He may have picked up the style from hard-hat divers - those 19th-century explorers who wore big copper helmets - who favored red knit caps for decades. Aside from the extreme temperature, diving in a deep-sea submersible is much like flying in an airplane, except a much tighter squeeze. To withstand the crushing pressure of deep waters, the vehicles must be compact and often have spherical cabins. Changing clothes is difficult because there's rarely enough room to stand. Going to the bathroom, for which there is little privacy, is a particular challenge for female explorers, who have to contort themselves more than men to use the urine-collection bottles.
While divers may avoid drinking fluids in order to put off urination, they must also be careful not to become dehydrated. For long dives, air can be recycled using carbon dioxide scrubbers and oxygen generators. Still, these technologies can't always keep up with passengers' demand for oxygen, and enough carbon dioxide can accumulate to cause headaches.
The cabin is pressurized enough that divers will feel little of the extreme pressure outside of the vehicle - dangers like nitrogen narcosis and the bends aren't a concern in a functioning vehicle - but their ears might pop when the submarine is opened and repressurizes at the surface. In between his dives, he wore a red knit cap, in the brim of which he kept a English penny for good luck.
Intrigued by this guy, I searched around some more and found his story, including lots of illustrations of him at Winchester Cathedral in full hard-hat diving gear and his red knit cap, now known as the William Walker Comforter. The story next is picked up by an English commercial diver named Tony Ash. In the s, he attended an auction of assorted classic diving memorabilia.
One of the items to be auctioned, an old, beat-up red knit cap, caught his eye. Tony Ash discovered the elderly gentleman who had donated it had dated a Walker girl back in his youth. During one of their walks, he had complained to her that he got cold while fishing.
The next time he saw her, she produced a red knit cap that she said belonged to "Billy" when he worked at Winchester Cathedral. The donor wore it for years until he retired from fishing, then it hung on a nail in his garage for a few more decades. It was that hat he put up for auction. Bidding started on the red knit cap and Tony Ash ended up being high bidder. Incredibly, he found the hat still had a penny tucked in its brim.
Ash wore it for a time, but the cap started to disintegrate. He then had his grandmother knit him a similar one that he wore for the next three decades.
In , he approached a professional knitter on the Isle of Wight. She dismantled what was left of the original comforter and studied its makeup and construction.
Ash reported she was able to create an exact replica, including what yarn was used, stitch size and style, as well as color…which was Guards Tunic Red. He now commissions a few each year to be made and sold.
By this point I was totally hooked. The quest now centered on tracking down Tony Ash to order a hat. I searched all kinds of diving and maritime services in Great Britain until I finally found some contact information.
I sent out a query and waited. And waited. For direct shipment of signed books contact Richard at richardehyman gmail. We believe ocean lovers can change the world. If you care about the health of the ocean and want to do something about it, then connect with the Blue Ocean tribe: Our growing community of ocean change-makers is turning ocean lovers into ocean leaders. It starts with you. Join us! Laurie J. Wilson is co-Founder of Blue Ocean Network.
Connect with Laurie on LinkedIn bit. Sign up to receive weekly ocean updates. From Cozy Cap to Fashion Statement Some may argue if such gallant efforts catapulted the red cap into fashion fame, but the fact remains that the red cap comforter became, and still is, the trademark of commercial divers. Authors Laurie J.
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