Primer wires on headgear?

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: Primer wires on headgear?

There's always the hardcool used percussion cap ventilators for the forage cap.

[FlatLandFed]

Re: Primer wires on headgear?

Hmmmm -- we DID have a jaunty discussion once upon a time about a soldier who used spent percussion caps as ventilators for his (if I'm remembering right?) issue dress hat.

Maybe we could arrange the caps/ventilators into patterns, corps symbols, directional arrows or for the less astute, rank numbers, so the guy behind could remember if he's a !!*$+@ #1 or #2 when commands are given.

Paul Primer Donna Hadley

[Todd Watts]

Re: Primer wires on headgear?

I think it is reenactorism to decorate with these items. However, I can see where the wire may have been a handy little piece of wire used to secure something, and any man that happened upon the wire would have used it. I attached my first wire form my first #4 pull with pride. Face it, getting to pull the lanyard for the first time is nifty. But, after you've done it, you've done it and after a few dozen events doing it, you no longer feel the need to brag about it. I still have my 1st on on my kepi button flipping around touching my ear at in-opportune moments making me think a huge spider is on my ear. I think from time to time I ought to remove it, but then forget about it again until the next time a freak out at the huge spider crawling on my ear - oh wait, it's that stupid wire again...

[Hank Trent]

Re: Primer wires on headgear?

However, I can see where the wire may have been a handy little piece of wire used to secure something, and any man that happened upon the wire would have used it. I attached my first wire form my first #4 pull with pride.

If we're going with the reasoning that it seems like a practical, common sense thing to do, one has to think about why the choice of carrying it in your hatband rather than elsewhere. If you'd never seen anyone else do it, would that still be the location you'd choose by accident on your own?

For example, a needle is a handy item too, but reenactors don't typically carry a needle in their hatband. Twine is useful too, but I've not seen anyone keep it wrapped around their hat on top of their hatband. The main reason they don't, I think, is because no one else does.

So then we're back to the question, were real soldiers getting the idea from other soldiers? Or is it only occurring to reenactors because they're exposed to other reenactors doing it?

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.ent

[Charles Heath]

Re: Primer wires on headgear?

All we need now is one of the usual suspect farbs to come along and whine about people who won't allow fishing lures and Christmas tree ornaments on hats are keeping families and entire collections of flea market crap from attending events...blah, blah, blah.

Time to bag this one. Happy trails!