Felt hats in summer..

[Dewhurst]

I do find that if it gets above 90 and the humidity is high most of my felts do become much warmer than a straw hat.

The heat index is what I always watch. When that puppy starts heading up I start dreading putting a hat on at all unless it is an incredibly flimsy flat cap or something.

HI of 105 yesterday. Nothing, I repeat, nothing is comfortable in temperatures that high. Going outside is a shame, really.

 

[Chasseur]

Amen brother. My limit is about high 80s and high humidity for felt.

I do wear a Panama most days (say 3-4 days of the week), it is cooler all else being equal. But felt is just easier in terms of wear and tear, standing up to rain and just bashing it back into shape in case of emergencies. So I do wear felt on many warmish days.

Rain is what really gets me with Panamas... I'm thinking of picking up one of those Akuba Capricorns one day.

 

[frussell]

We're breaking into the teens

We're getting up into 115 degree territory this time of year. In the old days, that wasn't so bad, you just put the black hat on the shelf and turn up the old "swamp cooler." Now, we've got so much agriculture and golf courses, added with the ever mysterious global warming, that we've got humidity in the desert. Anything over 15 percent humidity paired with 110 - 120 degrees is just plain nasty. I've been outside in this valley when it was 127 degrees. Having said that, I'm still wearing felts, just lighter-colored ones. With shorts. I'm a classy guy, but unless my trousers were made of cargo netting, it's too damn hot for long pants, and socks are like a form of torture right now. I'll save the photo image and let you picture a 285 pound, six foot five guy wearing a custom 100% beaver fedora in dove gray with some cargo shorts, Keen sandals and a classy "Big Belly Crew" t-shirt. Safe to say, I'm not setting any new fashion trends. Strangely enough, I also don't get any "hey there's Indiana Jones" remarks. Frank

 

[cybergentleman]

interesting

I had learned about this in undergrad...that there are so many swimming pools and agriculture/watering spots now out west that it's no longer desert...and there are species of birds etc that are killing off the local wildlife..i think crows?

 

[frussell]

Crows?

I don't know about crows, but we have ravens out the wazoo.

 

[cybergentleman]

ah

yeah that could be them.

i just recall something about birds....ravens fit the bill. no pun intended

 

[Mr. Paladin]

Based on the seemingly total absence of fur-felt fedoras here in Dallas (with the exception of mine)---regardless of the time of year---I guess I was starting to fancy myself a true pioneer.

I guess you and I have not bumped into each other...

Nice to meet you sir, I am quite near you and wear my felts generally all year 'round.

 

[jbucklin]

So, you're in the Dallas area? I've read your posts, seen your pics and saw you were from N. Texas. It's comforting to know there's another one of us in this fedora-barren land.

Do you ever go to Dallas Vintage in Plano? I've thought about visiting there to see what they have in the way of vintage hats but don't know anything about it. I've called them and asked and of course they have "lots of them" but I'm left wondering if their idea of a good hat is the same as mine.

 

[Mr. Paladin]

So, you're in the Dallas area? I've read your posts, seen your pics and saw you were from N. Texas. It's comforting to know there's another one of us in this fedora-barren land.

Do you ever go to Dallas Vintage in Plano? I've thought about visiting there to see what they have in the way of vintage hats but don't know anything about it. I've called them and asked and of course they have "lots of them" but I'm left wondering if their idea of a good hat is the same as mine.

I've been in to Dallas Vintage a couple of times. I asked the owner about hats and he asked to see mine, which was a Resistol Whippet clone, fingered it and said he had nothing like that. Since their move to Parker Rd. however, the store is much larger and may have better hats than the wool cheapies I found there. I'll check it out again soon and let you know.

 

[Mav]

Tried an experiment while whipping around in a handicapped shuttle (golf cart) at the NHRA races at Sonoma this weekend. 2 1/2" brim straw fedora Friday, silverbelly Campdraft Sat. and Sun..
The felt wins. The straw is now relegated to gardening.

 

[HosManHatter]

Over the past week to 10 days I`ve actually been wearing all three of my felt fedoras on a daily basis here in our Central-Northern California Summer heat and...

Despite my earlier comments and assumptions I`m finding very little,if any,difference between Felt and Straw fedoras with regard to how warm/hot they make me feel,how each material makes my head feel when worn in direct sunlight,the amount I sweat in either a straw or felt fedora(same) and how cool with regards to airflow(no real difference I can tell).

I was surprised as I always thought any felt hat would automatically be unbearable and stuffy in warm weather. Granted,I think that straw may be a bit more tolerant to heavy sweat than our felt friends though.

Perceptions and assumptions.Interesting.
HMH

 

[Rick Blaine]

You Left Coasters need to come South & experience a real summer.

Relative humidity don't refer to when you & yer cousin was caught makin' out in the barn! [bad]

Hardly fit weather to have ANYTHING on your head, sure enough, fur felt? Fergit it! That dawg don't hunt.

 

[Blackthorn]

I'm back to wearing fur felt again until the next heat wave. I love this climate.

 

[thebroker]

Personally I switch between a couple of Stetson straws (a Retro and an OR) during the summer. I have several other straw hats, and while several of them are cooler than the Retro or OR because they vent better, they are a little too casual to go with a suit, which I wear most days.

Just for fun a few days ago, I tried out a felt hat to see how it went...I came home at lunch to switch back to straw because it was unbearable in the heat and humidity. However, I think the problem for me might be as much about color as anything. All my felt hats are dark, while all my straw hats are light, and we all know dark colors feel hotter when you wear them.

I have to say, there's just something stylish about a white hat with a black band paired up with a dark suit. Even if I didn't find straw hats to be more comfortable in the summer, I'd still wear them because they look good!

 

[danofarlington]

However, I think the problem for me might be as much about color as anything. All my felt hats are dark, while all my straw hats are light, and we all know dark colors feel hotter when you wear them.

I agree with you. Dark colored felts also seem out of place to me in summer. It seems parallel to wearing flannel shirts in the summer--you could do it, but it's odd. I would change my mind if prevailing fashion dictated, like in the 30s and 40s, but you don't have that style going on now all over the place.

 

[MattJH]

I cannot even begin to imagine the level of discomfort I'd endure wearing felt in the hot Philadelphia weather! Kudos to most of you. I can't do it. In fact, I can't even handle wearing straw in anything over 85 degrees Fahrenheit or so. And the sweatband must be elastic and absorbent. If it's leather, there's just no way at all. I haven't worn a hat since April or so, actually. I just wear sunscreen on my face/neck/shoulders and deal with it. Hats make an oven out of my head.

I'm actually confused about those stating that they feel cooler when wearing hats since they block out the sun. Either you're going through some kind of hat-lover's placebo, or your body chemistry is drastically different from mine. Heat escapes from your body in specific places, the crown of your head being one of them. Logic says that by covering that spot, you're retaining body heat. Regardless of whether you're blocking an external heat source (the sun), how do you feel cooler if you're blocking your internal heat from escaping? I don't get it.

 

[theinterchange]

I keep meaning to chime in on this thread but haven't.

In my experiences with felt hats and heat, I've only found one hat that was impossible to wear in summer like conditions, a Penman rabbit. That sucker is HOT. My other felt hats, yes I get hot in them, but not overpoweringly so. I also have a good personal resistance to heat, it doesn't bother me all that much.

To me, it all boils down to personal makeup, some folks can take heat and wearing felt hats in it [or hats period], others can't.

I SHOULD buy a straw just for comparisons sake. It's been a good 10 years or so since I owned a straw, and it was a Stetson western.

Randy

 

[theinterchange]

I agree with you. Dark colored felts also seem out of place to me in summer. It seems parallel to wearing flannel shirts in the summer--you could do it, but it's odd.

we're not in Seattle in the 1990's are we?

Randy

 

[Woodfluter]

I cannot even begin to imagine the level of discomfort I'd endure wearing felt in the hot Philadelphia weather!

Hi Matt -

I used to live very near Philly, so I know what you mean about humidity. Now I'm in Atlanta, and it's been hot and humid - temp Monday in the 90's, humidity around 90%. Wore an Akubra Riverina today. Sounds crazy but it's really a "YMMV" thing. I do sweat profusely.

I'm actually confused about those stating that they feel cooler when wearing hats since they block out the sun.///
Heat escapes from your body in specific places, the crown of your head being one of them. Logic says that by covering that spot, you're retaining body heat. Regardless of whether you're blocking an external heat source (the sun), how do you feel cooler if you're blocking your internal heat from escaping? I don't get it.

It's all about heat transfer. Conduction we can neglect here, so it's radiation, convection, and (related to the latter) evaporation. In hot weather you want to reduce heat transfer into you from the environment, and promote loss of metabolic heat.

In direct sunlight you can absorb a good deal of heat directly from the sun. Yes, a hat might partially block heat loss due to evaporation (aided by air circulation) but still a net gain by eliminating direct absorption of radiant heat. Likewise, in sunlight you can be cooler wearing light clothing that blocks radiant heat but allows air circulation, as opposed to going naked.

Your skin temperature is around 91F normally, maybe up to 95 degrees in warmer weather. When it reaches your core temperature of 98.6 you begin to sweat. You also circulate more blood through vessels near the skin - sort of like a radiator. Especially on top of your head where there's a lot of surface with thin skin over bone.

Heat gets sucked out of your skin by the energy involved with a phase change from liquid water to vapor. Then air moves the vapor away along with heat near your skin - that's convection. Sounds great but...we're adapted for a sort of dry, hot environment.

When the humidity gets very high and there's little wind, this slick mechanism falls apart. That's what I find anyway. I sweat like crazy but all it does is make me wet and thirsty. I suspect that, on days like this Monday, wearing a felt hat (with lots of extra vent holes) works for me because I'm gaining less from evaporation anyway and radiation becomes more significant.

Out in the drier parts of the western US, evaporation is so efficient that wearing a hat makes little difference in heat loss - but helps a lot with blocking heat gain. For me anyway.

Also, physiology differs. People who live in certain environments change - including even the density of capillaries. So (just a guess) perhaps a person accustomed to wearing a hat channels more of the heat loss to other parts of the body, while an habitually hatless bloke works the head radiator harder? Dunno, but intriguing.

- Bill

 

[Mr. Paladin]

It is hot in North Texas but I still like my felts, even in the summer. I note little difference unless the hat is black. I do avoid those in the summer.