WINTER HATS— Beanie/Skull style

i wear a "montreal canadiens" beenie i bought at old navy for 3$ … or a EB FA one i got for 5$ …

selling beanies for 30$+ has to be one of the biggest scams in the outdoor industry …

and yes ive tried the fancy ones like the dead birds i got on sale for 5$ each …

if you want some of those fancy ones, just wait for an outdoor clearance where you can pick em up for less than 10 smackaroos ….

you can find fleece ones for cheap at stores if you look around

I almost opted for the same Montreal Canadiens outfit that Eric got his beanie from.

:D

But yeah, I use a wool beanie I got from gander mountain on clearance for $2.50.

Depends on the fleece. I have a quite thick one with a "cuff" that I use for colder trips. It's warmer than my wool ones.

One of the best watch cap deals I found was at Home Depot–$3 for a very lightweight fleece one plenty long to cover ears and forehead while sleeping.

My lovely wife knits, and she made me a black beanie out of fingering-weight merino wool. Feels lovely, just the right weight for active hiking or wearing about town. The best part is that it makes me look like a dockworker from Philly (which I am not.)

Surely some of you know people who knit? Just look for the quiet, introverted types sitting in the back of the room at the party, with a small bag at their feet, clacking away…. 8^) You'd be amazed what they can do.

Fleece is easy MYOG project. Make the top a half circle and the bottom long enough to cover your nose or so, and then fold it back to make a cuff.

I don't like to cover my eyes though.

Stretch usually stretches more in one direction, which I have going around my head.

Or, make a balaclava – make it longer and then cut a hole for eyes, nose, and mouth.

Hats are important to me as I do alot of winter camping. I use the 3-layer system. The first is a standard fleece or poly tuque which can either be a Turtle Fur hat or a cheap walmart "thermolite" cap.

Under this when it's "more" cold I use an Icebreaker merino balaclava or a lighter weight Pataonia balaclava. I won't leave on a winter trip w/o this item. I sleep in both in low temps.

In severe cold with biting wind (in camp only) I wear a Feathered Friends down parka which has a snap-on down hood. This baby will save your head, if nothing else. And it is very light.

Knowing how well the down hood works, I'd like to try one of those down caps just to see how warm they are.

I have a couple of Capilene beanies that are light, fit nicely, washup easy and breathe very well, they should last near a life time (unless I lose them like I do gloves! :))

I also have a MH Dome Ruinart beanie, it's cut like a water polo cap :) w/ the ears that come down, it's got some kind of windproof/weatherproof layer that does a good job of keeping the warmth in/wind out- I'm running this afternoon w/ winds in the 10-20 mph range (high teens F)- this is the hat that'll grab

Have you seen the Polar Buff with the Thermal Pro fleece (not the regular Polar Buff) ? Not exactly a beanie,but great stuff IMHO. Covers well my big head,the thermal pro fleece insulates well and it's very breathable,not wind resistant though,you need a hood over it when it's too windy. They have them now at STP.

I also have and enjoy a Mountain Hardwear beanie. In my case, I think it's a "Dome Perignon" with the wind-blocker. It was under $15 on clearance at Sierra Trading about this time last year. I like it because it's low-profile, has ear coverage that I can fold up and it stays on my head when I'm sleeping.

I don't carry a hooded insulating jacket anymore, so this is what goes under my shell hood in real cold and it's multipurposed as my morning hat and part of my sleep system. It replaced an old, "classic type" wool beanie that would come off while I was asleep and I like it so much that I bought them for the rest of the family.

over the last couple of seasons i've been buying them surplus, typically in lots of 4 or 5 off of ebay. the cost per hat has been around $3 to $4. i tend to carry a spare and i lend/give them away as needed.

i also have a hand knit red hard hat diver's hat (comforter) that i sometimes carry when it's sub-zero (f) to sleep in. unfolded, it covers my face and the weave is loose enough that it doesn't trap too much moisture or impede my breathing. it provides just the right amount of coverage for that small circle left when i cinch the hood of my sleeping bag down tight.

My favorite, all purpose hat is one I paid $4 CDN in the MEC in Calgary. Polartec fleece, a green color. Light and folds up nicely. It is my 'go to' hat when I do a quick day hike, out in town or need an extra hat for backpacking or even camping.

I must confess to getting attached to my hats. When I misplace the hat above, I look through the house for it and won' stop until I find it. Mrs Mags finds it amusing.

For ski touring, I do love my light wool Nordic style beanie. Bought it at sports authority last year for $10.

for skiing, wool Nordic style hats are a must. :D

I have two fleece beanies I use – one is a Spyder standard/basic fleece I got on clearance in NYC at an outdoors store when I lost my favorite North Face beanie (think it was an Ascent – quite thin but still warm and fit into my pea coat pockets easily).

The other is a Mountain Hardwear Dome Perignon I got at Marshalls or TJ Max for about $10. I really do like the Dome Perignon for cooler weather – as noted – it covers my ears and stays on my bald head and really does cut the wind. I can't say if it's better than a poly one or not but it works really well and was cheap.

My biggest issue is finding ones that fit – one reason the North Face one was so great – I have a big head and a lot of the "one size fits most" do not, in fact, tend to fit me. The Spyder was bought out of desperation and it was on sale and it fit (unlike the 10-15 other ones I tried from fleece to knit).