasn't a problem. I just tightened it up under the bow as I tacked it onto the crown.

I will look for some at Wal-mart for you. They have a great tan ribbon that tints nicely with a soak in very strong coffee.

dean

Dean, that ribbon looks great! I tried Wal-Mart, but it must be my remote location because nobody seems to stock anything in 5/8".

Were you able to put a curve into the ribbon with an iron? I know that works pretty well with the cotton-rayon ribbon, but I've never tried it with polyester. I suppose you'd just use a cooler setting and it might work the same way. Yours seems to fit the contour of the hat very well.

 

[deanglen]

Dean, that ribbon looks great! I tried Wal-Mart, but it must be my remote location because nobody seems to stock anything in 5/8".

Were you able to put a curve into the ribbon with an iron? I know that works pretty well with the cotton-rayon ribbon, but I've never tried it with polyester. I suppose you'd just use a cooler setting and it might work the same way. Yours seems to fit the contour of the hat very well.

Didn't use an iron. After tacking the ribbon to the crown as reasonably snug as I could, I steamed the ribbon area and it caused the crown and ribbon to adhere nicely, and tightened it to the crown as it appears in the photos, after I applied a little reverse pressure from inisde the crown against the ribbon. I'll keep my eye out for ribbon for you and when I do I'll let you know and send it to you.




dean

 

[DanielJones]

Something Dean may be interested in...

Well, here is my latest acquisition, a Marine Corps campaign cover.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290224337533&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=019

Probably not as vintage as they think it is, but it is going to make a good project hat. I'm going to find out where I can get a decent leather sweatband from & stitch in a new one to replace the so called vinyl one. And, depending on the condition of the ribbon I may replace that as well. Any suggestions there Dean?
I'll most likely want to soften it up to make it more pliable & do a brim job similar to this.

One of my favorite films & a good looking lid to boot.
So, any suggestions on how to refurbish this lid are most welcome. But, I think I want to leave the Montana crown shape though. I think I'm going to have to reverse engineer how they sewed in the sweatband to figure it out. This should be interesting.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

Ah, the good ol' "Hollywood Marines vs. East Coast Marines" debate... lol

San Diego, if I recall, has that God-forsaken "Reaper" mountain or whatever it is. I've seen vids of it... I wouldn't want to hike it.

Then again, at PI, there's something to be said for the fact that it's in the middle of a swamp. And, well, I went in at the end of May. So, come July... temps were some of the highest recorded since the 30's.

10-mile humps, sweating so profusely that your cammies are -black-, with sweat steadily streaming from the -brim- of your cover... fun times, that.

Oh, and mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls...

I sort of miss it.

Us "Hollywood Marines" ('87) had "Mount Mutha(you get the rest)" & "B**ch Ridge". Tough climbs & marches I would gladly take over chiggers & mosquitoes any day. Did that part during my stint at Sniper School. But I wouldn't trade that experience & part of my life for anything in the world. Got to meet the White Feather himself, Carlos Hathcock.

Cheers!

Dan