Forage Caps
 

Here we go then, for the trivia monsters out there........Forage cap badges.

SNCOs and Airman wear the RAF beret badge.

Officers wear the Eagle.

WOs wear either the WO beret badge or the Eagle.

Why?

I've never seen a WO wearing an eagle on his tw@t hat, just the WO cap badge.

I've never seen anyone with an eagle on their caps, no matter what type... :E









Or was that the sound of me taking the bait? :oh:

Used to be the case but not seen it in years (decades even),

I think you will see ATC Officers wearing them and they call them CHIP BAGS at the local ATC Squadron ???:=:=

IMHO, the most useful piece of headgear for aircrew. SD Caps get 'Trashed' in FJ cockpits. Leading to the 'Combat' caps, which used to upset the 'B' word! (Mind you, that makes it worthwhile, on it's own!)

I don't know why, but RAF Berets only look OK on the Regiment, and particularly pointy SH Chaps.

Cyprus made Thunderbirds Cap, Obviously worn at a jaunty angle is ideal for the out and about Rocket of Doom driver.

Don't leave it in the crewroon tho, someone will soak it, and pop it in the freezer...... never fails to amuse.

Advo

PS: An added advantage, is that 'Stateside' many see you as a 'Full Bird' !!! They really should learn a few ranks from their allies! :ugh:

Yes, but you seem to forget. Being a pilot is all about looking good and those 'thunderbird hats' look fu****g stupid!

Arthur,

And an Oil Stained, crushed, broken peaked SD Cap Looks the 'Dogs', Does it?

Advo

No, but a beret does. :rolleyes:

I Guess the RAF really has changed. Officers, other than Regiment, 'wanting' to wear berets.

Answers a lot of questions about retention. I'm sure it will all work a lot better without aircraft.

Advo

Huh! Where did that come from?!

I'm simply saying that chip bag hats look rediculous. If you want to wear one me old china, you crack on. You probably iron a crease into your jeans and wear socks with your sandals on the premise that it may look stupid, but at least it's 'old school'.

At the risk of sounding contentious, doesn't a beret make you look like you're an AAC wannabe? :yuk:

The chip bag must surely be the hat of choice for the dapper aviator, and as alluded to above is really the only thing that fits in aircraft with small cockpits (or scrunched-up in the leg pocket of a growbag) :cool:

Does it really matter?
 

I think you'll find that the chip bag predates the beret - forage caps were certainly around in RFC days. Maybe puttees will make a comeback:eek:

Met a chap on the OCU at ISK in 93 who wore his great grandad's RFC cap badge on his forage cap
When I mentioned it he said, "Yes, been wearing it for 3 months now, you're the only one that's spotted it"
The only thing that gave it away was it was old brass that looked like 24ct gold, and had been Brasso'ed away to a fine lace - still looked the part though

Forage cap is the only thing that fits into the cockpit or scrunched up in leg pocket!!! my beret lives scrunched up in my pocket and looks fine.

Theres really no getting away from it - those of us in the RAF who aspire to look like a) the AAC, b) the RAF Regt or c) Baldrick should indeed wear a beret. However those of us who like to wear our growbags with a certain panache are far better served by wearing a chipbag. :p

Life as a pilot is all about looking good and nothing to do with being good! :O

If you think a chip bag hat gives you panache, good luck to you! ;)

The question should be at what angles does the chip hat go from being straight on top of the head to a jaunty angle to falling off of the side off your head???

Forage caps
 

In WW2 other ranks and NCO's wore forage caps with a circular badge, RAF enclosed in a wreath, with battledress or tunics. The officers should have been wearing a forage cap with crown and eagle just with battledress but many officers on operational stations wore a peaked cap with battledress as well as with tunic.

Christ, are we down to arguing over sodding headgear now?
Merlin old chap, leave it, we know who our customers have more respect for and it has nothing to do with what shape 'hat' you wear.:rolleyes:

I"MHO, the most useful piece of headgear for aircrew. SD Caps get 'Trashed' in FJ cockpits. Leading to the 'Combat' caps, which used to upset the 'B' word! (Mind you, that makes it worthwhile, on it's own!)"

Which is why it was reintroduced in the early '70s.

MInd you, if I'd known that The Scottish Officer didn't like them, I might have bought one on the off chance I might bump into the d*ckhead.

Classic RAF Headgear
 

The RAF single handedly defeated Nazi Germany thanks to the 'chip bag' forage cap, the Spitfire, the Lancaster and several million gallons of Brylcreem. Then they made us wear those stupid surrender monkey contrivances on our heads and its been all downhill ever since.

...and what's with all these khaki grow bags eh? Light blue overalls were good enough for Biggles and Douggie and good old Ginger. :(

Can you imagine the Navy without bell bottoms and flat hats, eh? Answer me that.

Are we down to arguing over sodding headgear now?
 

Certainly seems like it and, to add fuel to the fire, surely the headgear to which Green Hat/Yellow Hat originally referred is properly known as a side hat. A forage cap is actually one of those jaunty little jobs that Gurkhas and some members of the Rifles wear!

Jack

PS Re Blacksheep's "Can you imagine the Navy without bell bottoms and flat hats, eh? Answer me that." Answer: whatever turns you on .....:)

Hmm, I hadn't thought of it quite that way. The mind is truly boggled.

Still with the rum and baccy long gone, what else is left? :}

Blacksheep
You fell for it!
Bum:ok:
Still missing the warm double bunking?:D

;)

A forage cap is actually one of those jaunty little jobs that Gurkhas and some members of the Rifles wear!

I always thought that the Gurkhas wore a 'Pillbox' hat. I believe the forage cap is the 'chipbag' style of hat like my father wore up to the early 1950s when he gave it to me to play with.





'We knew how to whinge but we kept it in the NAAFI bar'.

What is a Forage Cap
 

Google has the answer as to what a forage cap actually is, and this web site has the history of said hat in all its glory. We are all right - the forage hat/cap has lots of different styles. Enjoy the read.

http://www.warof1812.ca/foragecaps.htm

Also see AP 1358 Chapter 6 on Flying Kit and permitted headgear.

Does the tw@t hat still have the bulky sponge lining of 2 decades ago? That always detracted from its portability/squashability. I prefer the US unlined ones.

Zoom,

It depends where you get it from. My old stained "emergency in my bag" one is a converted airmans' hat with no lining and an officers badge. My "smart" comfy hat is a tailor's special manufactured from left overs and a badge made from a WSOp albatross and a FS crown. It has just a thin plain lining, and was MUCH cheaper than the standard "Moss Bros" buy. You can have a choice of coloured linings if you so wish!

As the artical in my post above states - they are made for comfort from spare scraps of cloth!

My old one could be opened up to provide earmuffs and a chinstrap. Not likely to blow way in a blizzard.

:8 Acoording to AP1358:
The forage cap is worn tilted to the right so that the front edge is approx 25mm above the eyebrows and the side edge is approx 12mm above the right ear. The forage cap is never worn with CS95
So there you have it!

You try telling that to some of the old duffers at Wyton

Or their airships and wannabes Wycombe for that matter! :}

Oh the long winter months must just fly by......................
The forage cap certainly looks the part (worn at suitably jaunty angle) if one is auditioning for an authentic WWII military sitcom - as for the rest of the time - leave it well alone

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ This is soooooo dull.