Kit Up! HSGI 'tactical baseball caps'
Matt is busy trying to put a good shine on a pair of desert boots, so he asked me to introduce another guest piece from Mike; a few thoughts on the High Speed Gear Inc. line of 'tactical baseball caps.'
I’m not a hat guy. It’s not that I don’t like hats; it’s that hats don’t like me. Or at least my head. I wear a hat size 7 ¼, which the internet informs me is the average hat size for women. Thank you internet. Point is it’s difficult for me to find head gear--short of a helmet--that somehow doesn’t make me look goofy or fit correctly. That is until I found High Speed Gear Inc. “Tactical Baseball Cap.” In my opinion, this is the finest cap to grace the head of mankind ever. Or at least my head.
The cap itself is a low profile, unstructured six panel design with no reinforcement so it fits the head snugly. Each of the six panels features a stitched eyelet, not metal. In fact, there is no metal anywhere on these hats. That means no annoying rivet in the crown, enabling you to wear traditional headphone style hearing protection and some types of helmets over the hat. There is an elastic band at the back of the hat to aid in keeping the hat on your dome. However, adjustments can still be made to the fit using the hook and loop tab on the inside of the headband. The bill is stiffened by a solid piece of plastic that takes forming well. You’ll still need to wrap it in 550 cord for those of you that want that really aggressive curl.
Kit Up! A closer look at the hook-and-loop adjustment.
The right hand side of the cap is the HSG logo, the left a U.S. flag. Both are embroidered in subdued thread, just like the eyelets. The front and back of the cap have 2”x3” hook and loop patches and a 1.5” square on the crown for IR tabs or glint tape.
I love the fit and look of the hat. I love the way it feels on my head and the way it soaks up sweat, which is probably due to its next best feature--the material it’s constructed from. I was told it’s micro fiber cotton. I can’t say for sure but I know if I could find bed sheets made of this stuff, I’d buy them and sleep in them every damn night. That’s how much I like the fabric these hats are made out of.
I bought my first Tactical Baseball Cap in 2006. Since then I’ve bought three more. I gave two away, leaving me with one in khaki and my original in OD, nice and faded from sun, sweat and machine washings. The original has seen some action in the last six years and is
Kit Up! Evidence of my acidic sweat fading the embroidered logo on the HSGI cap.
showing its age. The fabric around the edge of the bill is fraying and in one place sports a two inch tear, a battle scar from a night of spirited comradeship in South Lake Tahoe. If I was to be critical about the hat I would point out how the thread in the flag and HSG logo on my two hats has begun to fade on the lower half from what I can only guess is my sweat. It must be that because it’s happened on both. The other thing would be to ask for the addition of a nametape length strip of hook and loop on the back of the hats, but that’s about it.
Since then the good people at HSGI have expanded their line of caps. You can get caps with mesh sides, short billed caps, the ’YAMMI’ which has no bill at all, and sterile caps for the super secret squirrels out there. Colors range from OD to ATACS. Their entire line retails for $20.
Kit Up! A look at the crown construction.
If you’re on the market for a good, quality cap for anything, do yourself and your dome a solid and pick up a Tactical Baseball Cap.
R2A
