Soldier's Stash

“

Time to inform your next of kin! Click to listen — The Soldier

”

The Soldier's stash is a headwear item for the Soldier and was released with Sniper vs Spy Update as the first hat available for the Soldier. It appears as the Soldier's regular WW2 M-1 steel helmet but with the addition of a band holding a pack of cigarettes, the eponymous stash, as well as an ace of spades playing card. The additions are intended to represent the appearance of the modified M-1 helmet as used in the Vietnam war.

Trivia

• The band was designed to hold a cloth camouflage cover to the helmet as well as foliage, in order to blend the helmet shape and color into the surrounding vegetation. In Vietnam, this band more commonly held cigarettes (as the Soldier does here), insect repellent, or an extra rifle magazine. The Soldier appears to have done away with the helmet cover, only keeping the holding band.

• The "Ace of spades", also known as the "Death card" is featured in many movies about the Vietnam War. The symbol is also depicted on various unit crests, special operations privately-made patches, collar insignia, and on flags and painted vignettes on military aircraft and gun trucks.[1] In the Second World War, the soldiers of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the American 101st Airborne Division (AKA the "Screaming Eagles" whom the Soldier refers to in his Buff Banner taunt) were marked with the spades symbol painted on the sides of their helmets. In this capacity, it was used to represent good luck, due to its fortunate connotations in card playing. Some twenty years later, the Ace of Spades was again used by American soldiers — this time as a psychological weapon in the Vietnam War.[2]

• For performance reasons, the Soldier's stash hat does not include the WW2 M-1 steel helmet itself. This means custom content creators cannot replace the Soldier's stash and the normal steel helmet at the same time without editing the player model.

• The M-1 helmet is 7 in. deep, 9.5 in. wide, 11 in. long and weighs 2 1/4 lbs.

• The cigarette package closely resembles that of the 'Winston Classic' brand of cigarettes, known for their "American flavor."