Chip Bag Help Request

[SirToppamHat]

I am after an RAF Officer's chip bag/Forage Cap/Side Hat. The only source I've found is the Dewhirst mob at Cranwell. Had a look, but to be honest they were a bit 'cheap and nasty' (yet cost a packet). My guess is they've probably got a bit of a monopoly.

I am after one that is lined and padded. When I explained this to the shop assistant in there, she pointed out that, as I was not an 'Air Officer', I would have to make do with one of the normal ones.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? They must be around as I've seen them at other units. I know the Mods don't like adverts, but I would think this is more of a service than a commercial - feel free to PM me if you prefer.

TVM

STH

[PinkFlyer]

TA PinkI know there is a company at RAF St Mawgan that do them. You can even design your own lining if you wish! I've seen ones lined with map (1:50000) design, tartan, and pics etc. Cost is around £40 which is pritty good for a personalised one i recon.


The name of the company escapes me, but i'm sure a sneaky call the station tel exchange will uncover who they are. Perhaps someone here might be able to help too.

TA Pink

[SpotterFC]

Dewhirsts Shmewhirsts!!!

Snaiths Young Man, Snaiths! Have you no standards? Dewhirsts is where the proletariat shop!
Got meself a Snaiths model to save on packing for my lovely ASC trips to Israel and America (catch those for me would you?). Lovely bit of padding and bright red lining.

PM me dear chap and I'll tell you how much they are - hope you're sitting down.

Could also procure it for you if you like and then mail it on.

Cheers

Spots

Tin hat on for proletariat comment!

[BEagle]

But why would anyone want a blasted tw*t hat?

Last time I bought a SD cap in stores (2002), it cost all of £14. "Are you sure?", I asked them. "Yes Sir" they replied.

I'm convinced it was a cock-up! I reckon that price was just for the badge. But as it was stipulated in their catalogue at that price, that's all they would accept.

SD cap was fine though! Better than paying heaven knows how much at one of those thieving tailors'........

[tablet_eraser]

Spotter, I have to make do with a Dewhirst piece of crap... hopefully that makes me more of a victim than a prole? PLEEEEASE don't get the thought police on to me!

I do need to get a better chiphat. The Dewhirst ones are rectangular and look absurd... and they're imitations, too, as you can't let the folded bit down to make the odd balaclava arrangement. Could do with a better one... these jobbies with the personalised linings sound good!

[SirToppamHat]

Thanks SpotterFC,

PM on way, though I have to say that a personalised one is attractive given the modern trend for these items to go missing!! Perhaps I will have one lined with black bin-liner plastic - on second thoughts, let's not go there:O !

How's the Course going? Any chance you could drop into Scampton and check that work is proceeding apace?

Regards

STH

[Now a 'J' Bloke!!]

Hi Gang;

Who needs a chip bag anyway???...:sad:

Us mere filth get our hats for free.... and I'll be B***ered if I'm paying for a new one...:ok:

Regards
SFS

[Safety_Helmut]

Now a 'J' Bloke

I suppose this kind of stuff is for those eccentrics who have to prove to the rest of us that they are eccentrics.

;)

Safety_Helmut (and wearer of free hats)

[SirToppamHat]

Sorry to disappoint, but it's actually just easier to travel with a chip bag and I find it more comfortable to wear as well.

If anyone could let me have a contact no for the St Mawgan hatter I'd be obliged - I don't think there's much chance of a telephone exchange at any of our units, and in my experience, the new service simply isn't up to it:

Me "I'd Like to speak to OC Personnel Services Squadron please"

Operator "How do you spell that please?"

STH

[Maple 01]

Spotter FC said

Tin hat on for proletariat comment!

I'd hate to disappoint!

Capitalist running dog, part of the fascist military-industrial complex, you (and your hat) will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes

Up the workers!

(And judging by PMA's actions that's just where they are planning to stick it)

The Worker's flag is deepest red......


-Maple

One of the Lumpen Proletariat

[rej]

I reakon that the quality of the SD hats you buy from stores are cr@p - they look like you have just climbed off a Russian submarine. I vowed I would never wear a chip-bag. Now I swear by them, they are much more practical.

Try getting one made by your local stn tailor - mine was lined with AF grey satin and if you want it padded I'm sure they would do it for a few bob extra.

[Now a 'J' Bloke!!]

Hi Gang;

Padding in the hat must be a comfort when you must have been dropped on your head as a sprog....:eek:

For most of us ' mere filth'...the requisite beret is both justifiable and stroppy looking enough to upset most.:yuk:

Enoy your linings of choice....:zzz:

Regards..SFS:ok:

[The Rogue]

Chip Bags - Cheapest and best from the tailor in Akrotiri if you can get there. Only cost 10 Cyp and she will do whatever lining you like, and can make it in a day! I'm currently on my third from this source as some thieving git keeps pinchin them! (That is the tailors shop opposite the front of SHQ - there are two in Akrotiri)

[Fire 'n' Forget]

STH,

Knowing who you are, (dont trust others on this forum to remain discreet<advice> as your name came up in conv). Cant wait to see you in your 'Padded Chip Hat' lmao

[BANANASBANANAS]

Bought my first and only Chip Bag from Au Wai Lam Tailors in Hong Kong (Kai Tak) in early 80s. Made to measure in a day and cost about a fiver.

Dont ever remember any being nicked though. Standards chaps, Standards!

[SirToppamHat]

Fire 'n' Forget

I'm thinking of Pink Taffeta and duck down - this should keep my balding head warm AND reduce the chance of it being nicked; mind you, knowing our lot... ;)

Then again, if no-one comes up with a number for the hatter at St Mawgan, it simply won't happen.

Rej - where? Agree regarding the SD hat though.

STH

[Time Flies]

Gieves and Hawkes of No.1 Saville Row do a superb Forage Cap but you pay for the quality!!!!

Just search on Google for their website and look in the military section.

Much better quality than any others I've seen anywhere.

[SirToppamHat]

Gieves and Hawkes

RAF Side Cap = £175

Complete with badge mind you...

I imagine that's some side hat!

[Background Noise]

Always got mine from stores - they are the same as WO pattern hats. Don't know if they are still available though - didn't they want to get the beret in as standard?

[Climebear]

SIF at RAF Cosford do some cheap forage caps. They are good for traveling (saves crushing you SD hat in your luggage - I note that Gieves and Hawkes's is only £190). Especially as berets are not an option in blue for mere mortals; unless, one belongs to the Corps (that's RAF Regt not Air Training).

Fashion tip - don't wear it (the forage cap or (as I have seen) the SD hat) with combats - especially in the company of the Army - it just makes you look a complete tw*t. Dig out the beret they issued at Cranwell or hang the expense and by one with a decent badge.

[ScapegoatisaSolution]

The person at St M is the wonderful tailoress who works out of the Supply Sqn. Don't have the number handy but just look on the Intranet at work under the St M homepage and then the telephone directory. Or just get the operator to help. The quality of her work is excellent so make the most of it before she gets mothballed along with the rest of the place.

[richlear]

I got a nice one from a tailor in lossie - might have the details if you want??

[SirToppamHat]

Tried to post this earlier, but server down?

I have managed to track down the details of the tailor and tailoress at St Mawgan and hope the Moderators won't mind me sharing them here:

According to the Clothing Stores Supervisor, they are Don and Sylv (Tippett?), and are contactable on (01637) 857331.

They should be back in work from tomorrow (30 Mar 05).

I HAVE SPOKEN TO THEM THIS MORNING (1 APR 05), AND THEY ARE CURRENTLY TOO BUSY SEWING ON ROYAL AIR FORCE PATCHES AND MEDALS TO MAKE HATS. I GOT THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY MAKE THEM AS A GAP FILLER. THEY ASK THAT PEOPLE WAIT A MONTH OR SO BEFORE ASKING AGAIN, AS THEY ALREADY HAVE SOME PEOPLE WAITING.

I guess in the interests of fairness, anyone else with suggestions (eg Kinloss tailor) should post here.

Thanks again for all your help.

STH

[Yeller_Gait]

Seem to remember getting mine years ago from the tailor at STM, it was arranged through a crew mate who later transferred to the Kiwi AF, not sure if he was directly linked to the tailors though.

Only problem with said personalized hat is that it still says Sgt Y_G, Raf XXXloss. Never mind, had my moneys worth, and it is much more comfortable that the beret/SD option.

Y_G

[SirToppamHat]

I have spoken to the St Mawgan Tailors this morning, and they are currently too busy (sewing on Royal Air Force patches and medals).

They make hats as a gap filler/side line. They ask that people wait a month or so before asking again as they already have some people waiting.

STH

[APO Dried Plum]

Why on earth do people insist on a padded, red lined chip hat? The hat weighs nothing and perches on top of the head, in addition the lining increases the size of the thing when squeezing into a flying suit pocket. Definetly not required. is this the precursor to a new MTV programme 'Pimp my service headress'???

Rgds Plum

[SirToppamHat]

Some of us are devoid of, or lacking in, nature's own 'head covering' and find these warmer and more comfortable. As I wear mine often, and have to pay for it out of my own pocket, I don't see why I shouldn't have one that is comfortable ... if that's alright with you Dried Plum? The red-lined ones to which you refer are apparently what E C Snaith provide 'off-the-shelf'.

I do not possess a flying overall - though your point is well made. Don't the buttons and badges on a chip bag present a FOD hazard?

As for different colours, simply a means to distinguish between one's own and the other hats, and discourage 'borrowers'.

What is 'M T V' ? I can't find any reference to it in the JSP101!

STH

[APO Dried Plum]

Apologies, I suppose a warmer variety is acceptable for use with thinning servicemen. In answer to your question there is no FOD threat unless you try to fly with your hat on - it' quite safe in an enclosed pocket! To avoid getting it mixed up with others how about writing your name in large letters in tippex? Oh and MTV is Music Television as seen on sky tv.
Rgds!
ps The tailor in Akrotiri makes them but they look pretty bad.

[buoy15]

Beags
Yes, I got one about then, and still have, at £23, and said, are you sure?
Smaller badge though!
I checked a month later, they were £32 + VAT and the badge was extra. Should have bought ten and put them on e-bay!

[5 Forward 6 Back]

Reference the Gieves chip bag, a mate has one. It's very thick, but I don't think it looks as good on as my crumpled old unlined one.

More importantly, while the badge is very shiny, on his Gieves one the eagle looks the wrong way... on my peak and chip bag he's got his beak over to his left, on the Gieves one it's off to his right :suspect:

[BEagle]

"I reckon that the quality of the SD hats you buy from stores is cr@p - they make you look as though you have just climbed off a Russian submarine."

This is true - but pull them down at the front and they're very useful for hiding behind if you ever need to do an Axminster Shuffle.... Allegedly!

A chap I once knew held at the MoD-box back when the awful forage hat 'c**t caps' were just about to be approved and went to some meeting about the things. In came various tailors with various ideas; the best was just like the Yank one and could be rolled up and stuffed into a flying suit pocket or hidden underneath normal blues doubled over....

But then the abortion with buttons and gilded duck appeared - as did the version for AirWheels with blue piping and gaudy little badge.

Guess which 'they' approved?

SD cap with cabbage kit? Why not? Berets are for the lower orders, Frank Spencer and French onion sellers. I last wore one in 1973. If an RAF Officer has to stoop to the level of wearing dung eaters' cabbage kit, he can at least retain some dignity by wearing a proper RAF Officer's SD cap.

Much to the annoyance of the Bwigadier, my boss at Base Aerea Gringo in the Islas Malvinas refused to wear either cabbage kit or a beret - so we always wore flying suits and SD caps. It demonstrated that neither of us was Wupert of the Wedgiment from the umpty-umpth Queen's Own Chinless Pwancers or some other dung eating mob but were officers of the Fuerza Aerea Malvinas!

[Maple 01]

Actually us pond-life from the Mountains of Islas Malvinas always wore caps CW (AKA Dilac) when visiting Base Aerea Gringo to avoid having to salute commissioned members of “The Queen's Own Queens” or whatever the RIC was at the time. As BEags points out, berets for the real lower orders - AAC note.


Never understood saluting in corridors either - hey ho - such is jointery

[L J R]

Sir Top Hat. You are correct. The Cap IS A FOD HAZARD!. But no-one in the organisation wants to admit it!! Get rid of the stupid looking '30s iconic metal badges and pips (what ever those bits on the front are...). Do we have to wait for a hull loss to discover that the uniform of the '30s is inappropriate for the RAF of the '80s.?

Looking forward to the RAF realising that the 80s are coming soon; in order to prepare for the '90s....because - well that will be the time to prepare for the new millenium. and we don't want to miss that.

[buoy15]

5 Forward

I think you'll find it's an Albatross, and it looks aft, like the shoulder flashes on the OR's No1.

The reason it looks left is probably a Christian protocol.

Most church lecturns have a carving (eagle or albatross) looking left

Allegedly, Christ did so on the Cross, when he looked left at Barabbas

Any ideas?

[5 Forward 6 Back]

Apologies; I thought the albatross connection was there somewhere, but wasn't sure where. Our wings are swift wings, right?

Anyway, the Gieves bird is peering right. Perhaps it's some sort of anti-religious thing? ;)

[Cat5 in the Hat]

"I reckon that the quality of the SD hats you buy from stores is cr@p - they make you look as though you have just climbed off a Russian submarine."

They look much better once the sprung steel ring is removed from inside the lining on the cap periphery.

Allows the sides to droop(!), and stops one looking like General Ourumov.

[Climebear]

The badge is definitely an Eagle. The RAF Website mentions the following (which could account for the albatross confusion):

'The original designer of the Royal Air Force badge is not known, but it has been suggested that he was a tailor at Gieves Ltd (Tailors) and the bird he drew was an albatross. At an Air Council meeting in December 1922, decreed the badge as worn on the head dress which did not include a garter and buckle but just the crown and eagle with circlet was to be used at all times. In January 1923, the new badge was submitted to the College of Arms for registration, the covering letter stating the design received the approval of the King simultaneously with other details of the Royal Air Force uniform.'

[mallardpi]

Shame about the Tailoress at Stm not being able to help. She made mine some years ago, and because she sewed my name in too, its never been stolen, unlike all the others. Its worth waiting if you want a good one, they are genuinely nice people.

[Huron Topp]

A little more info on the eagle vs albatross argument
http://www.airforce.ca/index.php3?page=news#news_item_6

[diginagain]

With the news that St Mawgan is not going to have a Supply Section (nor anything else) for much longer, perhaps those of you who still want a tw*t-hat should bell Don and Sylv soon.

No doubt they could do with a bit on top of their pension.

Narrow-minded local councillors? Undoubtedly.
Novel? Not in Kernow.

[plans123]

Nobody thought of trying either Ebay or Kit2X.com??:rolleyes: ;)

[Clockwork Mouse]

Dear Beags,

As a former Wupert of a dung eating mob (which wegwettably has since been disolved after 300 years of glowious histowy) I can wecommend our Wegimental Hatters, Herbert Johnson, for pwoper orficers headgear. That is, if you chaps have any pwoper orficers! Of course it will cost a couple of hours flying pay, but qwality doesn't come cheap. At least it didn't when I was still in the saddle, Haw Haw!

As for the Eagle versus Albatwos debate, shouldn't it be a penguin? After all, there seem to be millions of you birdmen but we don't see many of you in the air these days?

By the way, despite being a dung-eater, I am not anti-Air Farce: I married one and sired another! Very proud of 'em too.

PS. What are chips?

[diginagain]

Sorry, Clockwork Mouse, but I feel compelled to trump you with the old ‘Royal Air Force not old enough to have traditions, merely habits’ card.

The forage cap was issued to mounted troops as a sack to collect fodder for feeding their mounts, subsequently being adapted as headwear in the form of the balaclava helmet, hence the drop-down hood and chin flap.

The forage cap is still an issued item, although these days it has assumed a more ceremonial function in the Army. It was certainly referred to as a ‘tw*t-hat' by Other Ranks during my association with a Cavalry regiment, perhaps because, when opened up in the ‘chip-bag’ mode it displayed a more than passing resemblance to that part of the female anatomy, especially if fitted with a red silk liner.

So the spectre of BEagle skipping about Mount Pleasant Camp wearing his DPM and forage cap would not have been quite so eyebrow-raising as he might have hoped.
:ok:

[Onan the Clumsy]

especially if fitted with a red silk liner. ...and a ping pong ball


:}

[scottyhs]

Try EBAY, theres a guy who custom makes them for you and they are pretty good ive spoke to a few officers who have them and not as dear as from cranwell either

[buoy15]

Great tailors in Singapore

Measured, 2 fittings and ready in 24 hours

In 72 it was 12 dollar (£1.50) - probably more now, but no more than the rip-off prices charged by the thieves at Cranditz and elsewhere, who leech themselves to the exact penny of the uniform allowance

Have a look on the Net

By the way, I have an excellent, original, Crombie Long Greatcoat for sale at an amazing low price of £200 ono to fit a 5'8"- 6' chap or chapess, with a chest size 38-42" and a brand new No1 SD hat (never worn) size 7+3/8" for £25

[The Helpful Stacker]

For us non-Commissioned scum the chip hat is usually seen as the mark of a career man or as they are affectionately known, a back stabbing ladder climber.

Its usually worn as part of the 'full ish'. A chip hat, stable belt with large loops on No. 2 trouser to accommodate it (an unauthorised modification to the uniform), 'clip clop' shoes, RAF cuff links and a Tornado or RAF roundel tie pin.

To be honest I reckon it should be re-introduced as standard head dress and to accompany it we could all wear No.1 uniform to work. Also we could use Lee Endfield rifles for guarding pilots dressed in Irvin flying jackets sitting in the sun, waiting for the bell to ring so that they can scramble to their Spitfires and Hurricanes.;)

[Hueymeister]

A total waste of mullah....they look crap and suit no one. Buy a decent beret or an SD cap!!

[Clockwork Mouse]

The Germans have a DPM version to wear with combat kit, and look smart with it. How it looks is down to the design.

Why don't the crabs design a green one in flame retardent material for wearing with grow-bags? Perhaps a zip on the side? Orange lining for high vis if you get shot down?

[Onan the Clumsy]

a brand new No1 SD hat (never worn) size 7+3/8" At last. Someone with my size head.


...too bad I don't wear hats :(

[pigsinspace]

Au Wai Lam tailors in Hong Kong

not sure if they are still there , they useds to do mail order

phone 3-7111768

117.ma tau chung road
Kowloon
Hong Kong

[Zoom]

Bates of Jermyn Street used to do the best SD caps and forage hats, and I still have one of each in v good nick. Their website seems to indicate that they don't military business anymore anymore. Sad, because a visit there was well worthwhile.

[huge forkbender]

STH,

I believe your answer may be closer to home.
I know the wife of a certain Mr 'Peperoni' was a seamstress and I remember her dismantling a 'chip bag' to get the patern.
Of course, now he's promoted this sort of thing may be beneath her but worth an ask??

Regards

Huge

[Farfrompuken]

I went for a cheapie, unlined, model from one of the Tailors at Cranditz.

My reasoning is that the lined one would take up too much room in my flying suit pocket. My cheapie still looks fine and takes up precious little room.

Cost-no idea but cheap!

[Onan the Clumsy]

If you had it lined with plastic and kept it in the pocket with the hole in the bottom, it could serve an ancilliary function for when you had drunk too much tea..

[mr brown]

STH,

A gentleman by the name of Jason who tailors at Wittering does excellent quality chip hats for a mere £39! Excellent qualilty faux-satin lined and come with a velvet trim inside to ensure less slippage!


Mr B