Finnish M36 field cap, diagonal wool, surplus

The Finnish army field cap of the post-war era continued to soldier on with the name of the classic M36 cap despite its obvious differences. It's still very much like the "blood scoop" cap used during the war years - has that same scruffy "frontline grunt" appearance although the visor is now hardened with leather and the fabric is a tad nicer. Unissued.

Made of nice quality thick diagonal weave wool and nylon lining, has a leather sweatband and rigid visor. Like with the old wartime caps, this one has fold-down ear & neck protectors. While undeniably useful for protection against cold, sun and insects to some degree, they make the hat look absolutely ridiculous, so they're best kept up.

The Finnish nomenclature with post-war field caps is quite something: these have been around as M36, M61 and even M65 caps (and there still is a different M65 cap, lighter than this one). The earliest year of manufacture we found stamped in the caps was 1961, most are made in the 60's.

Sizes

Given sizes are head circumference in centimetres. Divide by 3.142 and then by 2.54 to convert to head diameter in inches (US size).

Genuine Finnish army surplus

These have just been stored until they went obsolete and were replaced by the rigid M65 model, which was in turn replaced with modern baseball caps and yada yada. At least on paper.