(UK) Hats & where to get one?

[Box Brownie]

Hi All

I have bad habit of always (according my better half) forgetting to take a hat when we go on holiday and end up buying another one, typically a baseball style.

The prime reason I need a hat is like a lot of men I am now folliclely challenged and oh boy can I burn.

Right, I am looking for a hat with full brim (and no, those with floppy brims do not suit me ;) ) with a solid but hopefully ventilated crown that offers good sun protection but will crush down for transporting in a suitcase or stuffed in my Lowepro bag. I never know how to, other than wearing it, carry it with me!!!!!

So does such a hat exist that can look smart with a stiffened brim and crown that offers high factor of sun protection but will fold/crush/pack away and reshape well when required?

Oh, I may be getting on in years but a folding Panama is not "me".

TIA for any guidance :)

[tipsy]

http://www.newcastlemedsoc.com/pics/sombrero.jpg

x

[Box Brownie]

Ryan

Yeh! right, wait till you have the same 'problem' :lol:

[lakiluno]

My mum and uncle have tilly hats: http://www.tilley.com/ - I've heard great things about them, though they can run up quite a bill...

[tipsy]

Ryan

Yeh! right, wait till you have the same 'problem' :lol:

You may very well say that, but if got a fair few years in my locks yet so i dont think about that right now :D

It is, in my belief, the job of the non yobbish yet playfully impolite youth of today, to mock the hairless older generations whilst they gleefully avoid the situation of hairlessness themselves. For the time being...

x

[tipsy]

Alternatively you may wish to chose the oriental option...

http://www.kulick.net/photoalbum/BK_Message_Jan06/ChineseHat.jpg

x

[tipsy]

Or even, make your own...

http://www.kid-craft-central.com/images/origami-pirate-hat.jpg

Give you something to do on the journey to wherever it is you're going.

x

[Bill Roberts]

See what you get when you ask a serious question on here?

:lol: :lol:

[tipsy]

I see it my duty as one of the younger possibly one of the youngest members on this forum to give immature and frankly silly answers whenever the oppertunity arises.

x

[DavidW]

I've got a Tilley T5 - it works for me. I'm only 32, but health problems mean that I've lost a lot of hair.

Tilley don't recommend squashing their hats - they tend to look a bit sad if you do so. The best bet is to stuff it with socks and underwear, then put it in your case.



David

[condyk]

The Tilley are very good. Hard to go wrong with an Akubra (http://www.akubra.com.au/), the classic Aussie hat; but not cheap unless you pick one up off ebay and are patient, which is what I did a while back. Not so crushable, tho' they have The Traveller which is. I picked up a crushable one similar to the Akubra and made by Christy's of London by searching on Google.

[lakiluno]

I see it my duty as one of the younger possibly one of the youngest members on this forum to give immature and frankly silly answers whenever the oppertunity arises.

x

How old are you? I know of many members who are 15, 16, 17...

[tipsy]

How old are you? I know of many members who are 15, 16, 17...

apparently not quite the youngest then.

18 :confused:

x

[thomascanty]

I know of two that are under 10, but they don't show up very often.

[rhys]

Paint the bald patches silver and the sun will reflect rather than be absorbed. Alternatively, a tin-foil hat will block the sun's radiation not to mention that it'll block aliens disguised as lamp-posts from reading your thoughts.

[JimAskew]

My mum and uncle have tilly hats: http://www.tilley.com/ - I've heard great things about them, though they can run up quite a bill...

I have had a Tilley T5 for three years now and I don't leave home without it :) Unless I am wearing my POTN ballcap that is :)

I had a bout with skin cancer and melanoma three years ago and when the docs were done with they me told me to go buy a Tilley and wear it everytime I go outdoors...Tilley's have a high UV protection rating and the T5 has a green underbrim which prevents the sun from reflecting on your face. If you get one be sure and buy a braid for it...it makes you right natty :D

[KirkHMB]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0000478901774a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=crushable+hat&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=crushable+hat&noImage=0

Try searching various vendors for crushable hat. Realize this is not UK based, but the style should be available elsewhere.

[MDJAK]

wear a rastafarian dredlock wig. That'll do the trick.

me :)

[tipsy]

wear a rastafarian dredlock wig. That'll do the trick.

me :)


He could even get some fake dreads to look the part. Sew them into the hat or something.

x

[Box Brownie]

Thanks all for the suggestions, what an insightfull lot of folk there are here at POTN :-|

I have done some more Googling and IDed the Aussie Barmah range of hats. They are foldable and seem to meet the criteria but the price is high ~ but heh, health is priceless. The price seems to double in coming the UK from Aus.

Just need to try one or two and see if "they" are right:cool:

[condyk]

Measure yer head son and should be fine. I had one of them I bought in Aussie and was cool.

[DAMphyne]

I bought my Barmah in the USA, at Talulah Falls in North Georgia.
Canvas w/ mesh sides. Front is flexible enough that I don't have to take it off to shoot vertical. Don't know about using on-board flash.
Only $30 US.

[Box Brownie]

Measure yer head son and should be fine. I had one of them I bought in Aussie and was cool.

I bought my Barmah in the USA, at Talulah Falls in North Georgia.
Canvas w/ mesh sides. Front is flexible enough that I don't have to take it off to shoot vertical. Don't know about using on-board flash.
Only $30 US.

Thanks both for the feedback.

With the Canvas & mesh sides, how dense a weave is the mesh? The reason I ask is that I have been burned using a simliar type of hat because the weave was quite open.

I now need to find that local dealer/outlet (one or two fairly neraby) that has most of the range to test out.

:)