The humble beany has been part of diving culture ever since Cousteau’ s little red bonnet. Yo-Han Cha explores his fondness for exotic headgear
YO-HANCHA
Where did you get that hat?
The humble beany has been part of diving culture ever since Cousteau’ s little red bonnet. Yo-Han Cha explores his fondness for exotic headgear
As a kid, I never liked wearing beanies or bobble hats. I found them scratchy and uncomfortable. Even in the depths of an Aberdonian winter, I was usually hatless outside. Mind you, I had significantly more hair back then. That’ s mostly all gone now and my head now has to cope with less efficacious insulation. But because I was never really in the habit of wearing any on my head, when I first started diving in the UK, I simply did what I’ d always done, which was to go about it hatless.
It was a particularly cold day diving off Anglesey and the wind was Baltic. Eventually I noticed that pretty much everyone was wearing some sort of thermal protection around their heads. It’ s not that they all looked warm and cosy, but they certainly looked much more comfortable out on the boat deck that I felt! So, the next time I was in town, I nipped into a shop and bought a beanie. It was to be start of a beautiful friendship. Why had I never thought of wearing one before? It just made so much sense. I realised that I had been needlessly dealing with a cold head all of my life. Life on a dive boat on a breezy April day in North Wales had suddenly become a lot more comfortable. And before I knew it, I had a rather large collection of beanies and bobble hats. Sometimes a manufacturer would be giving out freebies at a dive show, but mostly it was because my default merchandise purchase in support of a charity or dive operation had become something toasty to wear atop my head.
Then, when I became Training Officer for Manchester University Sub Aqua Club, I found myself doing a lot more surface cover in Capernwray, where there are two ways to exit the water. Students and instructors would always find ways to sneak past me, focused as I was on students at one exit and lacking eyes in the back of my head.
“ Sorry, didn’ t see you!” would be the most common excuse when I I finally
“ Sorry, didn’ t see you!”
tracked them down. Capernwray can get very busy, so I thought I could help improve the situation by making myself more visible by wearing brighter and more colourful bobble hats. It didn’ t work. But at least my elusive divers had to think of a different excuse for not being able to spot the only Korean Scot in Capernwray wearing a bright red hat!
Anyway, that’ s how and why I developed a taste for attention-grabbing headgear. And I’ m not stopping now; in fact, I recently added one that looks like a puffin sitting atop my head. Yes, it looks ridiculous, but it’ s very warm. And then there’ s my favourite, my octopus hat, made by Liz Allison of Reading BSAC. I won it in an auction held by the club to raise money for the DDRC and I’ ve worn it proudly for many years, in all weathers. Talking of great hats, Claire Hallybone( of Dunoon Divers) also has a great hairy coo hat that’ s worthy of mention, although it’ s not as good as mine. �
Classic scuba headgear( left to right) Cha, Cousteau, Zissou
17