Giant Pith Helmet Thread of Doom

Few from the Italian Royal Army Bersaglieri in North Africa. 1940's. Pith helmets are just plain fun.

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Only a single (but very smart looking) Pith helmet on the end, but what a collection of uniforms!

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WH1 said:

I recommend "The Bolter" by Francis Osbourne about her great grandmother Idina Sackeville who was a key member of the Happy Valley set. Most interesting study.

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Hmmm . . . I may just have to get that.

Anyone know where to purchase a good flat topped helmet? I also have a village hat shop helmet that I amm willing to send to a good home for the cost of shipping. I picked it up and used it in Iraq a bit but am looking for something a little nicer.

Edward

The Livingstone from Tagsafari.com. Made in Africa for Africa.

Abbott & CostelloMeet the Mummy has some great pith helmets.


Just wished there was a good shot of Richard Deacon wearing his with his suit in the desert scenes.

A somewhat decent shot of Mary Windsor in hers.


Cheers!

Dan

I just picked this up off of ebay. I am just hoping it fits correctly and is actualy as nice as it looks in the pictures. I really want a fitted pith instead of the one size fits all.

Edward

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150958550322?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Hmmmh! Never seen one shaped like that before. Interesting. When you get it, let us know what the label in the liner says.

Edward_Lindey said:

I just picked this up off of ebay. I am just hoping it fits correctly and is actualy as nice as it looks in the pictures. I really want a fitted pith instead of the one size fits all.

Edward

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150958550322?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

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I have 2 shaped like those...mine came from Banana Republic back in the early '80s.

I've looked everywhere for a size 8 pith helmet. Village Hat Shop said their's wouldn't fit me. Anyone know of an online store that sells pith helmets to fit extra big noggins?

Max said:

I've looked everywhere for a size 8 pith helmet. Village Hat Shop said their's wouldn't fit me. Anyone know of an online store that sells pith helmets to fit extra big noggins?

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http://www.aztexhats.com/products/8...lmet-One-Size-Fits-All-Adjustable-Safari-Hat/
VM

I'm looking for a Foreign Service pattern pith.

What do you guys think of IMA's?
http://www.ima-usa.com/british-victorian-colonial-pith-helmet-khaki-m-1895.html




This is what I think the most interesting feature is:



Also, here's a small tip about ordering from IMA that some of you probably already know:
IMA lists their items on eBay as well. Their items there are often listed at a higher price than the website, but have free shipping. Buying the "more expensive" item from eBay with free shipping is often cheaper than buying the "less expensive" item from IMA's website with their shipping costs.

Jim Laeri (wearing pith helmet), the Johnson's hanger guard
(wearing white turban), unknown man and Dr.Stokes.
Sandakan Harbor, Borneo - 1935
Photo: Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum

Wish I had taken my pith helmet to Indonesia, seems quite fitting.

Or a turban . . .

Oldsarge said:

Or a turban . . .

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Very good, sir!

My pleasure.

The Misfortunes Of An Explorer

Director: Georges Melies
Year: 1900
Country: France
Language: Silent
Length: 16 secs
Format: NTSC | R0
Colour: B/W
Aspect Ratio: 1.33: 1
Certificate: E
Alternate Title: Les Infortunes D'Un Explorateur Ou Les Momies RecalcitranteS

[video=youtube_share;jeJbn3R74Gw]http://youtu.be/jeJbn3R74Gw[/video]

BB, I have that helmet, and I bought it for the same reason. That liner does do what it is intended to do, that is, keeps the helmet from slipping down on your ears like so many that have simple sweatbands and gives decent circulation of air around your head. However, it is not particularly comfortable, , and it doesn't stay on very well. Every time I lean over, it plops on the ground! That having been said, though, I don't have many hours in it, so it might improve as the suspension breaks in. The rest of the helmet is pretty good quality, though I had to return the first one because it was some crazy plastic shell covered with cloth, and the headband had a seam right in the middle of my forehead! Now that was uncomfortable! They were pretty good about it, though, and I am much happier with the replacement.

One item of note that I hadn'r ever really thought about is that you can't really look up in those helmets! The back of the helmet hits the shoulders if you try, and it falls off then, too. Not very practical for firing from a prone position! I can see why they went to the Wolseley style, though I don't know why they waited so long.

Mojave Jack said:

BB, I have that helmet, and I bought it for the same reason. That liner does do what it is intended to do, that is, keeps the helmet from slipping down on your ears like so many that have simple sweatbands and gives decent circulation of air around your head. However, it is not particularly comfortable, , and it doesn't stay on very well. Every time I lean over, it plops on the ground! That having been said, though, I don't have many hours in it, so it might improve as the suspension breaks in. The rest of the helmet is pretty good quality, though I had to return the first one because it was some crazy plastic shell covered with cloth, and the headband had a seam right in the middle of my forehead! Now that was uncomfortable! They were pretty good about it, though, and I am much happier with the replacement.

One item of note that I hadn'r ever really thought about is that you can't really look up in those helmets! The back of the helmet hits the shoulders if you try, and it falls off then, too. Not very practical for firing from a prone position! I can see why they went to the Wolseley style, though I don't know why they waited so long.

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Thanks for the info. It's definitely good that IMA has such great customer service. Is the helmet made of actual pith? And can't you just use the chinstrap to keep it on?

I'm afraid the chin strap isn't a chin strap at all; it's just a decoration. In fact, if you pull the chin strap down, it is inside out, which not only shows that it is vinyl, not leather, but also puts the buckles the wrong way against your neck, which is not comfortable. :eusa_doh:

I can't verify that it is actual pith or not, though it feels like it through the cloth. The suspension is actually stapled to the helmet, which I doubt would take any real wear before pulling out. I can't tell if the staples are folded over or not, but it doesn't seem like it, and I didn't want to pull very hard!

In all, I don't think this helmet would stand up to real wear. I bought it for a murder mystery dinner, thinking it might also be good for real use, but after wearing it around, I discovered I really didn't like it much!

If you are open to other styles, I have two suggestions that work pretty well for me. The first is this helmet:

http://www.villagehatshop.com/french-pith-helmet.html

It has the cotton suspension, with the cotton-wrapped sweatband. The cotton on the sweatband is very thin, but it does keep sweat from flowing down into your eyes when a vinyl one just pools the sweat on your forehead until you take it off, at which point it streams straight into your eyes! The downside of this helmet is that it is also a bit on the cheap side, and may not take any real wear. I've worn this for short trips out to the field, but not for days at a time and it has held up, but I'm not sure how tough it is. It is also quite wide. It looks a bit like I have a serving platter on my head!

The second option is the military helmet (http://www.armynavysales.com/products/g.i.-khaki-pith-helmet-). I wear one of these all the time at work, and it is great. I've modified it two ways, however. I've used my tent awl to attach cotton webbing to the vinyl sweatband to make my own suspension, and I've added an M-1 helmet sweatband (http://www.charleyssurplus.com/army_military_collectibles/hats_and_helmets/m1_steel_pot_helmet_liner_sweatband) which just clips right to the vinyl sweatband. It works great! The only don side is that the leather sweatband makes the helmet smaller. I wear a 7-1/8, and it fits perfectly, but I don't know how much larger it will go. An alternative to the M-1 sweatband is the terycloth removable (and washable) sweatbands they make for hard hats (http://www.constructiongear.com/hahatswtesn.html?utm_source=googlepepla&utm_medium=adwords&id=22942695690&utm_content=pla&gclid=CISjz-2W6bQCFUxxQgodbi4Atw). I've never tried that, but have thought about it.