Wide Brim or Ball Cap? (fixed)

Everyone,

Thank you all the reponses! There is some really good information in these posts.

As mentioned before I have used a wide-brimed hat for some time now and find that it is adequate, but wish it provided more protection for the neck area when the sun isn’t at high noon. That’s why the OR sun runner cap caught my interest in the first place. The cape looks to cover the neck well, but at the sacrifice of some face protection. There never is a perfect soulution is there?

Again, thanks everybody for your input.

Roy

Sunday Afternoon hats addresses both of your concerns with visor on three sides and a cape in the back. Perhaps the “perfect solution”?

I find with a wide brim hat like my Henschel and a collared shirt (not a t-shirt) I have all the protection I need.

As a shaved head guy, I have plenty of experience with a sunburned noggin. I prefer a wide brimmed hat. I do wear a ball cap on occassion.

I prefer a hat I can dunk in water for evaporative cooling when it’s hot, though too much humidity can defeat this approach.

A rainproof wide brimmed hat can be a beautiful thing.

I have the Tilley LTM6 myself but am looking for something with even more ventilation. Tilley has just come out with the TM10 and TM11 that look very similiar to the Henschel Breezer models, but at nearly three times the price. I doubt there’s $50 worth of difference between the two, so the Henschels are looking better and better.

Hey Paul, Sunday Afternoon hats do look extremely functional. Thing is I’m not sure if I could handle that much…ummm…style ;-)

David, your solution sounds like a good one. I normally wear a long-sleeved smartwool crew but could easily change to a zip-neck or a travel type shirt. Alternatively, I was thinking that using the bandana trick with my wide brim might do well.

Dylan, I went shopping around for hat options today and was able to get a look at both the Henschel and the new Tilley’s. The Henschel hat seemed like a very nice option. Light and airy. The Tilley’s however felt kinda heavy and the upper mesh was more looks than actual mesh. There was another layer of fabric just behind the outer mesh. Lastly I scoped out the Tilley’s site and the new hats are made out of cotton.

Roy

Roy said, “Lastly I scoped out the Tilley’s site and the new hats are made out of cotton.”

It looks like the same lineup to me– cotton, hemp, “Nylamtium®” (synthetic), hemp and some wool ones too.
http://www.tilley.com/hat_thumbnail.asp?catId=1&gender=&extractBy=CategoryId&id=1&hat_catId=4

I had a synthetic one I got at a garage sale for 50 cents and left it on a bus [cries of despair and regret]. We went to Vancouver BC and I picked up a cotton one at the Tilley’s store there. For some reason they didn’t have any synthetic models in the store. I have no regrets getting the cotton hat– it is very comfortable and easy to clean up. I give it a good rinse when I get back from a trip to get the salt and dust out. I just hang it be the brim to dry. It is perfect in sun and light rain and the chin strap keeps it with me in the wind. It will enventually soak through in the rain, but that usually takes a long time.

And it does instantly turn me into a handsome devil, ready for any adventure. It must be worn with a slight tilt to the left and a bit forward.

I’ve collected several hats including a couple of Tilley hats. I can’t beat a broad brimmed hat like a Tilley for sun protection. My favorite is the Tilley LT6. The LT6 is about their broadest brim. It’s made of nylon material and is fairly light. I enjoy that after treating the Tilley with a wash-in DWR, it will shed rain most of the day.

But for peak summertime heat and sun intensity there are cooler options. For really hot weather I use Columbia boony hat that is very light and airy. With it’s soft, floppy brim it is worthless in the rain.

For those of you handy with a sewing machine, one way you can stiffen up a floppy brim is to:
• measure the circumference of the brim,
• cut a strip of 1 inch wide cloth one inch longer than the circumference length,
• cut a length of piano wire one inch longer than the circumference length,
• fold the strip of cloth around the top and bottom of the brim edge, forming a felled seam hem, (i think that’s what it’s called… my sewing terminology is a little iffy)
• sew the strip of cloth to the brim, but not sewing the ends just yet, leaving a small opening where you can slide the wire in
• slip the wire inside the hem and pushing it so that it is taut (the tendency of the wire to want to straighten out will keep it secure in the hem. that’s why something like piano wire is necessary)
• sew the ends of the cloth strip shut.

Now your floppy brimmed hat will have a stiff hood that can stand up to wind. Another benefit is that the brim will automatically form a scalloped shape when you wear the hat.

You may want to experiment with different wire guage strengths to find the right balance on your hat. Too thin and it will bend too easily. Too thick and it will be unnecessarily heavy and be hard to slip into your pack.

The heavy plastic monofilament that is used with weed-eaters is great for shaping fabric edges.

I upgraded my Tilley to a hat very similar to a Henschel (mine is a Dorfman Pacific solarweave hat I bought from Adventure 16), and it is so much more breathable than my Tilley! The brim is just as wide and stiff, but I can now feel a breeze in my hair. It’s like I’m wearing a visor but with full protection. And it was a third the cost.

The Dorfman actually has one improvement IMO: the rear brim angles downward more steeply. For those of you concerned about rear neck exposure, I feel this is more than adequate.

I tried making a ‘shower cap’ out of an old driducks jacket for the rain, but couldn’t figure out how to remove the excess fabric without a bunch of leaky seams. I might just go buy a shower cap!

Hmm… anyone know if those food-service caps to keep hair out of food are WP/B?

Looks like a nice hat John. I like my Henschel because even the brim is mesh… so you get a hint of your environment and a hint of sunshine right thru the brim… but still feel totally protected… kinda like those mesh window blinds you sometimes see in office buildings. I love my Henschel. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to my Tilley.

That’s interesting; I would assume the full mesh would cause some glare, but I think I can visualize how that would create more of an open feeling. One other comment I forgot to make about my hat; it comes in various sizes. Since I have a huge head, it’s one of the few backpacking hats other than a Tilley I’ve found that fits comfortably. I’ve tried several of REI’s ‘one-size fits all’ mesh hats, and they are so tight I get an instant headache. Does the Henschel come in multiple sizes?

Dale, thanks for that tip about the monofilament. I slipped a couple pieces of .065 line into my hat brim and it works great. Cost,nothing; skill level needed; none; time, a few minutes.

If you are looking for a rain cover for a sun hat, they do make rain covers for cowboy hats and uniform hats.

“Dale, thanks for that tip about the monofilament. I slipped a couple pieces of .065 line into my hat brim and it works great. Cost,nothing; skill level needed; none; time, a few minutes.”

I have a Masters Degree in Applied Junque :)

You and Red Green ought to get together. There’s no telling what combining your talents could do.

Red is a pantywaist. I’d rather be associated with MacGyver :)

Oh. Personally, I’ve always kind of liked Red’s “designs”.

So now I’ve had all summer to test out my new hat, the OR Sun Runner cap, and have decided I like it.

The hat was light and very breathable with and did a great job of keeping the sun off my neck ears and sides of face. The cape is adjustable and removable making the hat adaptable for a very wide range of conditions faced throughout the day. When not needed the whole thing easily stuffed into a cargo pocket. In the evenings it was nice to just pull my wind shirt hood over the hat for bug protection. When stopped for a break I could lay back on my pad without having to take the hat off. No interference from my pack while looking around either. No worries in stronger winds.

The only downside was the hat didn’t provide quite as much protection for the front of my face. I carried a small 0.5 oz. tin of sunscreen to cover these areas (nose, cheeks and chin). I didn’t mind though because it’s much easier to wash off your face than the back of your neck and behind your ears.

I should note that just after I initially started this thread I had purchased the Sun Runner and the Tilley LT5 to compare. I tried the Tilley out on a few day hikes but just as David Lewis had noted, it was too hot to wear while hiking. Nice hat though.