MovieChat Forums > Hawaii Five-O (1968) Discussion > Mcgarrett's shoulder harness

Mcgarrett's shoulder harness


Just a query regarding Jacks handgun. I'm not that much into guns, but find it strange that the harness he's often seen wearing on his left shoulder doesn't slip off. Most I've seen usually have a second thin securing strap over the other shoulder too in order to prevent this.
I'm sure it must be correct, but still seems like it could slip so easily.
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I always thought that too. In one episode where McGarrett has been playing tennis, he attaches the bottom of it to his belt but it would still slip - I alwayds wondered, thanks for posting the question hopefully soneone will know the answer.

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Thanks for the reply Boogalow. Isn't it strange the things that we notice and are curious of? It's maybe secured with Velcro! if the stuff was around then.










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In Cocoon he does have the extra strap on his harness. I guess after the pilot episode it was securely glued to his shoulder. I always wondered in seasons 11 and 12 where he kept his gun. The holster wouldn't work with his leisure suits.

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Thanks for the reply -eel2178, and sorry for my late reply, maybe he used velcro! if it was invented then.
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Hello -Boogalow, thanks for the reply and sorry for my own late reply, Yeh, you're right, it would still slip off, if anything, being attached to his belt would probably cause it to slip even sooner! especially when playing tennis, I haven't seen that episode yet.
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He wasn't wearing it while he was playing tennis (in Man in a Steel Frame). He had finished playing tennis and showered (and done his hair) and was getting dressed again. He slung the upper part over his shoulder and attached the lower end to his waistband (he never wore a belt except when he was in his navy uniform). I think it was custom made so it molded really well to his shoulder, then his suit jacket also helped hold it in place.

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Agree that it was probably custom made for him. It fit just a bit too good.
As for it staying in place, remember that it only had to stay in place for a moment or two at a time ( this is fiction - being shot on a set ). After the director yelled 'cut' it could be repositioned / re-attached using some adhesive or simply a loop of masking tape underneath it.
As for it being practical -
Ha, forget it. It was just a prop that looked good and would not work at all.

This is Hollywood. It's fiction. It's playing pretend.

Don't believe ANYTHING from Hollywood regarding firearms ( or a lot of other things for that matter ). Everything from shooting down a helicopter with a .38 to magazines that never run out ammunition.

One of my favorites is the ATM camera that is used to get the license plate number on a car 80 yards away. Sorry, not possible, the pixels simply aren't there to be 'enhanced'.

How many times have you heard
'we had to use dental records for identification' ?

Pure fiction.
If you don't know who the individual is, how in the world are you going to get their dental records ??!!!
Even if you know who they are you have to find their dentist. Good luck with that in a major city.

They do this sort of thing all the time.

Enjoy the entertainment but DON'T try to get some perceived 'education' that way or put ANY faith in what you see !




Quitters never win and winners never quit
BUT
those who never quit & never win are STUPID

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They really did use dental records to id people. Can do it now if there's no DNA. The detective (or whomever) doesn't call around to dentist though. If the corpse fits a missing person report such as size, sex and age then they get the dental records by asking the family or insurance to give them the name of the dentist.

You are quite right about it being entertainment and just enjoy it. We call it "plot convenience theatre" in my family when it's too obvious. Lol

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The cops on Hawaii Five-O and other cop shows do an awful lot of shooting. I've read about real cops who said that they never pulled their weapon once in their careers. And if a cop is involved in a shooting, isn't there always some sort of investigation? The cops on TV kill people and go back to work the next day.

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Yeh you're right pj...It's called..."The Willing Suspension of Disbelief" (just another phrase for "The world of make believe") and without us the audience practising it regularly, the vast majority of your big and small screen heroes who take themselves Oh so seriously off screen too, would be out of a job! but Shhhhh! we're not supposed to remember that!

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Is the investigation, often by some "independent" type of body, every time cops shoot someone or even pull their guns a recent phenomenon?

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Is the investigation, often by some "independent" type of body, every time cops shoot someone or even pull their guns a recent phenomenon?
Cops are not typically investigated just for pulling their guns; actually for a cop to point a gun at someone is pretty common, especially in the bigger cities. But pulling the gun and shooting it at another person is a different matter altogether. If they discharge their weapons except at the firing range, (and a few other things as well, such as putting an animal down) then they are investigated up to their necks. But just for pulling the weapon, that goes into the report of the incident and that is usually the end of it.

As for the shoulder holster, yeah; without a strap holding it on the opposite shoulder, it would slip off constantly. I am licensed to carry guns and I almost always use a belt holster, and on those rare occasions when I use a shoulder rig, it is secured by a strap around the opposite shoulder. Good catch on the OP's part, BTW. When I watched the show in Seattle in the 1970's, I wondered about that.

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how in the world are you going to get their dental records ??


I knew a guy who died in a horrific car accident. The only way they could identify him was through dental records; however, his family had no idea who his dentist was. His sister tried calling his friends and his employers to try to find someone who would know who had his latest dental images. It made a horrible time a whole lot worse for the family.

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They do use dental records to identify bodies. If you watch forensic crime shows like Forensic Files, they feature a lot of cases where dental records where used to identify burned and decomposed bodies, as well as skeletons.

There are dentists called forensic odontologists who help to identity remains and examine bitemarks on corpses. They also attend the autopsy and take photographs, cranial measurements, dental impressions and x-rays from the remains. They take these samples are then compared to those of known missing individuals. If they can make a match from these findings, the remains can be identified.

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How many times have you heard
'we had to use dental records for identification' ?

Pure fiction.
If you don't know who the individual is, how in the world are you going to get their dental records ??!!!
Even if you know who they are you have to find their dentist. Good luck with that in a major city.
Now this is an interesting comment. I mean, seriously, you have no clue about how people were identified through dental records all the time through DNA? If a person was reported missing, and a body turned up that roughly matched that description, the dental records would be requested. I really wouldn't have thought this common technique would be doubted as something the police still use today if there is no DNA to compare to. If a body turns up that matches a missing person's report and there's no DNA to compare to, dental records are requested. Anybody who's been to the dentist has a dental record.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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Tonight's episode dealt with Danno being held hostage in a hospital, and had McGarrett running hither 'n yon in his white dress shirt, with no jacket, and with his trademark strapless shoulder holster - tucked snugly in place, sans strap. I just had to check the message board to see if anyone had mentioned the magical McGarrett holster.

The OP and others are quite right about shoulder holsters; I've owned and used many over the years. The early models had a securing strap going around the chest, attached to the front and back of the "McGarrett" band that suspends the gun from the weak-hand shoulder, with the strap meant to be concealed in front by the wearer's high-cut jacket and wide necktie. With lower-buttoned jackets and narrower neckties, modern versions have the securing strap attached to upper and lower spots on the rear of the "McGarrett" band, looped across the back and around the shoulder of the shooting arm - invisible from the front when wearing a jacket.

As already noted, the strapless "McGarrett" version might look slick, but it's an impossibility. With a jacket over it, it could stay somewhat in place for a few minutes, but would quickly begin slipping down the shoulder until stopped by the jacket's armpit - causing a bit of upper arm discomfort and an odd-looking bulge under the outer/upper arm of the jacket. And, of course, without a jacket, the holster and gun would immediately fall off the shoulder altogether.

But it remained neatly in place throughout tonight's hospital/hostage episode, so ol' McGarrett had something working for him - maybe Velcro sewn to his shirt, just under the "McGarrett" band, as others have noted; I guess it would work, if you wanted to sew Velcro strips onto all your shirts! But, more likely (as also noted), they just used quick shots of McGarrett standing still momentarily, and/or they used adhesive of some sort for short, non-action shots.

By the way, shoulder rigs aren't very practical. They bulge, they're uncomfortable, they eventually snag and tear out the linings of your suit jackets, and guns aren't held very securely compared with belt holsters.

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Sorry for the very late reply moviess789, I've no excuse!
Many thanks for your informed and knowledgeable opinion. As I stated earlier, it's just something I've always noticed and wondered about.
I don't know about velcro, but perhaps it's the same substance holding it in place as he uses on his quiff! (only joking, jack's the best!).

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Hi, Oerlicon,

I interviewed Jack's hair stylist, Cherie Huffman. She told me that she used some product to make Jack's hair look thick, but that was all she used. Just to clarify! People keep talking about how Jack's hair didn't move, was heavily-lacquered, etc., but there are many episodes where I see his hair blowing around in heavy winds. Check out R&R&R from Season 3, when he goes to the airport to tell Tony Aiello that his wife was murdered. Jack's hair was all over the place. Just to clarify!

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Thanks vrinda, of course you're quite correct, I too have seen the horrors that you have seen, his quiff hanging casually all across his forehead! and on one rare occasion, believe it or not, no quiff at all!!!!!
I believe jack was just a vehicle for his hair, in fact, it should have had top billing in the titles!
But joking aside, what a great show, light years ahead of anything being made now and there'll only ever be one Jack Lord.
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Back in September, I received the following e-mail:

Steve's shoulder holster was made of paper leather and the gun was plastic and part of the holster. My mother was a seamstress for the show and the harness was sewn onto the shirt. That's why you never saw the shirt sag from the weight of the gun. I've carried a conceled weapon for 38 years and they have the tendency to pull the shirt to the side of the weapon. Ypu have never seen Steve pull the gun from the holster. Jack hated guns, he only used one to take part in the scene. He always argued against Steve using a gun. Jack had over 60 shirts to wear and at least 20 had the sewn on holster, in case it got dirty. I don't remember Steve ever getting down and dirty in any scene. So maybe this answers some of the questions.

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Thanks mister-mike,
That certainly answers them all and very interesting too, to discover some showbiz tricks like that, that helped take us all in for so long!
I'd never thought of anything as simple, a paper holster eh!
It's lucky he never encountered a villain with a black belt in origami!!

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