Cavalry Stetson



The Cavalry Stetson is an American Military hat dating back to the Civil War Era and worn only by the elite Cavalry units. Whose soldiers are called "Troopers."

The Cav Hat is almost as sacred as the American Flag so don't get too truthy here or you will wake to find one of these outside your house.



A Tradition Reborn


The most distinctive uniform item worn by air cavalrymen in Vietnam was the Cav hat. This tradition is believed to have been originated in early 1964 by LTC John B. Stockton (Commander of 3/17 Cavalry) at Fort Benning, Georgia. The hat was adopted in an effort to increase esprit de corps in the new air cavalry squadron and was meant to emulate the look of the 1876 pattern campaign hat worn by cavalry troopers long ago. Once units deployed to Vietnam, the custom slowly spread to other air cavalry units, and by the cessation of hostilities, virtually all air cav (and some ground cav) units had adopted the Cav hat.

Fun Cav Hat Facts

 * The Cav Hat is broken in in a ceremony called "Wetting Down." Where all your buddies dump all manner of liquor, flotsam and jetsam into your stylish new chapeau, then you slosh it around, putrifying it forever and you drink heartily. Puking is not an option.

''"When they grabbed the Stetson, the wife immediately jumped up and followed them around to make sure that there wasn't TOO much crap dumped into it...

"I can specifically remember... Tequila, Rum, Beer, Soda, Vodka, Gin and Tonic, Salad, Sour Cream, Cigar butts, and I think there was even a dinner roll or two...Anyway..."

"I think there were 6 or 7 of us... we all had to drink that shit out of our Stetsons... it was leaking through the felt and was the nastiest shit I've ever tasted...But it was broken in correctly!!"


 * Hot chicks Dig Cav hats.