Hat for hot sun…

Hat under hood. Ah. I just get by, same ole same ole. I've had that issue.
Duane

crye precision made a boonie hat for about two years that's legendary. It had some really well thought out features that aren’t found in the bog standard boonie. unfortunately i lost mine and when they do come up on the auction sites (which is infrequent) they are très cher. I think they are popular amongst the airsoft crowd.

and "Why would you be wearing a hat with the hood up on a raincoat?" for all the reasons given and in heavy rain it moves the drip line out from right in front of your face.

Guess I haven't hiked in the rain enough here in Kalifornia. Enough though to have a hard time turning my head and seeing, but then that was more at home when outside helping rain water find its way down and off our dirt road.
Duane

I've hiked a couple times in hot sun. My Tilley Air-Flow is perfect. Need a wide brim and a vented top, which the Tilley does well. Seems to me that fitting under a hood is not a prerequisite in hot weather. When it is going to rain a lot then I take a REI eVent baseball cap. That makes it much easier to operate a poncho.

I also give the Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap two thumbs up for the venting and versatility. If you always wear lots of sunscreen and don't need the neck covering option, the GoLite Race Hat is also a good option.

I used to wear an Outdoor Research Boonie hat that was vented around the top, but found that the back of it constantly got caught up on the top of my pack when I'd look up. That's why I switched to the other two.

I can't honestly say that the neck covering makes you look stylish, but it's useful in very bug infested areas as well as spring / fall when you want a little less head protection than a beanie hat would give.

Just saw this one…Man, you are singing my tune. Bald and sweat like a pig. I got the Sundays one and it is extremely effective but it's so lame and dorky looking that I just can't do it. My other option was a baseball cap desert hat thing with a neck cape that I bought in a liquor store in palm springs. It worked just great, cause it was so cheap and flimsy that it was super light. sadly it has disintegrated. Seeing the comments, I might give that Salomon one a try.

Mesh trucker hat.
Tie a bandana around forehead and let it cover your neck.

imo this is better than a sun hat as you can remove the bandana when it's not needed for max ventilation.

Normally I just use a ul running hat from UA. On the jmt I used a lightweight nylon Boonie style. Worked good enough, didn't need any sunscreen, helps to always be looking downward at trail with a small brim. U don't need as much coverage as u think. I personally find drapes too annoying on most hats.

I learned from the Mojave and Joshua Tree that a light-colored, cotton keffiyeh, wrapped in any number of ways, is superior to any hat or visor. I've also found less evaporative loss seeing as it keeps my head and neck moist, rather than losing moisture to the sun and wind.

So this thread got me thinking because I definitely suffer from the same problem of the original poster. Previously I used a very light, very ventilated columbia boonie hat that was so light and flimsy it was almost like a bandana and very cool with a pretty wide brim. It was perfect for me because it provided great shade and didn't have a neck drape which feels warmer and more annoying to me. I switched to one anyway because on the Columbia hat the brim was too floppy and fell over my eyes which was annoying. However, the hat with neck drape was a Sunday Afternoons Traveler hat that was so super dorky, it just stole my mojo.

I looked at various solutions, but all the hats are too heavy (the OR hats) or too floppy (Columbia and other boonie hats) or too just look goofy looking Tilley (yes I know they're great and my hiking buddy swears by his).

Here's what I did. I fished between the fridge and stove for the lost thin plastic cutting board that I had given up on. I cut a piece slightly narrower than the size of the brim about 3/4 of the way around. Then I pulled open the seam on the brim, slid the cutting board cut out through (rounded the ends for easy sliding) and left the back 1/4 of the hat floppy, so that it wouldn't rub up against the back pack when looking up. Then I sewed two little Xs on the brim to stop the cutting board from sliding and sewed the seam back up.

Now my super light, super ventilated hat that would have been perfect except for the brim, no longer flops down and the brim won't interfere with the pack. Also, since the cutting board is dishwasher safe, it won't melt if I ever stick it in the dryer.

Cost 0. Time to complete: about 20 minutes.

If the Sun is that bad try an umbrella.
http://www.golite.com/Chrome-Dome-Trekking-Umbrella-P928.aspx

+1 on the Chrome Dome. I find it feels about 10F cooler under the umbrella while in full, high-altitude sun (like 8,000 feet in the Sierra). Does double duty during those afternoon thunderstorms. If they'd only silver the inside, you could use it as a solar cooker.

Goofy as it looks, I notice the other umbrella users are almost always experienced, accomplished hikers.

One billion Indians can't be wrong.

I have a Sunday Afternoon Compass hat. Wide brim and ventilating flaps up top. A little more fashionable than the Adventure model. It's not as cool as my very ventilated wide brimmed straw hat but handles the rain better.

A wide brimmed hat seems to keep the flying insects from around my ears in camp too.