Hi Jim,

These look like the 'on the march' thing I mentioned. In the picture, look a the middle soldier's sweatband. It looks to me like a stitched pocket for the loop to slip into. You should be able to see it better on your original pic. If you are going to copy this I think some sort of backing on the inside would be in order so as to stop the hackle flopping forward or backward.

Regards

Chas