keeping the sun off my head - show me your hats

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

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I got WAY too much sun the first 30 years of my life, and now the docs like to carve stuff off of my head. Lost the tip of my nose to a surgeon a couple of months ago.

Ball caps, ear pro, and collared shirts keep most of it off my head at matches, but back of my neck looks like shoe leather, so I’m stepping up my game post match.

Stetson Limestone straw hat. It’s in the mail.
TSLIMS2030.79-2_1.jpg
 
@fieldgrade I have a similar Stetson straw hat. It has no vent holes like that one that you posted. It is just as hot as a felt or beaver hat. I'm in the market for a new straw hat with some vent holes. I looked today but didn't find one to my liking yet. But, as expected, there are plenty of places to get one around here.
 
Years ago I picked up a Columbia hat, not sure what style youd call it, but it's light weight and has a mesh portion on the 'upright' part to vent heat. It's lightweight enough that on a hot day it's refreshing to dip it/run it under some water, ring it out just a bit and then put it back on. Dries up fairly quickly, but does add a refreshing feeling for a while
Kept the sun off my face and neck for years at the tracks

very similar to this

920x920.jpg
 
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Geezer said:
@fieldgrade I have a similar Stetson straw hat. It has no vent holes like that one that you posted. It is just as hot as a felt or beaver hat. I'm in the market for a new straw hat with some vent holes. I looked today but didn't find one to my liking yet. But, as expected, there are plenty of places to get one around here.
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I looked high and low to find one like this Country Gentleman brand I used to wear twenty years ago. They don’t make it anymore. A fourteen pound banjo in it’s case rolled over in the back of the van on this very trip and smushed this hat so it never looked the same. That Stetson is the closest thing I have been able to find in my size (XL).
89D4C8AE-EB27-498F-A005-68980E170CF7_1_105_c.jpeg
 
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HMP said:
Years ago I picked up a Columbia hat, not sure what style youd call it, but it's light weight and has a mesh portion on the 'upright' part to vent heat. It's lightweight enough that on a hot day it's refreshing to dip it/run it under some water, ring it out just a bit and then put it back on. Dries up fairly quickly, but does add a refreshing feeling for a while
Kept the sun off my face and neck for years at the tracks

very similar to this

920x920.jpg
Click to expand...

You ring it out? You're a teacher, right?
 
HMP said:
Years ago I picked up a Columbia hat, not sure what style youd call it, but it's light weight and has a mesh portion on the 'upright' part to vent heat. It's lightweight enough that on a hot day it's refreshing to dip it/run it under some water, ring it out just a bit and then put it back on. Dries up fairly quickly, but does add a refreshing feeling for a while
Kept the sun off my face and neck for years at the tracks

very similar to this

920x920.jpg
Click to expand...
I’ve got a cotton booney hat I wear in the yard when I’m working out there that’s like that. Does a good job.
 
I'm emphatically NOT a hat person & have a size XL+ head, to boot. No hat looks good on me, but my BDU & DCU pattern boonies do a pretty good job at keeping the sun at bay.
 
fieldgrade said:
I got WAY too much sun the first 30 years of my life, and now the docs like to carve stuff off of my head. Lost the tip of my nose to a surgeon a couple of months ago.

Ball caps, ear pro, and collared shirts keep most of it off my head at matches, but back of my neck looks like shoe leather, so I’m stepping up my game post match.

Stetson Limestone straw hat. It’s in the mail.
TSLIMS2030.79-2_1.jpg
Click to expand...

Pretty close...

Hat.jpg
 
I'm a freckled, red-headed fool. I burn from lamp light just about. My grandfather had thin skin and lots of skin issues as does my dad so I know I'm going to get carved on by the dr like a Tgiving turkey sooner or later. I've tried several hats over the years. Normal ball caps don't work and the only time I use them is when I don't want to draw attention to myself but I spray on sunscreen. When I'm fishing where wind loading (aka catching) is an issue I use a "Henshel Aussie Breezer hat" normally camo around $40. I've been through 5 over the years and keep an extra in the closet incase I loose it. I normally get 3-4 years out of them before they blow off when I forget the chin strap and skink. When wind loading is not an issue I use a "quicksilver pierside lifeguard hat" around $20. I get about 2-3 years out of the straw material. It is lighter and not as hot as the Henshel but the brim is more flimsy. I use it for yardwork, mowing, etc normal day to day. I have also had ok luck with the Walmart straw hats. I keep one in the truck, its not too much money so if it gets torn up or crushed I'm not worried.

I have spray on sun screen stashed everywhere. Normally the 30 spf does well. What is not covered by the hat gets coated.
 
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Aardvark said:
Black Creek. I got it at Boot Barn about a year ago, but I don't see it on their website now. Mine is an XL.
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That’s a great looking hat. I found them online. Do you mind snapping a picture of the inside of the hat so I can see the headband?
 
About 20 years ago, the doc told me not to leave the house without a hat, and I've been pretty faithful to that. Both my dad and FIL started losing parts of their head and ears and they looked terrible in their later years, so I listened. You'll usually see me with some brimmed hat, or at least a pub/newsboy hat if I'm outside. Occasionally a baseball cap. But always a hat (and a gun). And during the summer, a little sun screen on ears, neck, and nose. If you get the expensive stuff (e.g., Nutrogina), it doesn't look or feel greasy or burn your eyes.

When I was at the Fort Worth Stockyards last year, I bought a cowboy hat. Straw, stiff, white, with plenty of ventilation in the crown. At first I only wore it fishing because you don't see many of them around here. But I got a number of complements, and it was really comfortable and cool (temperature, not just style), so now I'm wearing it pretty much all the time, except when it's windy, as @tod0987 says.
 
Regarding the wind as @MostWanted mentioned I have converted my hats to include some 550 cord with a plastic spring cord lock. Make the knot behind your head with the tensioner between the hat and the knot. When it isn't too bad I shorten the 550 up and it fits like a USMC DI hat... right over the back of the skull. When it is windy or on the boat I tuck it under my jaw and then pull out the extra out so it is taught and not going anywhere. After wearing a bit I don't notice it. The girls/women I take fishing call it my "go to hell hat" as they know they're in for a ride when it comes out and is "locked down" My beard may look funny but IDK.

What I haven't mentioned in other posts is I'm hot natured so my hats have to breath or adios. The Henshel has mesh that allows my head to breath but the quicksilver is cooler. There is no way I'd wear a felt/wool hat in the summer.

Edit... I just remembered about the Walmart straw hat. A couple years ago I was doing some work on my buddy's farm. They were planting bacca' (it grew really nice tobacco) and a South American asked me where I got my hat. He was a good guy. I told him Walmart. The next time I saw him he had one but he burned holes in the top. He told me he heated up a landscaping spike and burned it through the top to improve airflow. I did the same with a 16p nail and a torch. It made a difference.

So in the end I think you have to decide, looks over function. IMO the stylish hats look hot.
 
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Me. said:
I have the same hat as @HMP posted. I like the venting. It’s also easy to put on ear pro, just folding the hat over my ears.

I probably wouldn’t shoot that way, but I mow the lawn that way.
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I mow in it from time to time - I fold the flaps up
 
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Since I've had numerous skin cancers taken off my bald head just a plain old baseball cap. Nothing fancy.
 
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I've gotten old, and been cooked too many times. Face now gets angry red.

Gonna get a GIANT straw cowboy hat for matches. Been looking but haven't pulled trigger yet. Gotta work out ear protection. And figure out which hats are not super hot, as some straw is.
 
Geezer said:
@fieldgrade I have a similar Stetson straw hat. It has no vent holes like that one that you posted. It is just as hot as a felt or beaver hat. I'm in the market for a new straw hat with some vent holes. I looked today but didn't find one to my liking yet. But, as expected, there are plenty of places to get one around here.
Click to expand...

I got a [non-Stetson quality] straw hat with vent holes and an extra wide brim -- more for the biting flies than the sun. It's like wearing an Easy-Bake oven on my head. Only hotter. Wore it once.

IMG_20200508_125353921.jpg

Anyone here can have it -- if you have an extra large potato that needs baking. :D
 
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Yeah, I don't see a few vent holes doing much in the NC summer.

Seems like it need more than that!
 
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