Felt hats in summer..

[ortega76]

I think it's largely due to personal choice. There's always that guy sweating in a blizzard or freezing at high noon on Miami Beach. As for Indy- well he may just prefer the hat for "luck" or to have something a bit more solid on his head while battling Nazis and seeking fortune and glory!

 

[Lieutenant]

Felt hats and leather shoes / boots just can not be outdone no matter what the weather.

 

[tonyb]

I tend to perspire quite a bit, such that I've left sweat stains on some of my lids, both fur and straw. So I've taken to using another of those men's accessories that seems to have fallen by the wayside--the handkerchief. Wallet in the right rear pants pocket, handkerchief in the left. I often leave it out for a couple of minutes after mopping my noggin with it. In warm weather, that's about all it takes to dry out.
As I mentioned several months ago in another thread, there are things to place on the sweatband to absorb sweat. I first saw one such item at a local hat retailer. It's a small strip of a thin, quilted, absorbent paper product with a Post-It-like adhesive on the back. I can't recall exactly what they retailed for, but it was something like three or four or five bucks apiece, which seemed kinda pricey, considering that they appeared to be made of essentially the same stuff as panty liners, which cost, oh, a few cents each. But at about 2 1/2 inches wide, panty liners are too large for this purpose, so I cut 'em in half lengthwise, peel off the backing and slap those suckers onto the sweatband, front and back. They will start to delaminate after a few days of exposure to significant sweating, but then I just take 'em out and replace 'em. That, in combination with the handkerchief, goes a long way toward keeping sweat from transferring through (and around) the sweatband and onto the ribbon and the hat body.
One caveat: Should you go this route, make sure you pick up a spare box of panty liners at the supermarket, lest other members of your household wonder what the hell happened to their personal hygiene products.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I use a handkerchief too, but I think I'll pass on the panty liner. If I do sweat a lot in a hat I clean the leather and condition it that night. I also do that to any hat I wear during the week on Sunday. That seems to go along way towards preserving the leather. Since I only wear vintage I'm pretty paranoid about them.

 

[tonyb]

I use a handkerchief too, but I think I'll pass on the panty liner. If I do sweat a lot in a hat I clean the leather and condition it that night. I also do that to any hat I wear during the week on Sunday. That seems to go along way towards preserving the leather. Since I only wear vintage I'm pretty paranoid about them.

Yeah, I baby my old lids too. It's not that there aren't lots and lots of nice old hats still out there, but the supply isn't infinite, and the prices are rising.

 

[RedPop4]

J.M. Stovall fftopic: We happened to be visiting the Lone Star Flight Museum when the B-17 returned from the big show in Wisconsin. They let us out the back door to the tarmac, and it taxied right to about 15 feet in front of us. Awesome.fftopic:

 

[Samsa]

It seems that everyone here agrees that in summer it is too hot to wear a fur felt hat.
If it is so how come that Indiana Jones wears his fedora all the time. In Raiders of the lost ark ho goes to Egypt, knowing what to expect. It is hot and dry, but he is still wearing his fedora. Is it just a gimmick or is it OK to wear a fur felt fedora in the summer?
Also in Australia fur felt fedoras are national treasure. Do not forget about cowboy hats, too.
So?

I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time last night and the same question occured to me. I haven't tried it yet, but after watching the movie am contemplating getting a light color fur fedora (I'm not sure I'm quite ready for the Indy style, though) and alternating between that and my straw.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

It seems that everyone here agrees that in summer it is too hot to wear a fur felt hat.
If it is so how come that Indiana Jones wears his fedora all the time. In Raiders of the lost ark ho goes to Egypt, knowing what to expect. It is hot and dry, but he is still wearing his fedora. Is it just a gimmick or is it OK to wear a fur felt fedora in the summer?
Also in Australia fur felt fedoras are national treasure. Do not forget about cowboy hats, too.
So?

Well, ...Indiana Jones is a fictional character.

That being said, there are Panama hats and light weight summer felts that do the job.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

J.M. Stovall fftopic: We happened to be visiting the Lone Star Flight Museum when the B-17 returned from the big show in Wisconsin. They let us out the back door to the tarmac, and it taxied right to about 15 feet in front of us. Awesome.fftopic:

Stillfftopic: I like the Lone Star Flight Museum a lot, and prefer their airshow to the big Wings Over Houston show at Ellington Airfield. That one's just too big to be any fun anymore. The Galveston museum also has a great aviation library on the top floor. They don't let you take the books out, but I found some online after seeing them there.

 

[gekisai29]

Remeber that The Indy's and the Cowboys of the world use their lids to ward off branches by tilting the head forward & too keep off the rain so these functions & not heat could dictate the choice

 

[Magus]

I wear Both

Here in So Cal I wear both straw and felt in all weather. I have a couple of old beater felt fedoras, a 30-40's Lee Water Block with a all cloth liner and lots of moth munches is my current fav hot weather hat. I am a head sweat guy and I let nature take its designed course. A nice layer of sweat in the hatband and hat is very cooling on a hot day. (Of course I am talking everyday wear NOT suit wearinging dress-up wear) For that I do wear either but use a hankerchif to keep things neat.

 

[qwerty]

I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time last night...

What?
It is so hard for me to comprehend.




Are tilly hats good for hot weather?

 

[Chad Miller]

I would say it's perfectly fine to wear a felt fedora in the summer. In fact, I wore my Adventurebilt all weekend while doing some work in the garden. Yes, you do tend to sweat, but, as someone else noted, the sweat actually helps to keep the hat cool. I have a decent quality Panama hat, and the straw is so tightly woven that it doesn't breathe well, making it rather uncomfortable to wear in the heat. The felt, on the other hand, allows for air to circulate around your head.

Chad

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Sonoran heat wave...

...that's eight months a year in this part of the world! I have a Stetson Raiders hat with no lining that I wear as it only adds to the 'patina'! I don't want my other dressier Borsos and Marathon to start getting sweat lines and salt stains so they sit in air conditioned comfort for most of the year. It's easy to see why people are so casual in this heat and don't dress up... it's too freakin' HOT!! -dixon cannon

 

[Samsa]

What?
It is so hard for me to comprehend.

I know, I know....I am rather culturally deprived, especially when it comes to movies. I'm working on it, though...

 

[Pilgrim]

I have a friend who wears a Tilley to all softball tournaments - his daughter and mine play on the same team. I'm in my Panama or Open Road, he wears the Tilley. We're both happy.

 

[feltfan]

Depends on heat and *humidity*

Actually, it depends on the felt.
I have a vintage Stetson panama with a
tight weave and no liner that can be almost
as hot as some of my felts. I have felts,
like Resistol, Mallory, and Stetson Open Road
type hats that ride significantly higher over the
ears than your average fedora, and as a result
stay cooler. They are lighter colored, too.
Forget about my dark brown Cavanagh
fedoras on hot days.

But when it gets really hot, nothing beats a
panama with an "open weave" that allows
air to pass through.

Love to find a nice vintage pith helmet some
day and try that out. Comments on pith helmets
in the heat?

 

[Bargepole]

Oz again

I've mentioned Australia before... hat heaven... the first thing they say when you head for the bush (a.k.a. "Outback") is: you'll need a hat, mate.

Never saw a straw. Always Akubras. Every head had one. They seem to work just fine. At least, I never got sun/heatstroke. When in doubt, do as the locals. (But one thing I did use was a gizmo called a KoolIt. A sort of ultra-absorbent foam in a bandanna. Soak it in water, tie it loosely round your neck, and the water slowly evaporates. Apparently the body's thermostat, from a comfort point of view, is in the back of the neck. The combo of Akubra and KoolIt = no sunstroke and comfortable all day, even in temperatures of 115¬? and up.

 

[Panamabob]

Semicalados that we just got up. Hot items this summer...

 

[astaire]

conditioning the sweat band

what do you actually use to condition the sweatband after a hot day and plenty of sweat?

Thanks All.