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Welcome to the next episode of Szkoła partyzantów (Guerrilla School).
In this episode I'd like to present to you a flecktarn boonie hat produced by TacGear.
A boonie hat, also known as a bush hat.
First of all, this is a standard FIA equipment
which means that our uniform regulations clearly state that every recruit has to have a flecktarn boonie hat.
They don't mention any brand, of course, just as we don't order you to buy this one.
And why? Because it's an expensive hat.
And our uniform regulations are formulated in a way that allows avoiding unnecessarily expensive things.
But this element, that TacGear hat, is in general a small exception we indulge ourselves with.
And that's because this hat simply is a damn good one!
The company that produced it, a german company TacGear, was founded in 2003
as a company specializing in high class clothing targeted mostly at the German military market
and can pride itself on constant orders from special units.
This year, I believe, they sold 20 thousandth polo jacket for the purposes of the German Army.
But besides that, of course, they also offer high class products in almost every available camouflage.
So, just as I said, it's a small luxury we indulge ourselves with.
There are many other flecktarn boonie hats on the market, but in my opinion they're nowhere near as good as this one.
Now something about the hat itself. Apparently not that much can be said.
It's made of ripstop – a mix of nylon and cotton. Here, somewhere in the middle, we have a sign: polyester and cotton 50/50.
This model is available in four sizes. The smallest, I believe, fits head perimeter 55 cm, and the biggest 62 cm.
In general, this is a very solidly made product.
The thread used here, the fabric tape band, the velcro patches – all are delivered by the highest quality subcontractors.
Here, inside, underneath, we have a cord lock made of genuine leather – have a look – thanks to which you can adjust the length of the chinstrap.
Just because I say the product is amazing, it doesn't mean it can't get damaged.
Unfortunately, hat is usually exposed to a lot of contact with branches, leaves and other adventures, so here I have a small rip and I have to fix it.
Another thing that broke is this vent, that usually is protected from insects and other things. It came unstitched.
But I've already bought it in a Polish specialist shop selling haberdashery, so it's on its way and will be replaced.
Here I have a string installed on the hat.
Normally, it could be a kind of paracord, but this one is a normal cheap string.
I assume that during milsims and any other kind of survival expeditions there's never too much of a string and that's a good place for it.
Other good place for additional string would be your belt.
Here I have about 15 meters of braided string which I fix here somehow.
For the purposes of this presentation, I tied it pretty loosely, but normally I put it through the loops and then tie.
Normally it's ended in a different way, but I must have cut a piece to set camping sheet as a roofing, and didn't have time to plait it differently.
So I can easily fit here a piece of spare string.
Here we have a velcro which I use to attach some things.
So if I attach any additional camouflage or anything, here I have a piece of velcro to do it.
It doesn't obstruct anything.
But in fact, for standard camouflage, which I use and have it prepared earlier, and it's not a piece of a plant but a permanent camouflage element
I use wires with transparent isolation taken from children's toy boxes, which are very flexible.
This way you can quickly prepare something for yourself, so I have four such wires and use them to attach to the hat everything I need.
This is the hat. Here in front it has velcro straps.
Here you can attach a name tag, some insignia of the unit, blood type or anything else.
Here we have the same velcro, just with a narrower loop.
Here we have two velcro straps for so called cat eyes you get with the hat.
I don't have them with me now.
But these are two elements made of phosphorescent plastic with velcro that can be attached here
and when a column marches at night, the person in front shines for the one behind so they won't get lost.
You can attach one, two or in the rhombus shape, so you can recognise each other.
You can take them off, of course, and put them in your pocket, so they don't shine when it's necessary to retreat, because then you're an easy target.
In general, the whole hat is made of the same fabric, as I said, it's polyester with pretty thin cotton.
However, the upper part is made of one layer. Here we can see the bottom.
This part of the hat is made of two layers of fabric stitched together here and there, therefore there's a space where for air to accumulate.
Maybe it's made on purpose to cool down your head.
The brim is sewed through with nine pretty strong stitches so it's stiff yet flexible and can be easily bent.
Sometimes I keep it folded this way and after unbending it keeps it's original shape.
Sometimes we keep it in an epaulette, under an epaulette, in this form
and it also won't damage it. It doesn't loose its shape.
Around it there's a very solid fabric tape and it's one of the most interesting ideas here, because other tapes very often come unstitched and this stitch is very thick.
Here you can install branches, bushes or grass and you can be sure they won't break.
Here we have the vents with a net. As I said, one of mine came unstitched. I must have hit it with a branch.
They're placed on four sides, so the head stays cool.
However, I've never had a problem with overheating my head.
In general, thanks to the thickness of the ripstop we have a great balance between rain-proofness and good ventilation.
Generally, it's a hat for warmer days, it won't cause overheating. To cause overheating, we would have to put on a fleece bandana under it.
But for most of the season it works just great, besides winter expeditions when I put on something completely else.
Here, underneath, as I said, is a chinstrap, which generally I wear this way.
I don't wear it under my chin, because it's a kind of junior style. But when the wind blows, you just have to use it.
And here we have the leather cord lock. As I said, I have to fix it.
Now something about the label. Of, course, we have a signature here. In our unit we all have the same things, so we have to put our names on them.
TacGear by MMB. MMB, I believe, is a holding company that gathers a few other brands which sell products on markets different than the military one.
Dschungelhut which in German means jungle hat, boonie hat, product number, fabrics, washing instructions – 30o.
Generally, nothing special. You can wash it. Size - mine is L.
Here we have an additional label with name and address
but it doubt it's an address of someone who had used it before, because I bought a brand new hat.
Therefore, it might be someone who made it or checked it, and now we can write to that person and say that a vent broke and we ask for repair(just kidding!).
So this is a boonie hat. Other available colours:
Belgian camouflage
snow flecktarn
vegetato
DP
olive
black
Swedish M90
desert flecktarn
Danish flecktarn
And many more I haven't mentioned, I assume.
I highly recommend it, reminding everyone that you can find cheaper boonie hats.
And if someone doesn't use it all the time, other replacement will work just fine.
However, for me, it's one of the favourite elements of my kit, and this hat has a special meaning to me.
I don't know what it is about it, but maybe because I bought it for myself as a kind of dessert.
I probably had to reword myself for an interesting expedition or something like that, because I decided I finally deserved a good hat.
We probably won't show other camouflages, unless there will be something interesting about them. We'll see.
We'd be glad to present some other kinds of boonie hats
so keep on watching Szkoła partyzantów, visit us on Facebook, click 'like', and subscribe on YouTube.
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We invite you to watch next episodes. Comment, give us your requests and opinions.
Greetings. See you in the next episode.