A hat thread

[bykfixer]

Do you wear a head cover on a regular basis? Perhaps a fedora like Bugsy in the 30's or your grandpa on a rainy day? A cowboy hat? A straw hat while cutting grass?

My first year playing little league baseball started an addiction to the baseball cap. At the time it meant bragging about the fact I was a baseball player for the "optomist club O's"……

It led to becoming a baseball cap wearing person. So much so I got booted out of school once for wearing one in a class after repeated warnings. One gal I dated dumped me over it. "You and those dam baseball hats".

In the late 70's and through the 80's it seemed every ball cap was really tall. Like 5" tall. In the early 2000's they seemed to be really short. The olive drab SureFire ball cap was really short. These days you can have either or in between. I like the in between kind.

All cloth please. A mesh back is good for venting, sure. But on a rainy day it feels kinda weird to have cool water hitting just the back of your head.

Flex fit give me a headache. There's a flex tech version now with an adjustable strap at the back. The velcro adjuster allows that just right fit where the snap kind can at times cause it to be both too big and too small.

Some ball caps fit just right from day one due to a slight oval bias. The circle kind take some time to get used to. Same with ones that are "too oval" bias.

My older brother (RIP) never bought a ball cap yet always wore one. He'd wear one until it was absolutely used up but he kept a brand new one for weddings and funerals. Yup, he'd wear a ball cap to a funeral so he could pull it off while praying.

 

[Olumin]

Ive actually been looking into getting a new hat. Im usually not a hat guy, but when going for a more casual look with a leather jacket & jeans, I sometimes like to wear a brown cap.
Any recommendations for a high quality, durable baseball cap for outdoors? Perhaps with a slightly thicker fabric or even some inner lining. No mesh back for me either. I really don't have much experience with this. Ive looked into a few hunting caps but haven't found something along the more classic look im going for, im not big on billboarding for brands.

 

[AstroTurf]

carhart bball caps are good.

i remove the front branding patch when new, then after a couple of washes you'd never know it was there.

good absorbent band inside with a non rigid crown.

my go to ball cap.

 

[vicv]

I wear a Tilley wide brim hat when doing yard work and long walks. Protects my ears from the sun. And I don't seem to have as much hair on the top of my head as I used to. Keeps that from getting burned too. They may be a silly looking hat, but I'm far past the age where I care what others think of my attire. It's a dad hat and I'm fine with that.
If looking for a high quality baseball cap, carhart as mentioned is good. Tilley makes a few. Filson.

 

[bykfixer]

Port Authority makes nice ball caps.

Not sure where to buy a plain one but the promotional hats I've acquired over the years that used Port Authority caps are a pleasure to wear.

 

[ironhorse]

Ball caps for most of the time.
Straw hat for hot days in the sun.
I splurged on a 100% beaver cowboy hat for in the snow and rain.

 

[troutpool]

Got to wear hats here in southern Arizona. It's usually baseball caps for me these days, but I have an Ultimate Hat (like a Tilley) for hiking and birding, and a fleece beanie for cold weather. Here are pictures of a couple of my old fishing hats.

 

[bykfixer]

Not long ago I was in a safety shoe store and bought some boots. I was wearing a rickety old Vans ballcap that was generic in appearance after removing the patch on the front and tag on the back. I really had not considered how old and tired it looked, just that it fits my melon just right.
The guy behind the counter says "go pick out a new ballcap because that one you're wearing sure needs an oil change"……

I grabbed a visor.

I wore those a lot as a lad.
We called them tennis hats back then. I suppose because back then that's what tennis stars wore.
Anyway that's what I'm wearing lately, a visor.

 

[troutpool]

My wife likes visors. She wears one while swimming in the neighborhood pool. She even wears one while reading in bed at night, to keep glare from her overhead reading light out of her eyes. Very practical and versatile headgear.

 

[raggie33]

i saw a hat you soak in water it is very good at holding water its made to cool you down i want this hat very badly but itss isnt cheap

 

[vicv]

I think you could do that with any hat. Soak a sponge and stuff it in there for extra water

 

[Monocrom]

Somehow over the years, I've amassed a huge collection of watch-caps. A hat is very much needed for retaining heat. Usually I'll walk around with either one of those, or a baseball cap. Fancier hats, just not for me.

 

[bykfixer]

My 1980's Quicksilver beach hat doubles as a Wilson hat.
Meanwhile Maglite the peach front conjure looking all bashful-like for the camera.

My youngest son is 32 and I had it before he was born. It's sold old……it was made back when Quicksilver made clothes in America.

 

[knucklegary]

Mrs Fixer needs to make a matching hat for Maglite

 

[bykfixer]

Found this old hat today:

It's one I did one winter back in the early 2000's. See, long story made short I had ten 4' long by 10" by 4" thick slabs of oak, maple and birch from work that were hand carved into skateboard decks. For each deck a hat, a jacket, or a t-shirt were hand painted to go with each board. The hat shown went with board #3, which I kept.

The photo is me showing board #3 when it was nearly complete.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Upper left is off-work hat using CA glue successfully to reconnect brim to cloth top. Upper middle is about a year old wearing to work and town. Lower hats are reserve in vehicles and work pack.

 

[fulee9999]

I've bought this Columbia baseball cap a few years ago when my hair started to go bye bye, and I wear it always when I'm outside and it's above 21 °C ( 68F )

Several times I got the question "ooh you like Tesla?" and I was like no... the T is for Titanium, it's just the clothing line of Columbia...
( Which was by the way pretty awesome in the early 2000s then they discontinued that line and seems like they are bringing it back again, so yay )

I previously for years had an awesome softshell hat that was perfect for colder ( 10-15 °C / 50-60 F ) temperatures but lost it somehow, so after months of searching for it unsuccessfully I've bought some hats ( did not know which would work for me, had a pretty good idea what I wanted ) and ended up using this Salomon one, it folds very small and breathes fairly good, while retaining heat

For freezing temperatures I just wear my winter hat, it's similar to the one above, but a lot thicker and has mylar dots inside for maximum heat retention, it's really great.

 

[bykfixer]

My flashaholic's cold weather, put out the trash, walk the dog, shovel the snow hat.
If I recall correct it was $10 and I tossed it in the e-cart to cross over the $0 shipping on an order one year.

 

[bykfixer]

Upper left is off-work hat using CA glue successfully to reconnect brim to cloth top. Upper middle is about a year old wearing to work and town. Lower hats are reserve in vehicles and work pack.

View attachment 28404

My brother who to my knowledge never bought a ballcap would wear them out but I don't recall him using glue or duct tape to keep them assembled.
His shoes…… now that was another matter.

 

[bykfixer]

Found this in my hat collection recently.

A 100 year anniverssary hat from about 2005 or 6.
It still fits like it should after all those years.