Speaking of Aussies

[bradclark1]

Whats the purpose of the hat brim being folded up on one side?

[Geno_Mariner]

This may answer your question :up: http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/slouch/army.htm

[bradclark1]

Ah. Thank you. A mystery solved.

[Trex]

I can see the bit with the rifle drill (and with range practices) but just cannot wrap my head around the idea of folding up the brim to make the Eyes Right command any easier.

[Geno_Mariner]

Ah. Thank you. A mystery solved.

No problem :yep:

[bradclark1]

I can see the bit with the rifle drill (and with range practices) but just cannot wrap my heat around the idea of folding up the brim to make the Eyes Right command any easier.
It's so they'll know which side is the right.:D

Just kidding but when entering the military I was shocked by how many people don't know their lefts from their rights.

[Jimbuna]

I can see the bit with the rifle drill (and with range practices) but just cannot wrap my heat around the idea of folding up the brim to make the Eyes Right command any easier.
It's so they'll know which side is the right.:D

Just kidding but when entering the military I was shocked by how many people don't know their lefts from their rights.

LMAO....and I suppose they use them corks that hang from their hats to keep the flies away from them because of the smell they emit :lol:

[Biggles]

Australian soldiers all look like this....right?:doh:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1397/1255658527_bbbc22a9b2_m.jpg

[baggygreen]

Well I marched out of basic training on saturday, we were told there that the reason for the turning up of the side was to make it easier for a CO to look his men in the eye as he inspected them, so that their eyes werent hidden under the brim.

For Eyes right it helps when marching past on parade, again because it makes it easier for the reviewing officer to look his men in the eye.

as a side note, by god i love the emu plumes of light cav!:D

[TarJak]

Australian soldiers all look like this....right?:doh:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1397/1255658527_bbbc22a9b2_m.jpg
Nope they all used to look like this:
http://www.lancers.org.au/images/lhf/snow.JPG

Then like this:

http://www.kokodatreks.com/images/AustralianJunglePatrolbyVX138790_000.jpg

They now look like this:
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200704/r136387_462496.jpg

[Geno_Mariner]

I can see the bit with the rifle drill (and with range practices) but just cannot wrap my heat around the idea of folding up the brim to make the Eyes Right command any easier. It's so they'll know which side is the right.:D

Just kidding but when entering the military I was shocked by how many people don't know their lefts from their rights.

:rotfl::rotfl:

I used to not know which side is which! :)

[kurtz]

The right side of the brim was turned up and held in position by a cord attached to a hook which protruded from a gilt lion’s head boss, fastened high on the side of the crown. It has been suggested that the right side was looped up to cater for the rifle drill of the day and to make it easier for marching troops to perform the "eyes right" command in parades.

perhaps I'm being a bit slow here but haven't all those guys got their hats turned up on the left hand side? Now the left hand side would be right for rifle drill IIRC ATC days but wouldn't help much with eyes right. (is there an eyes left command?

[Jimbuna]

The right side of the brim was turned up and held in position by a cord attached to a hook which protruded from a gilt lion’s head boss, fastened high on the side of the crown. It has been suggested that the right side was looped up to cater for the rifle drill of the day and to make it easier for marching troops to perform the "eyes right" command in parades.

perhaps I'm being a bit slow here but haven't all those guys got their hats turned up on the left hand side? Now the left hand side would be right for rifle drill IIRC ATC days but wouldn't help much with eyes right. (is there an eyes left command?

Only if your crosseyed http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/6307/crazyeyeszb8.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[baggygreen]

easy kurtz - when given eyes right, having the left hand side turned up means you can glance out of the corner of your eye to stay a straight line, and as you're approaching the reviewing officer you can see him and look him in the eye as you march up to him and past.

[bradclark1]

Australian's must have some really good eyesight if the reviewing officer can look at passing troops in the eyes.

[baggygreen]

i presume you say that because of distance brad? remember the origins though... we started as militia and small units, so the RO was always close by. Nothing like the videos of say old soviet or chinese military parades... for larger marches im sure you cant see the officer, but back when it started it wouldn't have been an issue.

[Etienne]

The right side of the brim was turned up and held in position by a cord attached to a hook which protruded from a gilt lion’s head boss, fastened high on the side of the crown. It has been suggested that the right side was looped up to cater for the rifle drill of the day and to make it easier for marching troops to perform the "eyes right" command in parades.

perhaps I'm being a bit slow here but haven't all those guys got their hats turned up on the left hand side? Now the left hand side would be right for rifle drill IIRC ATC days but wouldn't help much with eyes right. (is there an eyes left command?

The article posted above mentions that, for a while, the left side was pinned up.

[darius359au]

Slouch Hats can be a pain when doing rifle drill with Fixed Bayonets - I was in the Army in the Eighties when we transitioned to the Steyr , when I did my recruit training we were using SLR's (L1A1's) and we had to be careful when shouldering arms with fixed bayonets , either a knocked off or out of kilter hat in a best case scenario or a Speared hat in the worst case ;):D

[kurtz]

Slouch Hats can be a pain when doing rifle drill with Fixed Bayonets - I was in the Army in the Eighties when we transitioned to the Steyer , when I did my recruit training we were using SLR's (L1A1's) and we had to be careful when shouldering arms with fixed bayonets , either a knocked off or out of kilter hat in a best case scenario or a Speared hat in the worst case ;):D

That conjure up a great picture in my mind.:rotfl:

[kurtz]

easy kurtz - when given eyes right, having the left hand side turned up means you can glance out of the corner of your eye to stay a straight line, and as you're approaching the reviewing officer you can see him and look him in the eye as you march up to him and past.

Ahh! A moment of Zen realisation dawns:D Thanks!

[Jimbuna]

Slouch Hats can be a pain when doing rifle drill with Fixed Bayonets - I was in the Army in the Eighties when we transitioned to the Steyr , when I did my recruit training we were using SLR's (L1A1's) and we had to be careful when shouldering arms with fixed bayonets , either a knocked off or out of kilter hat in a best case scenario or a Speared hat in the worst case ;):D

I should imagine the old ear was also on alert constantly :lol: