Am I the only one annoyed by leather sweatbands?

[St.Ignatz]

Yep, same problem with some of my hats. I wear a 7 5/8 long oval so in reality I wind up compromising all too often with an oval. Some hats in 7 1/2 fit just fine others in 7 3/4. I know the size is supposed to be pretty much standard but a 7 3/4 Beaver Brand is a bucket on my dome. A quality hat stretcher with the proper ratio (reg,oval,long oval) helps to make some minor adjustment for you. Good luck.

 

[shortbow]

Wow. When I read the first post in this thread, I expected all the subsequent replies to extol the virtues of leather and excoriate cloth sweatbands without mercy. Just goes to show. Personally, I absolutely cannot stand cloth sweatbands, they irritate my forehead, get dirty really fast, and do not last. I have even replaced the band on the one ball cap I have with leather.

Of course, all my lids are vintage OR's and Borsalinos, so this may have something to do with it. A friend has an inexpensive modern Akubra, and the sweatband in that thing is stiff. I guess my advice would be to get hold of a good vintage hat that fits properly (not tight!) and see if that makes a difference to your experience of leather.

On the other hand, if cloth sweatbands float your boat, then maybe just stick with them. Certainly save you some dough over the long run.

 

[shortbow]

Ps. On the size-head shape thing. All my hats are made with supple, quality fur felt and the aforementioned decent leather sweatbands. Hence, whatever shape they were originally marketed in is of no consequence because each hat I get receives the steam-kettle and hand stretching/shaping treatment until it fits my own head like a well worn glove.

Also I recollect an Akubra "Squatter" I had years ago, and that hat, though modern, was much like my old timers in that it had a soft lambskin sweatband and light, soft felt. That was a really comfy lid too.

 

[WildCelt]

Of course, all my lids are vintage OR's and Borsalinos, so this may have something to do with it . . . I guess my advice would be to get hold of a good vintage hat that fits properly (not tight!) and see if that makes a difference to your experience of leather.

Of course, not everyone in the past preferred leather sweatbands, either. Horace Kephart (author and outdoorsman from the early 20th century) preferred a cloth sweatband partly for the same reason Fletch has problems with leather in the heat; leather just holds back the sweat, it doesn't soak it up. He was talking about woodcraft in the Appalachians mostly, so heat and humidity were a big deal. It really depends on the person and the activity which sweatband will be better.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The original poster made use of that terrible word "leatherette". I wonder if this is more of a leatherette (i.e. plastic) problem rather than a leather sweatband problem?

bk

 

[DBLIII]

I wear a hat about 300 days a year and have for 20+ years. And, I have an odd-shaped head. "Extra extra long oval" is how one hatmaker described it. I've found for me to be comfortable, it takes a #1 ace hatmaker to get the right fit and once I find that maker, the hat will come with really soft leather for the sweatband (like in some vintage hats). Ritch Rand and Steve Delk are my most-used makers. Smitty at Colorado Mountain Hat Company is great, too (western).
For me, anything new and not custom made takes a hat jack and a lot of cursing. One exception - I picked up a straw hat this summer with a cotton sweatband. Cheap and works great. I much prefer it to the "leatherette" (which I think means recycled tire cords)!

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I find there are pros and cons to both (or all three, if we include the dreaded leatherette).

On cloth; I get hot very easily, and sweat when I got even a little warm. Cloth creates a less perfect "seal" against my skin and also absorbs moisture, making me feel more comfortable. As absorbs moisture, it stains faster. However, contrary to what many claim, I find the stains take many sweat-soaked wearing to seep to the outside of the hat, while I can sweat through the best leather band in a couple of hours and stain the outer ribbon right away. The worst problem of cloth is that it's very hard to just clean the sweatband, and they get rather gross after a while.

On leather (ette); Never been my favorite feeling, even with the best of leathers. Still, you get used to it after a while. Also, they clean easy and take years to stain with sweat. They do grab your head better, and on a cold and windy day, there's less chance of a draft inside your hat, or of the hat blowing off. However, if you get hot, there's not much ventilation going on! Icky! And while it may keep the river of sweat away from my eyes, it will bleed through the hat after a while.

Conclusion; Perfection is a fool's ambition. Prioritize what matters to you, and go with it. A wool felt hat with a cloth sweatband is not a mortal sin, despite what some might claim.

 

[MisterGrey]

Wow, the replies to this have been awesome! So much information; and it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has some difficulty with leather.

Something that has intrigued me is the mention of varying head shapes as they apply to buying hats. Are different hats manufactured to accomodate differently shaped heads? In addition to having a rather large skull (when I had all of my hair, I had to wear a size 8 to accomodate it) it's also somewhat cumbersome. I've never seen mention of hat shapes when browsing online catalogues, but, maybe I don't know what I'm looking for?

 

[KatintheHat]

Say what you will...

Leather does stick better to my forehead in the wind.

Cloth is much more comfortable.

 

[Flatch]

I have the same sensitivity to new or stiff leather watchbands; just can't stand them. When unable to soften one up, I line most of the inside of the band with adhesive moleskin from the drugstore. Does the trick right nice. Just did the same to a Jaxon fedora - cut a strip to cover about 6" of my brow. It's FAR more comfortable now than the leather that comes with it, and just thin enough to not really affect the fit.

This'd be a temporary fix if you wear the hat a lot (sweat will loosen the glue, eventually), but it's easy to replace, cheap and, best of all, comfy.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Something that has intrigued me is the mention of varying head shapes as they apply to buying hats. Are different hats manufactured to accomodate differently shaped heads? In addition to having a rather large skull (when I had all of my hair, I had to wear a size 8 to accomodate it) it's also somewhat cumbersome. I've never seen mention of hat shapes when browsing online catalogues, but, maybe I don't know what I'm looking for?

You might be a Long Oval. Most modern hats are only made in standard oval (unfair, to say the least), and I've experienced some brands that are rounder than others. Sometimes a reblock or a good stretching into a long oval will help. Many with that head shape complain about marks on the head and pressure at the front and back, while the sides are fine or large.

 

[theprofessor]

i have a hat jack that has proven most useful to proper fit... not so much that i needed that hat stretched as much as shaped correctly. everybody and their brother has them for around 20 bucks or so, however, i found them at harborfreight.com for only $5.99 a piece - yes friends, $5.99! just go to the site and type hat stretcher into the search option. it appears to be the very same thing as a hat jack, only without the lovely hat jack stamp. for 15 bucks i can color on my own stamp!

 

[theprofessor]

"Conclusion; Perfection is a fool's ambition. Prioritize what matters to you, and go with it. A wool felt hat with a cloth sweatband is not a mortal sin, despite what some might claim."

true, it is not a mortal sin, that is unless you've grown accustomed to a hat of quality... then it at least feels like a mortal sin.

its like going from a rice burner to a big twin harley, then being forced to ride a rice burner again... the feeling somehow just isnt right.

 

[Subvet642]

its like going from a rice burner to a big twin harley, then being forced to ride a rice burner again... the feeling somehow just isnt right.

Yeah! But you don't have to rebuild a rice burner every winter!

 

[pplepic]

i have four vintage hats, all with leather sweatbands and they are very comfortable. My Panama from Stetson has a cloth "comfort" sweatband but it feels a bit tight at first and the hat really doesn't like to stay in place as the others do. It has a tendency to slip backward a little. From my experience, I'd prefer leather.

 

[skylize]

Rub a stick of beeswax over the leather wherever it will touch your skin. Just tacky enough that you won't suddenly start losing your hat with every gust of wind. Way less aggressive traction, that won't occasionally feel like removing a bandaid.