We mentioned this new hat in our first week of publishing. We have finally been able to get our hands on a couple of prototypes and they are even more impressive in person than on a mannequin. The London Bridge boonie is a simple affair, designed to keep weight and cost low, take up little space, and provide both cooling shade as well as camouflage to the Operator’s head. They succeed on all of these points.
The Tan boonie. Notice how well it blends in with 3-color Desert pattern. The boonies are manufactured from a lightweight ripstop nylon shell, cut to imitate foliage and allow ample air circulation. The nylon shell is sewn to a foundation of camouflage mesh. This gives the boonie shape and facilitates cooling. The material is also very soft and compressible.
In this picture you can clearly see the mesh that makes up the interior of the hat. Also visible is the elastic band used to keep the cap on the head during high winds. This is backed up by a nylon band that runs around the circumference of the head and is adjustable in the rear via hook and pile tape. It is clearly visible on the Foliage boonie below.
The brim provides ample shade yet is not so wide that it impedes vision. Additionally, the mesh foundation is stiff enough that the brim can be formed even after being stowed in a pack for hours.
As you can see in the following picture, the boonie is highly compressible and will take up little space in your kit. If you constantly wear a helmet in the field and want something to throw on in the rare moments you are without a helmet, the LBT Boonie is the hat I would recommend.
The samples we received are in Tan and Foliage but additional colors are planned. While several camo patterns will eventually be offered I prefer the solid color models as they are more adaptable. As this is obviously a field cover, the monotone versions will blend in with a wider variety of patterns and applications and can be easily modified for specialty use such as with a ghillie cape. Additionally, the samples were slick in that they didn’t have IR markers nor pile tape to attach them but you should see something on production variants.
Available soon from London Bridge Trading Company.
