Summer hats for UK use

[Paul_B]

Funny how Karrimor isn't the same prestige brand it once was. I remember it was the brand to own when I was a kid. just found my sun hat. Its a gelert. Cheap and works but is annoyingly floppy. Need to get something better.

The best thing about caps in summer is that you can still wear the hood of your waterproof jacket with it on and it keeps the rain mostly off your glasses. With our summers I think that property is probably more useful than keeping the sun off your neck and ears as well as your face. If we get a good summer like some long range forecasts indicate I think I will get a Tilley. If not I'll put it off another year. No use in the rain.

 

[steven andrews]

I love my Tilley T3. It is well made, strong, and when washed doesn't shrink.I find it can be a little warm on a very hot day, but it great in the wind and rain!

 

[johnboy]

Funny how Karrimor isn't the same prestige brand it once was.

It's not funny it's sad... They used to make some really great products..

Any how hats... I've got a Tilley t3 ( I think) great but faded something awful in the sun... and a Arcteryx fold up baseball cap again faded badly....

 

[Adrian]

I use a Tilley - can't recall the model, buts its a nylon (or whatever Tilley call it) with the mesh all around the top. I get very hot in summer It's also fairly rain-repellent. Kept my head dry in a downpour in Ireland! (apart from a little bit which blew in through the mesh)

 

[Biker]

Baseball cap for me most of the time, but I have a waxcotton "tilley" style hat I got from Christmas some years ago. I use that one for other days, mostly when it rains, tought it'd be great on sunny days with it's wide brim.

One thing it doesn't have is a chin strap which won't be too hard to fit I know, just means spending some time actually doing it.

Totally understand the need for not looking like a pratt. I saw a Ray Mear programme once and he was in Aussieland interviewing some ex army bloke who had on the dodiest hat in all christendom. How he didn't get laughed out the pub I'll never know ... maybe they all wear 'em like that there. Crdit where it's due Ray Mears didn't laugh at it.

I need a hat in the summer so it's not an opitonal extra.

 

[featherstick]

I used to know a chap who worked for the NHS making latex prostheses for people who'd had skin cancer on their faces. His job would be to make a matching latex "face" to replace the one that the surgeon had cut off, so that the patients could go out of their houses without frightening people. He was a bit of an artist and could get skin texture and shade to match almost exactly. He spent a lot of time making ear-and-cheek ensembles for guys who had got skin cancer on their ears as a result of wearing baseball caps in hot sunshine. His never went out in the sun without factor 50, and a wide-brimmed hat. I don't anymore either, since I saw the photos.

 

[rik_uk3]

Just double checked, as suspected 100% cotton canvas, not too floppy brim, about the same as a Boonie, although will more than likely remove the Karrimor logo!!!

Bet you would leave the logo alone if it was by Woodlore or Fjallraven

 

[swotty]

Yes, your right, still have the logo on the Fjallraven hat......does that make me a bad person !!!!
Poses the question about 'bushcraft designer labels' .......is it practicallity or what the label says!?!?!!??!

 

[Jakata]

Just ordered a Karrimor hat after reading this thread.

Its £6.99
Its a hat
....

Doesn't really matter who makes it, it does exactly the same as any other brand

 

[Paul_B]

I used to know a chap who worked for the NHS making latex prostheses for people who'd had skin cancer on their faces. His job would be to make a matching latex "face" to replace the one that the surgeon had cut off, so that the patients could go out of their houses without frightening people. He was a bit of an artist and could get skin texture and shade to match almost exactly. He spent a lot of time making ear-and-cheek ensembles for guys who had got skin cancer on their ears as a result of wearing baseball caps in hot sunshine. His never went out in the sun without factor 50, and a wide-brimmed hat. I don't anymore either, since I saw the photos.

That is kind of why I want one. I had a relative die through skin cancer spreading. Since then I cover up and use a minimum of SPF25. I currently wear a baseball cap but have had a cap with the neck shield thing. you know what I mean like the French Foreign Legion have. It was made by Craghoppers, the neck cover was removeable but the peak was a funny shape and a little too large for my liking. It did have nosquito treatment which with me never worked. Anyway I got it because it was that really hot summer, I was on holiday walking and I had left my cap behind. It was a lifesaver really. I got it the day before the hotest recorded day. I was in Snowdonia and was so hot that I drank about 7 litres of water that day to cope. I was very nearly at heat exhaustion stage at one point.

Anyway I do think covering up is better than slopping on the goo that is sunlotion. Also most of the highest SPF sun lotion has some nasty chemicals in it. Last year I got a good craghoppers long sleeve shirt. It has a snap up collar which is great when used with a brimmed hat to ensure the neck is covered. IT has a vent at the back across the shoulders and the sleeves can roll up. A good investment IMHO.

 

[Biker]

The best thing about caps in summer is that you can still wear the hood of your waterproof jacket with it on and it keeps the rain mostly off your glasses.

Yeah, good point, with your hood up on a wide-brimmed hat you'd end up looking like this:

Click here

Any accumulated street cred would be out the door in a flash

I must admit I always fancied owning a tricorn hat, I think they looked pretty smart looking, but if you're not into re-enactment and just walking through Tesco's you're just asking for ridicule.

I suppose I've watched too many films like The Patriot or Master and Commander and thought now why don't they look stupid wearing a hat like that? I mean if they can look good then so can I... until you see your reflection in a shop window. Having an 18th century setting does sort of help the situation.

 

[rik_uk3]

I used to know a chap who worked for the NHS making latex prostheses for people who'd had skin cancer on their faces. His job would be to make a matching latex "face" to replace the one that the surgeon had cut off, so that the patients could go out of their houses without frightening people. He was a bit of an artist and could get skin texture and shade to match almost exactly. He spent a lot of time making ear-and-cheek ensembles for guys who had got skin cancer on their ears as a result of wearing baseball caps in hot sunshine. His never went out in the sun without factor 50, and a wide-brimmed hat. I don't anymore either, since I saw the photos.

Its amazing that H&S have not banned baseball caps what with all these folk loosing their ears

 

[unsponsored]

I wear caps for most of the time. My favourite is a well faded 8 years old quicksilver flexifit cap. It's battered but fits so well. I sometimes wear is buff when out walking and the wind is too strong for wearing a cap.

For this summer it will be a genuine USMC desert marpat boonie. It took three goes to get the correct size! Stung by customs each and every time.

 

[CLEM]

US issue OG boonie, cheap and does the trick. Cheap is important to me see

 

[Paul_B]

Just been looking at boonie hats and spotted the brit army equivalents. Anyway Ihate to say this but the "genuine British Army" hats looked to me like they were very inferior. The stitching on the band to take branches cammo etc. looks very obvious (thread clearly on show) the banding also looks pretty poor. Anyway if this was a genuine hat given to our guys then it makes me think that our army is kitted out on the cheap. I don't suppose it matter much so long as the hat does its job but it does make ask what they are doing with other more important kit.

Sorry off-topic. I have a civvie hat similar to the boonie I think but I'm not happy with it. I would have thought cotton or even polycotton would not be that nice to wear against the skin in the British summer. If you sweat it will get wet and stay wet surely. Anyway I do hope we get the weather this year that makes a good sun hat worth having. We have had too many bad summers up here in the north. I heard the southern England had good weather last year, not sure I believe it based onthe weather I had in the north and throughout Wales.

 

[Aristotle]

I've no hair so wear hats a lot for warmth, dryness and sun protection.

I most often wear a trusty (faded) nikwaxed black baseball cap, although it doesn't protect the ears. The peak is useful under my waterproof jacket hood.

For hot, sunny weather I wear a fairly broad brimmed, khaki, replica Vietnam boonie/bush hat that I bought cheap from a French surplus shop. My face and ears are well covered. It's second only to a pith helmet for the brit in sunny climes.

I've a folding 'stetson' that I bought in a Buenos Aires market and wore for horse-riding in the desert . It stayed on well at a gallop and, with my buff and a check shirt, I looked the part -of a Hollywood cowboy rather than a gaucho...,

I really like it, although it can be a bit warm for energetic activities. My wife refuses to let me wear it near home

My recently-bought waxed hat did a good job of keeping the neck and face dry earlier. The wife sort-of approves.

 

[lostplanet]

I got a Olive Tilley T3 a few years back after trying A US boonie, an Issue dpm boonie a couple of North Face wide brims.

If I ever lose my tilley I wouldn't think twice about buying another. Water repellent (a bit like ventile), Very Comfortable, looks ok, folds up pretty small, bit pricey but highly recommended.

 

[nige7whit]

I got a Olive Tilley T3 a few years back after trying A US boonie, an Issue dpm boonie a couple of North Face wide brims.

If I ever lose my tilley I wouldn't think twice about buying another. Water repellent (a bit like ventile), Very Comfortable, looks ok, folds up pretty small, bit pricey but highly recommended.

Agreed...

I've got a T4, and would buy another without hesitation. Keeps the sun off, keeps the rain off, doesn't mind being flattened.

 

[Steve13]

I generaly wear one of two

A Barmah leather hat I find great in the woods stops my bald head getting scratched

A old Tilley T3 had this one maybe 10 years comfy a classic

Would reccommend hem both

 

[dorkingbushcraft]

I prefer a surplus boonie hat, the US ACU one, it's easier to find if you put it down somewhere. Floats, dries quick, reasonably water repellent and is cheap.

Cheers,

Alan

like this one http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/army-surplus-uk/army-hats-headgear/new-u-s-army-style-woodland-camo-538421.html