Blackhawk Boonie Hat Used By Canadian Navy Boarding Party

I made a very interesting trade recently with a member of the Royal Canadian Navy. He is a boarding party member on active deployment. He sent me one of their issued Blackhawk Advanced Boonie Hats.

I thought this was kinda odd since there is an issued Arid CADPAT boonie in the system. It made no sense to me why they would buy another type of hat off the shelf when there is already a good one available. But then again, why would I care? It gives me another cool item to collect.

The hat is in a desert digital camo pattern that is similar to US Navy AOR2. It is a well designed item with mesh side panels for ventilation and a double row of scrim bands. There is a drawstring in the brim that is secured with a plastic toggle for a firm, positive fit. Two velcro panels are sewn to the top and rear of the hat for attaching IR and IFF markers. The hat is made with a short brim which I find to be ideal for windy days when you don't want the brim to cover your eyes.

Here's a couple of photos of the Blackhawk hat in use by the RCN.

cobalt545 wrote:
I thought this was kinda odd since there is an issued Arid CADPAT boonie in the system. It made no sense to me why they would buy another type of hat off the shelf when there is already a good one available. But then again, why would I care? It gives me another cool item to collect.

Might not be so strange if you ask yourself "Is the Canadian Navy authorized to issue CADPAT?"

John Brown wrote:

cobalt545 wrote:
I thought this was kinda odd since there is an issued Arid CADPAT boonie in the system. It made no sense to me why they would buy another type of hat off the shelf when there is already a good one available. But then again, why would I care? It gives me another cool item to collect.

Might not be so strange if you ask yourself "Is the Canadian Navy authorized to issue CADPAT?"

I would assume so since there are photos of them wearing the Arid boonie while on deployment.

cobalt545 wrote:

John Brown wrote:

cobalt545 wrote:
I thought this was kinda odd since there is an issued Arid CADPAT boonie in the system. It made no sense to me why they would buy another type of hat off the shelf when there is already a good one available. But then again, why would I care? It gives me another cool item to collect.

Might not be so strange if you ask yourself "Is the Canadian Navy authorized to issue CADPAT?"

I would assume so since there are photos of them wearing the Arid boonie while on deployment.

Okay, to sharpen the question, "Are sailors on boat duty authorized the wear of CADPAT?"

Obviously, there is a lack of CADPAT availability among some groups of RCN sailors if they're buying third party stuff at the unit level.

John Brown wrote:

cobalt545 wrote:

John Brown wrote:

cobalt545 wrote:
I thought this was kinda odd since there is an issued Arid CADPAT boonie in the system. It made no sense to me why they would buy another type of hat off the shelf when there is already a good one available. But then again, why would I care? It gives me another cool item to collect.

Might not be so strange if you ask yourself "Is the Canadian Navy authorized to issue CADPAT?"

I would assume so since there are photos of them wearing the Arid boonie while on deployment.

Okay, to sharpen the question, "Are sailors on boat duty authorized the wear of CADPAT?"

Obviously, there is a lack of CADPAT availability among some groups of RCN sailors if they're buying third party stuff at the unit level.

I'm not sure if there is a lack of Arid hats to go around or if they just bought these along with all the other Blackhawk items they use (SIG holsters, knee and elbow pads, etc) specifically for the boarding party sailors.