Fedora Hard Hat: UPDATE

[fedoralover]

I've been wearing this hard hat for a week now and here are my observations for those of you who may have to wear a hard hat and are thinking of getting one. First of all it is a bit heavier, but it's not bad, and is easy to get used to. Mine came with the suspension set high so it sat really high on my head and made it top heavy. I had to readjust the setting so it sat lower. The biggest problem with this style of hard hat is that the crown is made almost like a regular hat. Which of course is why guys like us are drawn to it, but the problem is with the crown being narrower than a standard style of hard hat, the side brackets where the suspension attaches to the hat fits really close to your head and actually presses in on the side of your head making it very uncomfortable. If you are a long oval this may not be a problem, but for me I almost decided this hat was a wash and I was about to abandon it for my standard one.
But I decided to do some Unauthorized "Alterations". All the older style hard hats have the inside harness attached at 4 points, the new ones have an extra strap that goes across the middle, and this was the one that was making it uncomfortable to wear, so I cut it out and made it like an older style. And for those Safety Inspectors in our group, yes I know that makes it less safe, but for the type of work I do it's not a concern. If I were working in high rise construction that would be different, but I don't. So I'm not advocating anyone else doing this. However, cutting this side strap out made all the difference in the world and it is now very comfortable to wear. The wider brim keeps the sun off my face more effectively than the standard ones.

And in case you missed it in the other thread, you can reshape the brim with a heat gun. Mine had way too much brim curl for my liking and so I heated it up just enough to make it pliable and then flattened it out some.

So there you go, those are all things to keep in mind if you intend to get one.

fedoralover

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Fascinating concept FL; I applaud your efforts!

Here's a bit of off fftopic: topic trivia:

Back in the olden days before there were hard hats or OSHA the pole-climbers that strung electric wire across the nation discovered that one touch of the noggin against the hot wire meant certain death. They began wearing felt fedoras with the highest crown possible - the trend caught on and pole-climbers were known for their great hats.

It seems the felt does not conduct electricity and the high crown gave a degree of separation between the head and the wire. At the very least a guy would get his hat knocked off by contact with the wire, but no sparks and no burns - just an early warning to watch his proximity!

Shall we now form a 'pole-climber' re-enactor group!!??

For your edification, kindly provided by Dixon Cannon

 

[CShuler]

I am in Virginia, how do i go about purchasing a Fedora Hard-Hat?

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Vulcan Cowboy Hard hat

Here you go here is the orginal post referred too:

Fedora-(ish)-hard-hat

 

[fedoralover]

She's out to pasture now. I retired at the end of 2010 so this hard hat now hangs on a peg in my garage as a reminder of my past life. This hat looked like a real fedora from a distance. I was told several times that I was supposed to ALWAYS wear a hard hat when I did aerial work from my boom truck. I would then go get my hard hat and show it to them and kindly inform them that I always did. To be honest I kinda got a kick out of fooling them with it.

Please read my post here carefully about it, as it is not for everyone. Also I did some modifications on it to make it more comfortable that if a safety inspector noticed, you may have some explaining to do.

fedoralover