Merchandise - Interest In Offering A SOTA Hat For Sale?

People who cannot sew are unlikely to have any idea what to do with an iron. I know of one radio amateur who claims never to have ironed anything. His ample girth smooths out any creases apparently.

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Iron on things don’t work very well on things that stretch like woolly hats.

Colin

Glenn, I would post the question to the NASOTA reflector as well. I’ve got such a cap, and it was a gift so unfortunately I don’t know where it was obtained.

73, Barry N1EU

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I too have such a gifted SOTA baseball cap. It’s a lightweight hat and his good for in the summer in not being to hot yet keeping the sun off my bald head!

As Barry (TOE) says we stock things that we know will sell. I don’t know if there is a poll facility on our “new” reflector software, if there is we can guage how many people are interested in baseball caps or beanies or whatever.

Most things stretch! In the case of a woolly hat, though, the design can be knitted in - I’ll have a word with the XYL, she clicks a mean pair of needles! Actually, such a hat can be produced on a machine in an hour or so…

Brian

This software gets better and better the more I play with it…

There is a poll: Poll: Would you buy a SOTA hat?

Richard, I have logged that. I owe you one now and will store that privilege for when it might be best utilised. Gerald - same goes, seeing as you “liked” it.

Unimpressed of Cheshire

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Hi Barry,

May I suggest some sort of vessel for Radio Hams to store their breakfast. For those amongst us who frequent radio rallies, we find the traditional practice of utilising their beards, pretty unsightly :frowning:

73 mike
2E0YYY

Hello Mike,

I think you are absolutely wrong and obviously never been stuck in a remote place covered in snow.

“May I suggest some sort of vessel for Radio Hams to store their breakfast. For those amongst us who frequent radio rallies, we find the traditional practice of utilising their beards, pretty unsightly”

The beard is vital to survival in dreadful conditions. Experienced beard hoarders will tell you that a collection of past breakfasts stored on the beard (best combo carbs and some runny egg mix) could save your life. You suck on the beard to get the nutrient until saved by the rescue team. Beard fragments also provide some fibre.

I am quite surprised you did not know this. Also a beard can reduce heat loss from the face and act as a frost barrier for the skin!

Now off to the forest with Bertie before the torrential rain and high winds return :wink:

Mike

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Indeed Mike and don’t forget that icicles formed from condensation of exhaled water vapour clinging to an ample moustache can provide valuable additional hydration at a flick of the tongue :smile:

73 de Paul G4MD

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I never tried a full set but used to sport a moustache. It was winter mountaineering made me give it up. A fringe of icicles used to form, this not only looked and felt strange but the musical tinkling was very distracting! Talking of icicles, I well remember climbing the big ice pitch of SC Gully on Stob Corrie nan Lochan, at one point I looked up just as an icicle fell. It took out one spectacle lens, without the spectacles it might have been an eye. I don’t like icicles!

Brian

You learn something new everyday :wink:

73 Mike
2E0YYY

Very good point Paul, I think “ample” is the key = greater capacity. So for SOTA activators another thing to consider.

I realise women activators are going to find it difficult to grow such things.

Anyway the forest is a bog. Clump Hill is sodden so until the ground is frozen will not be going there for awhile. Sorry Brian for meandering off topic…I just had to chastise 2E0YYY :wink:

Mike

Thanks for indicating you are watching this Barry, and had not surprisingly already considered it. Your market research instincts are obviously far superior to my own. Rounding up interest to the nearest 100 the survey says 100 SOTA enthusiast are interested in buying a hat right now. And that is about equally divided between two styles. It seems there are a fair number of “homebrew” SOTA hats out there. So obviously there is interest, though I fear not nearly enough. Can you share the rough demand for SOTA shirts? And I just bought a really cool SOTA flag. You really sell a lot of those? Will wonders never cease.

I myself think a jacket size patch is not the perfect size fit for a hat. Perhaps you could instead offer a downsized hat appropriate patch, and then I too can have my own hat engineered.

I do appreciate that the MT listened and gave it a fair shot to be embraced. I really thought North America would put Ball Caps over the top. I even posted a link on NASOTA so they could easily find the survey. It must be a frugality issue. Certainly, if you were giving them away you could not keep them in stock.

Glenn - AB3TQ

I am presently sourcing both a cap and a thermal fleece “beanie” with the logo embroidered. The size of the badge would be much reduced from the one used on the polo shirts and the patch but I am waiting on the manufacturer to advise the appropriate size. The cost of the patches is reasonable but the set-up cost and initial stock commitment is such that it is unlikely we would be able to justify a smaller one - maybe I am wrong?

Demand for shirts varies, I suppose we have sold around 200, perhaps more (without checking), since they were introduced but (as always) Murphy has a hand in it so regardless of what we sell I always have a shortage of size/colour that is wanted (and a glut of what is not wanted :smiley:). Flags are a steady seller at around 100 per year with Eu being the largest market.

I get it wrong and have a reasonable stock of thermal mugs which only sell sporadically (does nobody in SOTA drink hot coffee/cold beer?)

Barry GM4TOE

Hi Brian,

Up here we call a beanie hat a Tammy, usually a woolen one, fine until they get wet then weight pulls it over yer eyes.

Neil

Very good they are too !

http://www.sota-shop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=travelmug

In the days when I actually had time to do SOTA activations my last action before leaving the house was to fill a thermal mug with coffee for the drive. They keep the coffee warm for about 2 hours (so warm in fact that it was usually too hot to drink in the first hour). Surely every winter activator needs one (…for Christmas)?

I thought a Tammy had a bobble on top!

Brian

Aye weel, ye see, a proper Scottish Tammy is a tartan (usually) flatish hat type wi a wee bobble oan tap. Also known as a bunnet. But down in oor wee corner o’ Scotland a beanie is usually called a Tammy or Tammy bunnet, traditionally hand knitted with wool - heavy when it rains.

Regional variations are amazing, even a couple of miles makes a big difference.

73 Neil

Brian

Hey Barry, don’t forget us warm (Bitter) beer and cold (ice) coffee drinkers! You’re missing half of your market for the thermo-mugs! Of course these can also be used to hold food in the form of a soup or broth, answering an earlier question. I thought the Scottish cap was called a Tammy Shanta (sorry for the spelling).

Ed - this time signing G8GLM, going back to my roots.