For those that are unsure as to what the boonie hat is, it is a type of wide brim hat that is often used by military personnel. The design of the boonie hat is something similar to that of a bucket hat, except the boonie has more of a brim and a stiffer brim too. In most cases, on the crown of the boonie hat there will be a tape band made of fabric sewn on to give it that hidden look.

The hat also features a foliage ring that is supposed to assist in holding vegetation as a means of camouflage. The strap offers stability so that the vegetation can be kept there without it falling out. When in military operation and using the “camouflage” routine, you want to be as invisible as possible, so if you are walking stealth mode and your camouflage vegetation falls out, you are probably going to have some problems.

The crown of the boonie hat can be vented with mesh panels or little rivets and there can also be snaps that will allow the hat to be more of an Australian bush hat, or just bush hats. They are popular but only so to the military services mostly, as you don’t really see individuals walking around in public wearing these hats for no reason. They only came out as popular during the Vietnam war when the United States armed forces began wearing them, and after they started to wear them the next to follow the trend were the United States Army Green Berets.

The tigerstripe boonie hats that were first introduced by the U.S forces were actually locally obtained, as the tigerstripe camouflage cloth was normally rescued from the other uniform items or they could have been made up by the local tailor. During 1967 the United States army started giving out boonie hats. The “Hat, Jungle with Inset Net’ as many would know it by was made entirely of wind-resistant poplin and cotton, in tigerstripe, olive drab and the popular ERDL pattern. Seeing as the plain old baseball caps and patrol caps had been used since World War 2, the boonie hats were supposed to replace these old fashioned head gear items.

Even though the troops in the field and the guys that had to wear the boonie hats didn’t mind them and were actually rather fond of them, others like the Creighton Abrams and the polish officers scorned the hats and didn’t like them at all. Not long after this time, the boonie hats became a compulsory item of the U.S army’s uniform, but this was only once they developed past the garrison mentality. The boonie stuck in some places and is still used; however in some cases the hat may have had some alterations of some kind. They are still used in Afghanistan as well as in Iraq instead of the old fashioned patrol cap being used.

When it comes to the boonie hat, many military individuals that still carry them keep them as a souvenir to remember their old days when they served.