RAF Officer beret
 

Where would one purchase an Officers' beret with the badge sewn on that does not have a ridiculously small amount of beret material? I have tried 2 separate places and they seem to be the small crown variant which looks ridiculous on my (,it would appear, oversized) head!

I have tried Snaith's and the Stn Tailor with no luck.

Are you looking for the completely covered right ear look?

As worn in all best TV programmes with a military theme

Never liked berets - too much of a Frank Spencer or French Onion Seller vibe!

Why not cut a dash in a field service cap like this chap? I’ve seen plenty of RAF vets wearing them.

https://modmedia.blog.gov.uk/wp-cont...09/image11.jpg

http://www.aircadetonline.com/flash_...ociation_3.jpg

Tend to agree. Berets are so 'airman' :)

I had to acquire a beret, as they became mandatory for Service shooting competitions, thus forcing the retirement of my much-loved and disgraceful SD cap [which kept the sun off my eyes and the rain off my glasses].

I had a 50+ OTRE beret with proper gold wire badge. Only recently sold it on flee bay.

As the RAF has only the three badges RAFA decided on a forage cap with a uni-rank badge.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-19...-/292243999626

The gent above is wearing a modern forage cap with hi dome stay bright buttons.

Here is the real deal:

RAF WW 2 Officers Side Cap/Hat | eBay

I have to agree. I was very glad when I was commissioned, and the beret was no more. The "chip bag" though is much more practicable and easier to wear with style (?)

Not interested in a chip hat and just to be cler my head is not actually the size of the moon. A normal beret from stores fits fine but it doesn’t have a sewn on badge and looks terrible.

These chaps will throw a bespoke one together for a consideration I would imagine. I have an ear warmer beret but it is the correct shade of blue. :E

Berets - CW Headdress LtdCW Headdress Ltd

Are you not capable of sewing a badge on yourself?????

My wife has a lovely officers' beret, gold wire badge, and beautifully weathered by 2 years as an IOT Flt Ldr. Otterburn, Salisbury Plain and Stanford PTA create a shape and patina that no amount of steaming and shaping will ever achieve :)

But why would you?

Iirc the modern badge is metal and has the same pin fastening as the RAF badge. It is a woven badge you need, not a beret.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RAF-ROYAL-....c100677.m4598

This is what I am after, but with enough beret material that it at least hang lower than the leather band!

Why would you want it lower than the leather band?

Does it really matter? I just want to buy a beret to my spec? So judgemental, have you been talking to my wife?

I seem to remember (a very long time ago !) that, once commissioned, most of us ex-officer cadets who were commissioned from the "ranks" spent a little while "sorting out" our berets ! This was before the (re-)introduction of the forage cap !! I also remember being asked how to do it by other new officers !! Time flies !!!!

Bill

The last time I saw my beret was when it was going up in flames after I left RAFC!

Awful things - the only officers who should wear one would be those of the RAF Regiment. Aircrew - never! Apart from those who fly those awful clattering devices known as helicopters, that is...:\

When I was a Rockape I had a proper officer's beret from Gieves, of the type that I suspect you dislike, heightsgood. If you purchase an airman's beret and sew on an officer's wire badge then you are going to end up with a hybrid, but then as you are a civilian I suppose nobody can stop you.

Lost my beret somewhere along the line, and obviously never wore one as aircrew. Never wore a chipbag either, just a very nice Bates SD cap for best and an old tatty one to take with me when flying.

Incidentally why did the RAF call the sidecap a forage cap? Traditionally in the army a forage cap is what we in the RAF call the SD cap - what we called a forage cap is known as a field service cap in the army. I suppose as they got there first they are right and we are wrong! Strange.

Chipbag was so practical for shoving in a flying suit bottom pocket or Nav bag.

I am still very much serving.... Unless you and Manning know something I don’t?!?

I just want a nice silk lined beret that doesn’t look ridiculous and can fit in a flying suit pocket and be worn with greens.

As a bonus it lets me avoid looking like a FJ w*nker with a chip hat. Oh, I could also buy myself one of those rather fetching £500 leather jackets to complete the look; all the cool kids are wearing them...

Much like a beret...

Is that what it was like ‘during the war’. To be fair, I am sure when your batman was turning your bed over and polishing your shoes it was easier to find an SD hat to put with your freshly pressed uniform...

hg, very true. He would also remind me to wear my No 1 the next day and ensure my suit was brushed and pressed Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Got to be a contender for funniest reply of the year!! p.s. I always went for the Chip Bag as it fitted better in a knee pocket (stopped me losing it / forgetting to take it with me!!).

I can't make a personal recommendation other than to suggest you avoid anything described as "small crown", you'll likely end up with barely any material to try and drag in the direction of your right ear (I speak from unfortunate experience).

SD hats and chip bags have their place, but unless one is an AVM or above; in a position to avoid wearing No3 Service Dress; or simply choose to ignore AP1358, then all currently service RAF personnel should possess a beret as it is the only currently authorised headdress (other than a helmet) when wearing Operational Clothing. Public service announcement over. :)

You are a cheeky person BEags.

Just remember the dit of a couple of years ago:

Q: What do you call a collection of RAF helicopter Pilots.

















A: The Air Force Board!!

I still have all 3, SD cap, forage cap and beret (with gold wire badge). Forage cap I wear for veteran events here (the French all wear their former service headgear) the SD cap is for my coffin when I finally shuffle off and the beret is to annoy SWMBO, who keeps wanting to throw it away and I won't let her

Whether you know it as a field service cap or forage cap, I believe the correct and original (pre WWII) name was a Glengarry adopted from the hat worn by Scottish regiments

Five years ago I wrote:
."...
Never had a Service beret: we thought them appropriate only for the Regt.

In Burma, the accepted alternative to the Cap SD was the Aussie "Bush Hat", which can be screwed up and pushed into any nook or cranny in the cockpit.

I'd like an everlasting bottle of wine. That ain't going to happen either.

Never understood why mechanical palm-tree drivers insisted on wearing berets with their flying suits. Berets should be for Rock Apes if we want to be historically accurate - otherwise they are an abomination. Also, don’t understand why 2-stars and above can wear a chip bag with PCS - surely a uniform should be uniform?

MPN11

There is nothing wrong with being an 'Airman'.:E

Something very unsettling about a Rodney in a beret.
Not least that they might be mistaken for someone who actually works!

Certainly not, and the system would not funtion without them.

It was a whimsical comment, which I had hoped was clearly such. I aoplogise for any offence caused.

Anyway, I thought the correct head dress for a Rock Ape was a Topi.

roving (#11339),
Long ago, I was Adj of an Auxiliary F.C.U. Although there were two other Auxiliary units (the Squadron and a Regt Sqdn) on the Station (Thornaby). and they all had "Tea Swindles", for some reason mine attracted all the traffic (could my 70-odd girls possibly have had something to do with it ?) Be that as it may, we prospered mightily.

The Station Accountant Officer had enough on his plate, looking after the Non-Public Funds, and averted his eyes from us. But when I first arrived, I found that our Swindle had been enriching itself with schemes of doubtful legality. Knowing that Nemesis might come one day when I was still "holding the baby", I put a stop to these and enlisted the help of one of my Auxiliary Secretarial Officers (Tom Oliver), who was Asst. Manager of a Darlington Bank. He set up a full set of books for us, opened an account for us in his Bank, and ensured that our Swindle was run in an impeccable way. We were "copper-bottomed".

Some years passed, and then one afternoon, unannouced, there appeared in my office a civilian with a bulky briefcase, who informed me that he had come to audit our Swindle. My first instinct was to "tell him where to go", but my kindly nature came to the fore, and I sat him down with a cup of tea and a bikky, and laid all before him - yea, even to the cash box in my safe, and the little bag of surplus "profit" we could not account for.

Mollified, he went his way satisfied: seems that the little bag of "bunce" convined him of my honesty, when everything is too perfect, they smell a rat ! We parted with assurances of mutual esteem.

Danny.
(Then I got out the "Black Book"....no, just a joke !)

MPN!!

Not sure Mike Jackson would share the joke ;)

@ Danny42C ... totally OT, but as you mentioned Non-Public Funds ... I had a flt lt posted in, ex-CATCS after a late career Branch transfer from Admin (Sec). I sagaciously appointed her i/c Coffee Swindle ;)

A couple of weeks later I received an interview without Tea or Coffee from her, explaining quite specifically what had been done incorrectly since time immemorial. We resolved the situation promptly with SHQ.

Interestingly, she endorsed as Supervisor as a first-tourist, which shows what a jolly good chap she was!