Traditional headwear?

[Paul_B]

Following on from my wool jumper thread and a nosy around the Aero knitwear website made me think about other traditional clothing for winter I had as a kid. The flat cap! Anyone actually wears a traditional one?

I'm talking about the traditional Harris tweed flat cap often to be worn by old farmers across Northern England when I was a youngster. I had one in my early teen years that I bought for myself at a point to point event. I still remember how warm it kept me in a real blizzard we got caught out in when we lived in a farmyard cottage for one very cold winter. The family had gone out for a walk in a dull but sunny morning along the river Ribble. We'd turned around when the clouds came in but didn't get back before the blizzard that deposited a lot of snow very quickly. The cap did the job.

So what's your traditional style of winter hat? Anyone got a good flat cap retailer / maker to recommend? Perhaps you're a fan of another traditional winter hat?

Just curious as I guess there's fans of traditional/ old style clothing that's still technical in performance even if not fashionable with most outdoors types. I think that like a traditional and basic wool jumper has a lot of perf to it I reckon there's hats that are similar in that respect.

 

[Paul_B]

Just remembered there's a company from North Cumbria I think that make Harris tweed caps in various styles and are actually reasonably priced even the Harris tweed ones. My local Saturday Market actually sells them in volume very cheaply. Iirc I saw some for a tenner in this brand that sells them for 3 times the price on their website. Just ca t remember the brand now.

 

[Laurentius]

I have one from the same place as my Wooly Pully mentioned in a previous post, the Trefriw Woolen mill.

 

[Herman30]

In Finland this is the most common winter headwear. There are a multitude of colours and materials they are made of of course and with or without different decorations.

 

[Paul_B]

I'm looking at the northern English flat cap.

Flat Cap

A simple and traditional northern English man's cap. Working class but even toffs can style it up a bit with one.

Actually the origins of it's popularity probably had something to do with a law requiring the common man to wear a cloth bonnet in public. The bonnet was what they called flat caps like this back in iir 1700s or was it earlier. More distinguished personages were able to wear other types of hats. According to what I read about it's origins late last night.

The beanie or watch cap or whatever other name it goes by is also a long standing winter hat but is it as old in its design existence?

Anyway, the other thread about wool jumpers has made me look at getting a traditional, Harris tweed, wool flat cap. I much prefer the Harris tweed style to the traditional Yorkshire green check design. Rare warm.

The question is, cheaper ones use viscose liner but better ones silk. Obviously silk is better but to save a little, is it acceptable to have viscose lined, Harris tweed caps? Mind you spending extra compared to how long they last perhaps better to just pay upfront for a good one. None of those fashion Kangol ones designed to be worn back to front like Samuel L. Jackson! Lol!

 

[treadlightly]

Have you considered the tweed bucket hat? Traditional in Ireland and a bit better at keeping the rain off than a flat cap I would have thought.

 

[Herman30]

Don´t you freeze your ears off with a flat cap not covering ears?

I once went outside in -30 C without covering my ears. In 10 minutes my earlobes were frozen stiff.

 

[Paul_B]

Not often in nw England. Not as much of an issue as the colder regions of Europe.

 

[Paul_B]

I was thinking flat cap and submarine jumper with neck pulled up. Not a gap to be had!

It's funny but my ears rarely get affected by cold.

I used to wear a Lowe alpine mountain cap. Ear flaps down you'd think it would be warm. For some reason no matter how I wore that hat, if there was even a mild winter breeze my forehead would go very cold indeed. The peak channelled cold air onto and around my forehead even if you peppered the peak back. For such a warm and enveloping hat like that it sure made me feel cold!

 

[Nikkormat]

I have a flat cap, and wear it throughout autumn. It's great; warm enough, with a practical peak - long enough to shade the eyes, but short enough that I can use binoculars easily or aim a rifle. I live in Czech Republic, and our winters can be quite cold, so then I switch to a Devold Nansen woollen hat, but between summer and winter the flat cap is perfect. Barbour used to make a waxed cotton flat cap; it was pretty, but made my head sweat horribly.

 

[Pattree]

Not much of a hat man myself. I use a hood more than anything if I need to cover my head.

I do occasionally use a black fiddlers cap for outdoor workshops/festivals.
I used to use the ubiquitous woollen hat in the winter ( see @Herman30 ) but haven’t had to do so for years - not even on our visits to the Lakes in December.

The hat that I always forget now that my hair is thinning is a sun hat. I now have an old army type slouch hat in the glove compartment. (Haven’t needed gloves for years either.)

 

[Wildgoose]

I have a couple of tweed flat caps. I bought a black one (it’s actually a mix of colours that appears black) for smart wear such as remembrance where a woolly hat wouldn’t be appropriate.

I have a more traditional green/brown one but it’s a bit tight on me

 

[rhaco]

Hanna Hats of Donegal make great flat caps in a variety of tweeds including some Harris tweed options.

 

[matarius777]

Hanna Hats of Donegal make great flat caps in a variety of tweeds including some Harris tweed options.

I have a Hanna flat cap in Harris tweed I bought in Ireland, highly recommend them. It says dry clean only, but I washed it in luke warm water and it’s fine.

 

[forrestdweller]

my headwear is a headband (made from a strip of an old towel) -- judging from photos, descriptions and pics a traditional headwear in many parts of the world. i'm rather fed up with oh-so-new and "original" "Rambo" jokes BUT it keeps the sweat of my face in the humid climate of the rainforest and has a few other uses as well....

 

[Paul_B]

A guy I knew in a hiking group used to have a Guinness beer mat tucked into his rucksack waist strap. He used it to wipe sweat away from his brow. He was a big guy who sweated a lot. It worked for him and he liked his beer so kind of appropriate.

 

[Minotaur]

Check out the Luke brand as they make them.

 

[Ozmundo]

Surely the ultimate bushcraft hat would be a bycocket.....

 

[santaman2000]

I have a flat cap I bought long ago at Cotswold Woolen Weavers in Filkins Nr Lechlade. I still love that cap. My usual go to nowadays is my felt western hat.

@Herman30 My ears get cold as well but that an be solved by adding a winter scarf. And/Or turning up the coat collars.

 

[homesicksteve]

No affiliation, but enjoyed great service here many times :

Men's Flat Caps - Buy Flat Caps for Men online

The finest selection of Men's Flat Caps. Find a huge variety of Mens Flat Caps with free delivery available at Village Hats.

www.hatsandcaps.co.uk

The cheaper hats are cheaper blends.
100% wool / Tweed generally £40-£90