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Hats and accessories and ideas please

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NotSafeForWork

NotSafeForWork

Tenderfoot
Feb 6, 2025
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Waiting to escape
So as a bucket hat wearer or baseball cap I found myself burning on top of my head on Sunday and this is my first foray into Waxed Fedora style hats. It also kept me dry today in torrential coastal rain today.
It stays on my head in all but strongest winds and I believe if I want a better fit a small peice of foam under sweat band at rear will tighten it.

I've looked at hat stampede (horse hair) hat retainers or akubra chin strap.
I'm not keen on crown holes and stitching round sweat band won't allow slipping metal part between stitching.- I'm kind of at a loss to a high wind retainer strap, without damaging hat.

Thank you
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Go buy a pair of suspenders clip and clip it on to the rear of your hats brim. And with a string attached between the two clips, attach the other suspender clip to the collar of you jacket or shirt.
 
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OP, the way I deal with slightly too large hats, is to lay-in a series of large , but very slack stitches along the rear half of the free edge of the sweat band.

Then cut just the line of stitch exactly at the rear of the sweatband.

This leaves you with two ends of a draw-cord....tighten each end until the hat fits as needed, then tie a overhand knot in each tag-end.....job done.

Over the years, I made hats from old settee leather and never found a satisfactory way to arrive at the exact measure of fit.......hence the above hack.
Regards All,

Ceeg
 
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Over time the hat will shape better to your head anyway.
I have worn Akubra hats for a very long time. To give an idea of how long, the first one i bought cost tens of pounds, not the hundreds they are now!
I've tried shoelaces through the vent holes etc but never felt they were a good solution.
I suffer from earache in windy conditions and was looking for a solution to cover my ears and hold my hat on better when it's windy.
I hand made an ear cover which goes round the back of the head. I took the template from one of those shooting baseball cap type hats which had the fold down ear cover and used iron on tape on the inside of the sweat band.
It folds into the hat when not needed and is easy to deploy when it is. Works surprisingly well for all but the worst winds I've found. I've only had to take the hat off once and stuff it into my jacket when it was blowing a gale straight into my face and i had to look up. To be fair people were loosing flat caps that day too.
Because there's a little more fabric behind the sweatband even when tucked away it makes the fit just a little tighter so something to bear in mind.
 
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Well, there are a few options but most involve punching holes & fitting eyelets. If this type of hat doesn't already come with a fitted stampede cord, then choices are limited. I wouldn't advise cutting any stiching on the sweat band (cloth presumably) as it's often the same line of stitching that is attaching the crown to the brim.
The least traumatic for both you & the hat though, would be to punch through the grills in the ventilation eyelets on the crown & thread through a stampede cord on both sides with a knot at one end. A boot lace & a little toggle will do just fine.

Something like this.

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Have you considered trying another hat? I own loads of different hats including several baseball caps, fedora hats (similar to yours), outback hats and other types of sun hats.

My favourite sun hat is the Dorfman Pacific Weathered Cotton Outback Hat. It is a similar shape to a fedora and looks cool in a rugged Indiana Jones kind of way but works better than a regular fedora at shielding you from the sun. It also holds on really well in the wind. There is a removable chin strap included with it which can be used if ever the wind really starts to blow, although I have never actually felt the need to use it, but it is nice to know that the option there if ever I do.

https://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/produ...ck-hat-brown?_pos=1&_psq=outback&_ss=e&_v=1.0

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The best sun hat that I’ve ever use from a purely functional point of view is the Sunday Afternoons Original Adventure Sun Hat. No other hat that I’ve ever tried comes anywhere near to this when it comes to keeping my face and neck shaded at all times. It’s not the coolest looking hat ever but it still looks alright and who cares anyway if you are working outside all day in the sun then this is the hat to wear. It also has an adjustable chin strap which works really well.

https://www.hatsandcaps.co.uk/products/sunday-afternoons-hats-adventure-sun-hat-sand

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IMHO you cannot beat a Tilley hat - well the older canvas ones at least - and they come with twin front and rear cords. this means they will not blow off no matter what angle the wind hits you from.
To replicate this just fit twin eyelets each side, just above (or on) the sweat band, and thread a bootlace through them to form the hat cords :)
Neat and effective.
Inside the waxed cotton Tilley showing the wind cord attachment.JPG
 
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John Fenna said:
IMHO you cannot beat a Tilley hat - well the older canvas ones at least -
View attachment 96334
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I would not vouch for the quality of Tilley hats these days, and neither do they, the lifetime guarantee is a thing of the past. I own two Tilley hats, with different size brims, the older of them is still going strong with no signs of wear, the newer one is fraying all over the place and has been relegated to duty as my gardening hat until it finally falls apart.
 
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My Akubra is secured by two thin leather laces threaded through the stitching at the base of the sweatband and tightened with one of those plastic toggles, I rarely seem to need it though. Another solution I use for a fedora is the elastic shock cord you use for tent poles.
 
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Bhod said:
I'm a big fan of Tarp Hats, I have one of their wide brimmed tarps, one of the floppy canvas and one of their canvas baseball hats (also have one of their tarp duffle bags). Good quality gear - https://www.tarphat.co.uk/
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I got the brimmed ones. The truck tyre, wire beading in the rim helps shape the brim well. It's a hot and sweaty hat though. Not surprising considering it's made of truck tarps.

I also have their cap too. I've used that gardening in the rain and if I didn't sweat into it my head would be dry.

I loved them at the beginning but personally in the got weather the tarp hat and caps are too hot and sweaty. An organic cotton, airflow Tilley I have is so much cooler in got weather.

That would be if only it didn't shrink too a size that is too small for wearing and being comfortable. It shrank and despite following instructions on washing and stretching it back into shape and size it simply doesn't any more. I'm 7 5/8 IIRC but my hat is now smaller than 7 1/4 possibly smaller.

What are those various leather type of hats hats from Australia like? I've always thought they'd be hot and sweaty.

BTW if you're a Tilley fan, cotton or synthetic? I'm tending to think synthetic is better because it doesn't shrink. I've been put off by the shrink in wash and not coming back to size even when you stretch it when wet and drying.
 
I wear some sort of headwear allways when outside. But usually take it off when going inside.
Not so keen on carry it in my hand so I made a hat clip using a suspender clip, some webbing and a small carabiner. So now I can carry my hat/cap handsfree, clip it to my bag or whatever.

 
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Paul_B said:
I got the brimmed ones. The truck tyre, wire beading in the rim helps shape the brim well. It's a hot and sweaty hat though. Not surprising considering it's made of truck tarps.

I also have their cap too. I've used that gardening in the rain and if I didn't sweat into it my head would be dry.

I loved them at the beginning but personally in the got weather the tarp hat and caps are too hot and sweaty. An organic cotton, airflow Tilley I have is so much cooler in got weather.
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They do a side vented version of the wide brimmed tarp.
 
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Bought an Outback Hat the bottom one, two coats of Beeswax leather saddle treatment and it has stopped me getting wet, stopped me getting burnt and even sawdust from a roofing job in my hair cost me £15 for a real leather hand made hat and loving it.

Even though I feel a bit of a tit and look like one too
 
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