Here’s a riddle for you:

Q. What do you call a man with a metal pyramid on his head?

A. Dominic, apparently.

That answer probably isn’t the clever pun you were expecting. But it is the truth. Now you’re wondering which man is wearing a pyramid on his head. Let me show you. It’s this man:

I spotted him yesterday in the Leicester Square Pret A Manger, sketching in a notebook.

And how do I know he’s called Dominic? I’ll get to that…

Previous sightings

When I got home I searched the internet for mentions of the man sporting this idiosyncratic headgear. It turns out he’s something of a quiet phenomenon, and has been spotted wearing a pyramid since at least 2006.

Sightings have been recorded on Ni.cho.las’s blog (July 2006), Yahoo Answers (2007), The Answer Bank (Feb 2009), a Ning blog (Nov 2010) and plenty more in the comments on those pages – not to mention various appearances on Flickr.

And this being today’s modern world, he’s even been captured on video. Wearing a pyramid on your head does make him look a bit conspicuous, so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Here he is being stalked back in August 2010 by a ‘docupoetrydramatist‘:

But in fact it is Hayley’s report from 2008 that has proven most enlightening. Her post has attracted plenty more sightings in the comments – eventually resulting in a response from the man himself. Brilliant!

So what’s with the hat?

The pyramid hat is apparently called a ‘Raydome’, “a 9-inch steel based headgear pyramid that is orgone plated, applying layers of 24 Karat gold and silver” according to the Pyradyne website that sells them.

Wearing a Raydome supposedly:

Creates a natural field of negative ions

Increases concentration

Promotes greater attention span

Boosts memory

Detoxifies body

Decreases appetite

And Dominic says “it’s very good in terms of what it says it does”.

He continues,

“My pyramid costs only about £35 and I find it just to be a useful device for focusing my mind and not being worn out so much by the central London pollution. I haven’t seen anyone else wearing a pyramid although many people ask me where to get them from so maybe there might be a few others who have bought one since asking me. I heard a couple of years ago that there have been a few people wearing them in High Street Kensington and there have been people wearing them around Camden.”

It looks like the Raydome isn’t the only model of metal pyramid hat, though. The perfect hat for beginners is the Pyradome (pictured left), “specially recommended to those new to Pyramid Technology”, while the highest grade pyramid hat is the Powerdome, a pyramid hat made of PURE TITANIUM.

Finally, if you’re wondering the best way to “treat and energize you water, foods and beverages, balance the taste of wine and coffee, increase the potency of vitamins, restore enzymes of frozen foods” and “promote healthy plant growth”, then the Vitamid is the triangular solution for you:

Naming names

But I digress. I should explain how I know Dominic’s name. It’s because it’s on his Twitter profile, of course!

In the pre-internet age of ignorance (e.g. 1990), a local legend such as the Pyramid Hat Guy would spread mainly in rumour and would be terribly difficult to verify. These days it’s exciting but also a little disturbing to see one man’s life documented so casually and yet – if someone was to join the dots more than I have – so potentially intrusively.

Thankfully, having seen Dominic (or Wmmvrrvrrmm)’s commentary in various places, I am pretty confident he won’t mind yet more coverage – it’s not as if he doesn’t know that his headgear makes him a talking point.

So, although I don’t believe in the powers of the pyramid hat (or ‘pyramid power’ in general), I’m very glad that the tradition of the great British eccentric is being kept alive. So hats off (and back on again) to you Dominic, and your marvellous triangular headgear.

Further reading