Breathable, quick-drying baseball cap?

[Gregory Stein]

Well, any running baseball cap will work. They all drying very fast.

Personally, I use Nike running baseball caps with Merino Buff for cold or a fleece beany for colder. Yeah, just putting my insulation on the cap.

As many here know I do also use the baseball cap for clipping my zebralight. Any running baseball caps have the rear velcro closure which fits exactly as a headband of headlights. This combo is very useful especially when you start your journey (no matter what – running/hiking) early in the morning when it’s still dark.

[Link .]

Even though those are not waterproof, I’d give them a try, except that neither one is in a style that I like.

No, they are waterproof, but I will agree on the sad part

[jscott]

All of these caps are completely useless as sun hats. So…exactly why do you wear them? –outside of fashion, which is perfectly fine! It’s just…usually, items in a persons’ kit have a function. I wouldn’t wear a tie backpacking, even though I look damn good in a tie.

[Tipi Walter]

Obviously you never used a baseball type hat’s brim to keep the sun out of your eyes.  Or to keep rain water off your glasses and out of your eyes.  Or to keep your hair out of your face.

[jscott]

Oh wait that’s right–I use a big visor brim under a rain hood to keep the rain off my glasses. Or a baseball cap brim. They’re o.k. for that.  A big visor brim is better.

At a few restricted angles a baseball cap brim will keep the sun out of my eyes. It won’t keep the sun off my face. And if you look at your friends wearing baseball caps in sunshine, you’ll see that’s true. Or just look at photos of people in ball caps in the sun. They’re useless as sun hats. Dermatologists agree.

[Andrew Shapira]

They are not useless as sun hats. They protect part of the head. They protect more than some hats, less than others.  For the part that is not protected, when it’s sunny, I put sunscreen on.

@book: I think that a non-fashion reason I like baseball caps is because they feel snug and I don’t feel like they are going to fall off. They keep rain out of my eyes. In some cases they help keep the sun out of my eyes and they reduce the amount of brushy things brushing against my sunglasses or eyes if I have those.They dry out pretty quick and depending on the hat will direct water away from at least part of my head. They do a little bit of wicking. They offer a little warmth but don’t make me super-hot when I am working hard. They are light and small. They offer a tiny bit more warning than my head does, when I am walking into something, giving me a bit more chance to stop.

[jscott]

I suppose that they offer more sun protection than a yarmaluke.

[Ken Thompson]

To keep the bats out of your hair.

[Nathan Watts]

@tauneutrino

Can you elaborate on how you use your running hat and zebralight?

I’ve got zebralight flashlights and headlights with clips, and almost always wear a hat or visor while running. Ive clipped the headlight to my wasteband, but never thought about using my hat.

[Hanz B]

While not a hat, the montbell wick visor is now one of my favorite gear peices after one year of use. 49 grams and I have never had my sunnies fall off my head since I started using it. Wicks all that sweat off my brow too, but the sunnies hold is a critical addition to usability and function.

[Cole B]

“Or just look at photos of people in ball caps in the sun. They’re useless as sun hats.”

You mean like photos of baseball players?

Another vote for Patagonia Duckbill.  (And for the record, I’m a Red Sox fan, not Cubs.)

 

[jscott]

That’s why baseball players never use sunglasses…oh, wait…

Ball players need a wide field of view. Large brimmed (actual) sun hats can cut down your field of vision.

But yes, look at the photo. His eyes are shaded. As is nothing else on his face. or neck or ears. Look closely. You see how his nose emerges into sunlight. I mean, what’s  to prevent sun from hitting the entire side of his face that’s in the photo? And it IS in the sun. This is why ball caps are useless as sun hats.

[Nathan Watts]

Ok…but the OP was  looking for a baseball cap.  I use visors and baseball caps to wick sweat, and keep rain and sun out of my eyes. So they hardly seem useless to me. Mine is on backwards more than half of the time too.

 

edit to add that my favorite hat is from OR and has a split in the visor  so it can be folded up and stuffed in a pocket.

[jscott]

I admit that this is one of my hobby horses and will quit now. I hiked and skied for a couple of decades in a ball cap or inadequate sun protection. Then I had a cancerous melanoma sliced out of my face with a very sharp scalpel. Over several hours. Yeah, all that and more outdoor activity in the sun and snow was the cause. Like smoking and lung cancer, it can take decades to develop.  I invite anyone to look up melanoma. it’s the second most deadly cancer, after lung cancer. And once it spreads there is no treatment.

Sooooo.. having avoided that, luckily, I now rant about inadequate sun protection. And of course everyone knows that sun at altitude is far, far more potent than at sea level.

p.s. no my face is not hideously deformed.

[Nathan Watts]

Not sure what hat is going to protect your face from sun reflecting off the snow.

[jscott]

Sun Precautions sun drape hat. And a lot of sunscreen.

See, it’s good to research this stuff.

[Author]

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