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I've got a Crown Zellerbach full brim tin hat stashed away somewhere, probably a Macdonald. IIRC it is a six point with an intact suspension. I'll see if I can dig it out in the next few days.




Mr. HE:cool:
 
The hell you need a chin strap for? Gonna guard the Queen of England? :hmm3grin2orange:

Those skull bucket suspensions aren't very comfortable. A tip: the Mac-T Stayz on suspensions fit that hardhat and are much more comfortable.

You have to have a chin strap when working or going to ride in helicopters. My Mac T also has clips to hold a
headlight on--night shift need on fires.

There's no need to spend a fortune on a hard hat. The plastic ones work well and come in a variety of colors.
I just like my old Mac T because it is lighter than plastic.

I had to wear a Bullard hard hat. I'll take a picture of it when I find it. They are heavier than any of the others, but are what is worn on the fireline. They have a 6 point suspension. It was heavy, but it sure stayed on during "acrobatics" no chin strap needed. They are also very expensive. They hold up well to the back in at the office, open door, hat fall out onto pavement treatment.
 
I fetched one of the six straps out of the trash this morning. If you could find the material, it wouldn't be hard to make. What was the headband made of?

I guess that would be something to do today. The weather is nasty and supposed to get worse. The headband was leather.

I did get that far. I cut and stitched three strips of leather together. I was trying to wait to find narrower straps for the suspension. I have nylon webbing, which is wider and thicker than the original.

To adjust the old ones, there were holes punched in the leather, and you laced those up. It was not easy to compensate for big hair days.

An awl will be needed. I tried to stitch it on my treadle sewing machine. The old treadles will sew tougher materials than electric, but the leather was too tough for the treadle. I stitched it by hand with an awl.

Time for a warning. I would guess that a pristine hardhat with the approved, design suspension would be safer than a home made suspension. To be safe, I'd be wearing the factory made hardhat.
 
An awl will be needed. I tried to stitch it on my treadle sewing machine. The old treadles will sew tougher materials than electric, but the leather was too tough for the treadle. I stitched it by hand with an awl.

This may be what you used, but I have found the "Speedy Stitcher" sewing awl to be very effective for leatherwork and repairs.

Time for a warning. I would guess that a pristine hardhat with the approved, design suspension would be safer than a home made suspension. To be safe, I'd be wearing the factory made hardhat.

But would it look as cool?
 
Here are three suspension types.

This is what came with the 6 point hat.
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This is the Bullard. It has velcro for the neck thingies that can be worn on fires. That is my own cooties and dirt on the suspension. Icky!
225308d1329836076-bullard-suspension0001-jpg


This is a Skull Bucket suspension in an old, but in good shape, (I found it with moss on it under a tree at a yard sale) Mac T. Got the suspension at the big candy store for guys in Chehalis.

225309d1329836089-modified-mac-t0001_2-jpg


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Time for a warning. I would guess that a pristine hardhat with the approved, design suspension would be safer than a home made suspension. To be safe, I'd be wearing the factory made hardhat.

I was holding back on this, but slowp is correct. Most people look at the hard shell as being the most important part of a 'hard hat', but it is the suspension that absorbs the impact.

The shell resists penetration and spreads the impact across the suspension, but straps that are too soft can fail, and straps that are too stiff can just transfer the load to your neck. You can sew new straps but you cannot test them like the manufacturers do.

Philbert

wisha-training.lni.wa.gov/training/trainingkits/hardhats/hardhats.ppt

All About Head Protection And Hard Hat Safety

Hard hat quality control
 
Here are three suspension types.



This is the Bullard. It has velcro for the neck thingies that can be worn on fires. That is my own cooties and dirt on the suspension. Icky!
225308d1329836076-bullard-suspension0001-jpg


View attachment 225307View attachment 225308View attachment 225309

The Bullard helmet Patty shows is an old style, made prior to March 2008. I should probably be retired (by destroying it). Or at least washed.:msp_razz: The Bullard stays on my head best and has a great chinstrap that stays tucked up across the brim when not needed.

Firecache-Helmets (Hats & Caps)
 
Thanks for posting the video, as that will likely "wake-up" some of us. Glad you are ok. I've had 4 concussions in my life, with one being alot worse than the others(none tree related, though).
 
The Bullard helmet Patty shows is an old style, made prior to March 2008. I should probably be retired (by destroying it). Or at least washed.:msp_razz: The Bullard stays on my head best and has a great chinstrap that stays tucked up across the brim when not needed.

Firecache-Helmets (Hats & Caps)

Yes it is. The new style one I was given as a replacement would not stay on. The final straw was when I tripped, it fell off, I did a faceplant ON the hardhat and got a sore and bloody nose. That hat went into the backseat to be used by others when they "forgot" their hardhats. I went back to the old model, which stayed on.

Injured by a hardhat. I did not fill out an accident report.
 
I think it was Wowzers who simply drilled and riveted a 4 point suspension in an old Mac-T. . . So Brad, you could indeed wear that full-brim.

Or just send it to me. ;)
 
SlowP that sucks, but it is a funny story.:hmm3grin2orange:

I wore my new hat today for about 6 hrs. I had a neighbor/logger come by with his 650 dozer to help me skid out 2 dozen big cedars, 3 that I hung up in the dense woods. The hat is 10 times more comfortable than my plastic Stihl. I never had to monkey with and it stayed put the whole morning, and NO PINCHING. It is a little noisier when you thwap it with a branch, but you get used to it. I'll keep the plastic one for a spare, but I ain't wearing it ever again.

Now I'm off to fork them with the tractor and get them over to my mill. Brad, you might be better picking up a 4 point, since the suspension systems are readily available.
 
I ended up with a new full brim loggers hard hat. I went at it slowp style with the decalse, lol.

Hehehehehe

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I had a lot of spare decals from resoration projects. What better place to put them. I still want to get a couple "Magnum" decals from Stihl.
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IMG8642-M.jpg


IMG8643-M.jpg


IMG8644-M.jpg


IMG8645-M.jpg
 
Thats a good hat man. I like the decals but it reminds me of a race car. :msp_razz:

Is that a Skull bucket? Looks a little different than mine so I was J/W.
 
I have a woods truck and a nice truck, but only one helmet - Brad, that helmet is awful purty for the woods ;)
 
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