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Whatziss, indeed...

“Whatziss?” sez John. And, after a torrent of guesses (“It’s the nano-black hole that ry installed in the garderobe to to keep from having a Kevin moment.” “It’s an aerial view of Tehran on the Day After.” Et cetera…), the dénouement.

“Nope, it’s the ventilation hole in the spike of an uhlan's pikelhaub from the Franco-Prussian War. Snerk.”

*sigh.* But do *I* post a picture like this

Huh?

and say, “Whatziss?”

Nope. Not I. You guys get to see the *entirety* of the whatziss.

Huh?

Yup, that’s the whole thing.

And it even comes with clues--you may not have consciously absorbed the information, but if you saw The Green Berets, or Hamburger Hill, or We Were Soldiers Once… or even Cartoon --uhhhhh--Platoon, you should be able to dredge the image up through the neuron net.

Ummmm--and it's been cleaned up. A *lot*...

Heh.

[Apropos of Bill's comment - it could be here. Or here. Or several other places. If you are new to the Castle, you should *definitely* click the first link. Actually, you should click through and read *both*. -The Armorer]

31 Comments

On the one hand i think urinal and on the other i think bottle opener.
 
Skid tip?
 
Trias - On the one hand i think urinal and on the other i think bottle opener. But would you consider those to be mutually exclusive uses? And why would a bottle opener need to be cleaned up (I'm downright *careful* about cap-popping)? Sanger! I figured something OD would get you out from behind the tapestries!
 
"And it even comes with clues--you may not have consciously absorbed the information, but if you saw The Green Berets, or Hamburger Hill, or We Were Soldiers Once… or even Cartoon --uhhhhh--Platoon, you should be able to dredge the image up through the neuron net." No one, NO ONE has seen the movie "The Green Berets" more than I have. I saw the sentence above and thought "Finally! Here's one that the *non* weapon girl might have a shot at!" But...........no. LOL
 
Maggie - But isn't the *non* weapon girl taking a shot somewhat of an oxymoron? Hmmmmm--considering your prowess with the shillelagh...
 
Hey! I posted a complete pic of the item in question... it was the *clues* that were incomplete. And taking an obscure part from something and showing the whole thing is *exactly* something I would do, so get off yer high horse there boyo. Though I haven't a clue yet meself what that is.
 
Codpiece! For a small but muscular helicopter- er - person! Cheers
 
Wellllll, John, I wouldn't call showing a prong-and-a-half of a trench maul posting the whole thing. But then, that's just me. JMH - For a small but muscular helicopter- er - person! Small? It's a foot long and--oh, right. That 27" zipper thang. Howsomever, since it's metal, badly chipped and a tad clunky, folks might think "Armor" rather than "Aviation"--but then, *John* might say it was an over-large codpiece for a tanker-person. *I* won't, though. Cheers!
 
Much overlarge for a tanker. And I *was* referring to my last whatziss. Howcum I don't get the same respect we give politicians and movie stars on i's only the last thing they did or said that counts? Oh, wait. I *am* getting that respect...
 
Oh - I guess it's a Hubert part!
 
hey, no fair! that's just becuz i'm Irish.... and i'm going down the path with SangerM on this one, just based on the wear marks. in fact, i would even further propose that whatever it is, it is the "right hand side" version of it.
 
Indeed. And, in keeping with (recently-)established policy, part of it *has* appeared in the Annals of ARGGHHH! and still appears in the Archives of ARGGHHH!
 
MajMike - It's bilaterally symmetrical. And based on the insult to the paint job (because I know what did the insulting), it's been retired from the *left* side. And, mirabili dictu, it appears in the ARGGHHH!ives in it's manifestation sinestra...
 
As a point Uhlans do not wear pikelhaub they wear Czapkas. See Wikipedia Uhlans the relevant part of the article is this: In 1914 the Imperial German Army included nineteen Uhlan regiments, three of which were Guard regiments. The senior of these was Ulanen-Regiment Kaiser Alexander III. von Rusland which was first raised in 1745. All German Uhlan regiments wore Polish style czapkas and tunics with plastron fronts, both in coloured parade uniforms and the field grey service dress introduced in 1910. Because German hussar, dragoon and cuirassier regiments carried also carried lances in 1914 there was a tendency among their French and British opponents to describe all German cavalry as "uhlans". After seeing mounted action during the early weeks of World War I the Uhlan regiments were either dismounted to serve as "cavalry rifles" in the trenches of the Western Front, or transferred to the Eastern Front where more primitive conditions made it possible for horse cavalry to still play a useful role. All nineteen German Uhlan regiments were disbanded in 1918-19. Thought you would want to know.
 
Oh, one more thing the spiked helmet is more properly known as the pickelhaube. The e is necessary.
 
JimC - The Czapka or Schapska was indeed standard headgear for all personnel in Uhlan regiments. But Feldmarschall August von Mackensen wore the pikelhaub for his official portrait. Ooop. Never mind--von Macksen was a Hussar... *!* Hey--with all the dancing around, you guys've collectively nailed it. Now, put all the pieces together and come up with *the* answer.
 
Jim - whattaya sayin' that 'e' is nccssry? Ovratd, I'd say. Ovrusd, crtainly!
 
Gottit - Bill's step from Hubert. It's upside down in the pic, and comprises the tip of the skid as well. And Bill was probably flying in vegetation defilade when he dinged the paint.
 
As seen in the second archive link I provided - or more clearly, here.
 
And Sanger really deserves the credit, donee? He did get it right, if not totally completely laid out.
 
I've seen both spellings, but the English sites I checked seem to prefer pickelhaube and the Polish ones pikelhaub. The German sites just smile faintly and gaze off into the distance. Etymologically, I think the pik-spellers might have a leg up. Jagdgeschwader 53 and all that.
 
"It's the nano-black hole that ry installed in the garderobe to keep from having a Kevin moment" Nope. Not me. BCR is the one who over engineers.
 
Yup, Sanger got it--technically, it's a Huey skid toe cap. I asked him to lay low to see how long it took 'til somebody thought to flip the thing right-side up.
 
Yeah... yeah.... I'll toe-tap your skid.....
 
Comrades, Ya know, if you were to hang that skid tip with the point down, and use the hole up top to nail it to the wall, it's be handy as a matchsafe... or perhaps a Holy Water fount for rotorheads.. put it outside the maintenance office for those last minute blessings..... Respects, AW1 Tim
 
Or as a torch-snuffer for dwarves...
 
nice boot scraper
 
Well, I *said* I'd cleaned it up a lot. Almost had to use a wire-brush to get all the red clay off it...
 
Bill I think i've been in too many dives. bottle opener urinal whatever. I had to look up skid tip. Now's it all clear as red mud.
 
Ok, now explain it's appearance in "The Green Berets". Please.
 
There are Huberts in the Green Berets (those helicopter-thingys). They have skids. Those pole-like things they land on. The skids have tips. The tip in front has an integral step for the pilot. Ergo, you have seen them. According to you... lotsa times!
 
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