CAP FLYING - TYPE B-1 USAAF

Description

Standarised in 1939, the B-1 was issued to all flight personnel, and can be seen being worn in all theatres of operations during WWII.

It was very popular piece of headwear, as it was durable, light and with its large duck-bill style peak offered good eye protection from bright sunlight which is often encountered during flying. Indeed, so successful was its design that this basic shape can be seen carried on through many of the US military arms of service cap designs that followed through subsequent decades.

Having been absent from our line up of authentic head wear for several years, we are pleased to be able to reintroduce it as we know it's one of the favourites. Whilst it may seem a relatively simple piece of head wear to produce, there is one difficulty to overcome when making a proper recreation of this cap - the fabric.

The fabric used for the B-1 is the as that which was used for A-4 flight suits. It is a unique fabric as the yarns that are used in it's manufacture are dyed before they are woven, and the warp is a different shade to the weft. This method of fabric production is what gives it its unique appearance.

To make a truly accurate recreation of this cap therefore requires the custom-making of the fabric which in and of itself is very expensive due to minimums and the pure cost per meter of the fabric due to its specialist nature.

This hasn't stopped us from doing the job properly though, and once again we have had this beautiful fabric specially made, to bring our customers a definitive recreation of this design classic.

Most of the original B-1 cap production contracts were made with a lacqured leather sweatband. If there was one detail that perhaps let this design down, it was that. Unlike most leather sweatbands (which are usually soft and unlacqured) these were quite obstinate and uncomforable to have pressed against ones brow. However, during our research and development of this cap, and examining many originals, we found a version that was not made with the lacqured leather, but one made from cotton OD HBT fabric. This is without doubt a more comfortable deisgn difference. We have utilised this spec for our recreation, to bring our customers a much more comfortable B-1.