Plastic "Pith" Helmets like the US Postal Letter Carriers Wear?

[Abraham]

If you want to simulate what it's like to wear a plastic "pith" helmet, just put a plastic mixing bowl over your head and wear it out in the sun for two or three hours. You'll want a "real" pith helmet from then on.

Have you actually worn one? The two letter carriers I have spoke to would both say your simulation would not yield results anywhere near wearing what I asked about.

 

[Abraham]

After many, many complaints the USPS abandoned the use of the plastic helmets and now use a fabric Boonie.

Please don't waste your money

That's simply not true. BOTH are still commonly used and offered for sale.

 

[Abraham]

I found a review of what I asked about on Amazon. I'm pretty amazed by how uniformly positive the reviews are: http://www.amazon.com/Rothco-Milita...405697630&sr=8-2&keywords=plastic+pith+helmet

 

[Big J]

I found a review of what I asked about on Amazon. I'm pretty amazed by how uniformly positive the reviews are: http://www.amazon.com/Rothco-Milita...405697630&sr=8-2&keywords=plastic+pith+helmet

If you decide to purchase a plastic Pith Helmet, please post some feedback on how it performed, won't you? Enquiring minds want to settle the debate over comfort.

 

[ingineer]

Abraham;

I stand corrected.
I was told that they were not proper uniform hats by two of the carriers who used to wear the piths. This may be a result of the constant change of our Postmaster in this town.
Still I think that a better solution is a open weave panama without a sweatband as the capillary action of the straw wicks away the perspiration to the brim edge.
Just based on my frequent use of several hardhats and the knowledge that they were issue in the 60's and could count on one hand seeing someone wear one.
At that price you have little to loose, so please post your experience with it.

Richard

 

[Edward]

The one in the Amazon link looks very much like the one I have at home. Sounds like most folks are using it for yardwork. Be interesting to see a review for one work out and about in the street, as it were.

 

[Abraham]

I am also considering the Dadant Plastic Sun Helmet: http://www.dadant.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34_67&products_id=576

 

[dh66]

It was raining here yesterday, and I noticed the postman was wearing one (plastic pith helmet) when he came by.

 

[Abraham]

To follow-up I did order one. I wore it to a baseball game and actually got some positive comments on it -- mostly about where I got it. I really liked the fact my head did not get soggy from a Tilley hat/boonie hat/baseball cap. I rinsed it out when I got home and it seemed like new today. What I don't know it how it would perform if I was physically exerting myself while I wore it.

 

[Hercule]

We just got back from a week in Atlanta where we saw Police type auxiliaries, "Ambassadors" I guess they're called, who wear pith helmets. An interesting sight. I would imagine they were plastic.

I think if I were to get one I'd try to track down a real one of some sort and not a plastic one. Though I must admit that plastic does have its merits where exposure to the element is concerned.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Years ago there was an Army Navy store out here that used to carry USPS pith helmets. I seem to remember they came in USPS Blue, either Khaki or White, and Olive Drab.

 

[Doc Glockster]

Have you actually worn one? The two letter carriers I have spoke to would both say your simulation would not yield results anywhere near wearing what I asked about.

I wore the equivalent made for the US Marine Corps. The hat was hot and constantly in the way. Right now I wear a Jaxon safari hat from Village Hat Shop that has a stiff brim. The hat is comfortable in hot weather. I have gotten the hat soaking wet and the brim returned to its original stiffness when dry. I think it may have a plastic insert in the edge of the brim or something.

Never again would I wear a plastic pith-style helmet as a sun hat. As a rain hat I could see it working.

 

[Abraham]

I wore the equivalent made for the US Marine Corps. The hat was hot and constantly in the way. Right now I wear a Jaxon safari hat from Village Hat Shop that has a stiff brim. The hat is comfortable in hot weather. I have gotten the hat soaking wet and the brim returned to its original stiffness when dry. I think it may have a plastic insert in the edge of the brim or something.

Never again would I wear a plastic pith-style helmet as a sun hat. As a rain hat I could see it working.

You were a USMC letter carrier?

 

[Abraham]

We just got back from a week in Atlanta where we saw Police type auxiliaries, "Ambassadors" I guess they're called, who wear pith helmets. An interesting sight. I would imagine they were plastic.

I think if I were to get one I'd try to track down a real one of some sort and not a plastic one. Though I must admit that plastic does have its merits where exposure to the element is concerned.

They are easy to find -- Amazon has a great many for sale. A real pith helmet would be of little use for me as it could not be laundered.

 

[dh66]

We just got back from a week in Atlanta where we saw Police type auxiliaries, "Ambassadors" I guess they're called, who wear pith helmets. An interesting sight. I would imagine they were plastic.

I think if I were to get one I'd try to track down a real one of some sort and not a plastic one. Though I must admit that plastic does have its merits where exposure to the element is concerned.

We have guys like that here as well, they're called C.A.P. (community assistance patrol or something to that effect) and they wear white plastic pith helmets.

I often wear a hard hat at work, and I would imagine a plastic pith helmet would be much, much lighter and more comfortable.

 

[Hercule]

We have guys like that here as well, they're called C.A.P. (community assistance patrol or something to that effect) and they wear white plastic pith helmets.

I thought they looked quite classy actually, almost with, oddly enough, an Australian or Canadian look about them. A HELL of a lot better, and I can't stress this enough, a hell of a lot better than a ball cap!

 

[Doc Glockster]

You were a USMC letter carrier?

The Marine Corps fielded a plastic sun helmet very similar to the postal service one for a while. I'm not sure but they may be the same helmet, just colored differently.

 

[totallyfrozen]

A real pith helmet (or a panama straw hat) would become disgustingly "sweated-out" after a few severe uses which are just about daily for me. That's why I wear Tilley hats (which cost as least as much as pith helmets) and boonie hats -- they can be laundered -- but they also aren't all that comfortable when sweated through. A plastic pith helmet could simply be rinsed out and then dried with a tissue, hence my question.

You seem to have no experience with an actual, genuine pith helmet. There is a harness inside that suspends the helmet above and off of the scalp (similar to a hard hat). They don't get "sweated out" because you don't actually touch anything but the sweat band and the harness. You can remove the harness and rinse it out if you want to. They are very breathable and light weight. They are at least as cool as a straw hat with a loose weave or vented crown (yes, I have done an A/B comparison outside in temps above 100°F). I have 2 real pith helmets and wear them regularly in the hot Texas summer. The least expensive and easiest to find pith helmets are hand made in Vietnam (where plant grows that they harvest pith from) and are sold online through the Village Hat Shop. The French colonial model is the most practical IMO because if the wide brim all around. On that site, they go for about $40.

Sent from my iPhone 5c using Tapatalk

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

We had the old cloth over plastic version and they were good looking. Sadly, the plastic suspension made my head break out, so they wound up on the wall at the camp and Katrina took them away...

Fed