# The silliest military hat. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909 "2005-11-01T14:50:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/41 "2005-11-04T00:49:19Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Sounds like a French Navy hat. Hah! Guessed right _without_ looking at the rest of the thread! I rock! OOPS! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/42 "2005-11-04T01:12:07Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The [slouch hat.](http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/slouch/) That looks badass–it’s made out of the right material to make it look like something you would wear to a fight with a crocodile. The female MTI hats are made of blue straw and just make them look like Smokey the Bear after a bad day with a camper. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/43 "2005-11-04T01:29:46Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Of course, there’s silly, and there’s downright [URL=http://www.gwu.edu/~fidfc/images/Photogallery/ski.jpg]creepy/URL]/QUOTE] hey, it’s cold on Hoth. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/44 "2005-11-04T01:31:31Z")
Wow that’s hideous coding. Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/45 "2005-11-04T02:15:35Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > How about [whatever the hell this fella’s wearing?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mackensen2.jpg) I should have checked that link sooner. That’s the hat of the Death’s Head Hussars, which I referred to. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/46 "2005-11-04T09:07:23Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Um what do they do? They for the rastafarian troops? Camouflage. The covering gives the helmet or head an irregular shape, making it harder to spot. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/47 "2005-11-04T09:33:24Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > As a Navy brat and a former serviceman, I haven’t the faintest clue what hat you’re referring to. > > I do think the blue baseball cap with the yellow “NAVY” across it–and, for that matter, the whole “work” uniform with the blue shirt and khakis–doesn’t look like a military uniform at all to me. IMHO, a fleet of young men wearing those is a strange sight on a military base. They look like they should be pushing around a broom. > > Then again, it seems like a very utilitarian and sensible uniform for working in, say, an engine room. Or swabbing the decks. So that works out, I guess. Excuse me, **fetus**? There’s a reason that most Naval Enlisted prefer wearing those command ballcaps. You’re mistaking the rather comfortable and useful working uniform for the dress uniform cover. I honestly know no other name for it: It’s a [white cloth hat](http://www.navy-nex.com/command/about_us/p-uniformsupport.html) that looks like nothing so much as a simple dixie cup grown to preposterous preportions. Of course, only male enlisted personnel, E-1 to E-6, wear the silly things. Which was the best reason I could see for wanting to make chief. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/48 "2005-11-04T10:33:19Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > I honestly know no other name for it: It’s a [white cloth hat](http://www.navy-nex.com/command/about_us/p-uniformsupport.html) that looks like nothing so much as a simple dixie cup grown to preposterous preportions. Of course, only male enlisted personnel, E-1 to E-6, wear the silly things. Which was the best reason I could see for wanting to make chief. My ex-brother-in-law used to refer to that as his upside-down doggie dish hat. I love the Death’s Head Hussar hat. I like his mustache, too. There’s a man who could disembowel you with one hand while sipping cognac with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/49 "2005-11-04T17:32:04Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Excuse me, **fetus**? There’s a reason that most Naval Enlisted prefer wearing those command ballcaps. You’re mistaking the rather comfortable and useful working uniform for the dress uniform cover. > > I honestly know no other name for it: It’s a [white cloth hat](http://www.navy-nex.com/command/about_us/p-uniformsupport.html) that looks like nothing so much as a simple dixie cup grown to preposterous preportions. Of course, only male enlisted personnel, E-1 to E-6, wear the silly things. Which was the best reason I could see for wanting to make chief. Oh, _that!_ I’d just never thought of it in the context of a Dixie cup before, I guess. But you’re right, it’s extremely silly. However, I can think of a couple better reasons to want to make chief… > [@Marlitharn](#): > > My ex-brother-in-law used to refer to that as his upside-down doggie dish hat. This is a more apt analogy, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/50 "2005-11-04T17:46:06Z")
> [@fetus](#): > > However, I can think of a couple better reasons to want to make chief… But all those other reasons presuppose one wants a career in the Navy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/51 "2005-11-04T18:03:53Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Excuse me, **fetus**? There’s a reason that most Naval Enlisted prefer wearing those command ballcaps. You’re mistaking the rather comfortable and useful working uniform for the dress uniform cover. Where the heck did the Dixie cup cap come from, anyway? Pictures of naval personnel in the Civil war show them in caps similar to the aforementioned French Navy cap (but without the dash blang pompom), but by WW I the Dixie cup seems to be in full swing. ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/52 "2005-11-04T18:18:42Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Where the heck did the Dixie cup cap come from, anyway? Pictures of naval personnel in the Civil war show them in caps similar to the aforementioned French Navy cap (but without the dash blang pompom), but by WW I the Dixie cup seems to be in full swing. Answering my own query, I found this quote: > [@](#): > > According to Naval Historian John Reilly, “The ‘dixie cup’-style hat has appeared and reappeared in the Navy as part of the uniform since it was first written into the uniform regulations of 1886.” at [US Navy Hats](http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uniform_hats.htm) ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/53 "2005-11-04T18:28:44Z")
> [@633squadron](#): > > Where the heck did the Dixie cup cap come from, anyway? Pictures of naval personnel in the Civil war show them in caps similar to the aforementioned French Navy cap (but without the dash blang pompom), but by WW I the Dixie cup seems to be in full swing. What I’d heard about it was that it evolved from a traditional fisherman’s hat - the waterproof kind that partly covered the back and sides of the head as well - like this [http://www.rls.org.uk/RB\_licensed/postcard/image/0641/06410031.jpg](http://www.rls.org.uk/RB_licensed/postcard/image/0641/06410031.jpg). Over time, that design was shortened/modified, and taa-daa, the modern ‘dixie cup’ or ‘squid lid.’ Just flip up the brim on the hat in the picture, and you’ve pretty much got it. The good news is that Navy enlisted uniform designs have actually been improving over the last 10 years or so, and the garrison cap has replaced the squid lid on service uniforms, though the dress blue, or crackerjack, uniform and the dress white summer uniform still require the white cap. Last year the Navy produced a new line of uniforms in response to feedback on what was being used at the time - if the new ones are adopted, it would streamline and consolidate the current array of uniforms, which I am sure everyone will like: [http://www.navy.mil/view\_single.asp?id=19411](http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=19411) ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/54 "2005-11-04T18:43:30Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > The good news is that Navy enlisted uniform designs have actually been improving over the last 10 years or so, and the garrison cap has replaced the squid lid on service uniforms, though the dress blue, or crackerjack, uniform and the dress white summer uniform still require the white cap. Actually, I find it amusing that those of us with bitter personal experience of the Dixie cap, or dog dish hat view going to **Scumpup** ’s cuntcap an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/55 "2005-11-04T19:03:45Z")
Off the point, but the US Navy female officer’s cover is just damn hot, I tells ya, hot! ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/56 "2005-11-04T19:10:04Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Actually, I find it amusing that those of us with bitter personal experience of the Dixie cap, or dog dish hat view going to **Scumpup** ’s cuntcap an improvement. I worked for the Navy for 12 years (as a GS) and my husband was in the Navy for about the same amount of time, and I never thought it was quite right to make a grown man wear that silly white cap. So the first day I saw the winter blue enlisted man’s garrison cap, I about cheered. I think it’s much nicer looking. Really, though, I think the military should just ditch the hat thing altogether (excepting, of course, combat helmets and headgear that actually does something useful). ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/57 "2005-11-04T19:14:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Off the point, but the US Navy female officer’s cover is just damn hot, I tells ya, hot! Is that all she’s wearing? 😃 Seriously, I’ve got a slight uniform fetish, so I’ve never seen any woman of eligible age in a US Naval Officer’s uniform as being less than hot. Even coveralls. :eek: :o ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/58 "2005-11-04T19:51:48Z")
The new(ish) US Army Berets look silly to me, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/59 "2005-11-04T20:16:59Z")
> [@Rodd Hill](#): > > D’oh! Must preview other links more closely. > > I will try to make up for it by asking **csharpmajor** if [this](http://www.nautikvariat.dk/marinenationale2.png) is the French Navy hat in question… It’s the Stay-puft Marshmallow Man. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909/60 "2005-11-04T20:30:18Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Is that all she’s wearing? 😃 > > Seriously, I’ve got a slight uniform fetish, so I’ve never seen any woman of eligible age in a US Naval Officer’s uniform as being less than hot. Even coveralls. :eek: :o FWIW, the oddest thing I learned about female naval officers’ uniforms is that the dinner dress uniform can include a tiara, if the wearer so chooses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-silliest-military-hat/328909.md?page=4)