Felt hats in summer..

[rbbrock]

The factors I would consider are not so much what "fashion" requires, but rather, if I wear a felt hat, will I sweat and, if so, is it a hat I don't want to stain?

 

[GreyHat]

I will definitely wear a fur felt even when it is nice out.
Of course, if I had a panama, I would probably wear it, but you work with what you have.

 

[swisslet]

I want to hear more from ADHD on the subject of Austalian felts. It's my understanding that most aussie bush hats (akubras and the like) are traditionally fur felt, and they wear these in some of the most extreme temperatures on earth! I know it's personal preference and that they breed these aussies tough....

 

[Doctor Strange]

I got an Akubra Cattleman last year, specifically for summer use, in the off-white "Sand" color. With its ventilation holes, I was thrilled to find that it's no hotter than my usual panama. I've sweated in it plenty, but there's been no permanent staining so far: Akubra's felt is amazing!

 

[indycop]

I got an Akubra Cattleman last year, specifically for summer use, in the off-white "Sand" color. With its ventilation holes, I was thrilled to find that it's no hotter than my usual panama. I've sweated in it plenty, but there's been no permanent staining so far: Akubra's felt is amazing!

Did you get it from Hatsdirect? I really like that one!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Nope, I got it from Aussie Bush Hats and Oilskins. But I believe the Cattleman is Akubra's most popular style, you can get it from nearly any dealer.

The best price I've seen recently is at AustralianGear - just $104 including shipping (it's on page 2):

http://www.australiangear.com/product/bindex.php?product=akubrauniquer&fromw=menshatsuniquer

 

[Woodfluter]

I think the notion of heat and felt being incompatible is greatly exaggerated.

Here in Atlanta, the temperature today was mostly around 90F (32C), and reached a high per my outdoor thermometer of 95F (35C). I've been wearing my modified Akubra Riverina all day, on various outside undertakings, and it was quite comfortable. (Yeah, I sweat a lot.) This hat did start with four eyelets, and it now has 14 including two at the front, and the lining is gone.


By woodfluter

I think some of the issue is humidity rather than heat. Not sure about this, but Oz might be a little more like our American west. When I visit in Utah, I find that I'm comfortable over a much wider range of temperatures, both hot and cold, than here in Atlanta. The difference is the dry air out there. ADHD mentioned Aussie temps of 40C, which is 104F. I've known folks in south Texas that routinely wear felt in those temperatures. One added custom ventilation by shooting it through the crown with a .22!

I think felt can work with heat depending on:
1. Humidity (something you can't control).
2. Fit - air can circulate around the sweatband somewhat.
3. Ventilation - some holes may help.

I don't think color matters for much, as witness those Arabs that wrap themselves in dark wool to cope with desert heat. Yeah, it absorbs more, and it radiates better (black-body radiation for the technically inclined) as long as there's some room for circulation.

But when there's no sun and it's still hot and humid, sorry to say but no hat at all is best!

- Bill

 

[ADHD librarian]

I want to hear more from ADHD on the subject of Austalian felts. It's my understanding that most aussie bush hats (akubras and the like) are traditionally fur felt, and they wear these in some of the most extreme temperatures on earth! I know it's personal preference and that they breed these aussies tough....

You're right,
most Aussie hats are fur felt and they get worn all year round. That said, there is an appalling lack of hat wearing in Australia.
Like America, most kids wear baseball style caps and most adults don't wear a hat at all. At least not around the cities. And the cities is where most Aussies live, this tough bushman image is all myth, we are the most urbanised nation on earth. That said, once you do get out of the cities you'll see a lot more hats and they are generally fur felt. There are more straw cowboy hats around the rodeos and bush races than there once were and the leather hats are getting a following amongst townies who wish they lived out bush.

As for summer,
I've worn fur felt all year round for most of my life. Even when I was living in Alice Springs. The hats just cope well with the conditions and in fact (until I read this thread I hadn't ever thought about the season determining my hat).
Likewise, none of my hats are especially sweat stained. The old Arena was filthy all over but cleaned up nicely. My cattleman (which is the one I've had longest) is a lightish coloured hat and it has no sweat ring around the band.

So, in short...
felt hats are for all year round,
most Aussies are a weak bunch of City Folk who lie when they tell you they wrestle crocodiles
most Aussies will be dead of skin cancer within a fortnight unless they immediately buy a good hat

 

[ADHD librarian]

I think some of the issue is humidity rather than heat. Not sure about this, but Oz might be a little more like our American west. When I visit in Utah, I find that I'm comfortable over a much wider range of temperatures, both hot and cold, than here in Atlanta. The difference is the dry air out there. ADHD mentioned Aussie temps of 40C, which is 104F. I've known folks in south Texas that routinely wear felt in those temperatures.

Australia is quite a large place, so the range of temperatures and humidity varies.
Central Australia is dry almost 100% of the time.
The East coast (where most Aussies Live) has very high humidity in summer.
The Top End (Crocodile Dundee Country) doesn't have Summer and Winter it is tropical and has the Wet and the Dry (two seasons), during the wet the humidity is usually about 1000000% and you can see the rain falling hitting the road and evaporating instantly. It's like living in a steam room for five months a year.
But still, people there wear fur felts (straw won't keep the rain off, actually nothing keeps that rain off)
Then there is the West Coast, which can be hot and wet or hot and dry
South Aus, which is usually not so hot and is dryer in summer than winter
And Tasmania which is colder and wetter

So I guess I'm not going with your theory of why fur felt,
sorry.

 

[swisslet]

Australia is an amazing country. I loved my short visit (highlight being the week I spent in the Northern Territories), and I can't wait to go back. I plan on wearing my Akubra fur felt (a Fed IV) all summer... not that an English summer really compares, but it's coming to the Glastonbury Festival with me (which is usually wet) and it's also going to be my main travelling hat too, replacing my Barmah foldup leather hat - also australian of course!

I don't think my Akubra will be afraid of a little sweat....

 

[Brian Sheridan]

In the movies of the period, I see many, many men wearing felt hats to baseball games, to work, etc...Did alll of this movies take place in the fall? I rarely see guys wearing a straw hat (unless is a boater or they are playing dixieland jazz) or a panama (unless it is a South of the Border movie).

It makes sense to wear a cool straw in the summer. Maybe back then, they were too expensive for the masses, so men just wore the same hat all year round.

 

[J.T.Marcus]

It was in the low 90's today, with a heat index near 100. I wore an old Resistol Open Road (Silverbelly) for 2 1/2 hours, while walking around downtown, in and out of antique stores. At the end, there was absolutely no stain on the felt. It didn't blow of my head, either. (There was a steady, moderate wind.)

By contrast, I have a brown fur felt, with vent holes and no liner. But, it tends to stain at the front ribbon area. Light or dark felt will make a big difference!!!

 

[bolthead]

It makes sense to wear a cool straw in the summer. Maybe back then, they were too expensive for the masses, so men just wore the same hat all year round.
__________________
BRS

I have to say, not all Straws are cool in the hot summer sun. I personally sweat like a nervous groom in most of mine. [huh]

 

[Nathan Flowers]

I wear a Tilley Airflo when I'm doing something strenuous in the hot and humid weather we've been having lately. I don't want to sweat up my panamas or felt fedoras.

 

[Woodfluter]

This past Saturday my wife Carole and I strolled around the Virginia-Highlands festival in Atlanta for about 2-1/2 hours. I wore a Stetson Open Road Silverbelly, she wore stylish straw.

The temperature was in the mid to high 90's. Very little, occasional breeze, mostly dead air.

We passed by hundreds of people, probably a couple of thousand. The crowd, by my estimate, were:
- 95% bareheaded.
- 3% baseball caps.
- 2% straw hats.

I saw one other person in a felt hat of some sort. Most interestingly, I saw one young man wearing what appeared to be a Panama, and I'd swear it was a Montecristi or a very fine Cuenca. Never got a chance to talk to him. He had the brim cocked up on one side and down on the other - looked sharp.

I found the OR to be fairly comfortable, certainly better than hatless, but by the end a little sweat had wet the front of the felt near the brim. It dried and left no residue.

I wore my Akubra Riverina for several hours the preceding week, in very hot weather, doing work on a fence. This is the one I made into a warm-weather lid by removing lining and adding a bunch of eyelets. Sweat never made it to the front of the felt. I think it was noticably cooler than the Stetson. In dryer weather, probably not much difference.

Oh, BTW I agree, the Tilly Airflow is a good hot, muggy choice. You can even dunk it in a bucket and use that to keep cool!

- Bill

 

[jkingrph]

I wear a Tilley Airflo when I'm doing something strenuous in the hot and humid weather we've been having lately. I don't want to sweat up my panamas or felt fedoras.

That is exactly how I handle the heat and humidity here. If I am to be doing anything to generate a lot of sweat which does not require much effort on my part I wear a Tilley, or for yard work a cheap ventilated fedora from Tractor Supply, twill brim and top and heavy nylon mesh on crown sides. I generally take it to the shower with me and rinse it out and let dry, and of course the cotton twill part tends to fade, but who cares.

 

[Spellflower]

The temps were up near 100F in Brooklyn this week, and the humidity was such that you could pour a cool glass of water, put it in a bowl, and in a minute you'd have another glass worth from condensation. But I didn't leave the house without a good piece of felt on my head.

Mostly I wore my Resistol Ten, because it's got a good brim, and is a lighter weight felt than some of my others.

Was I hot? Yes. Did I sweat? Yes. Did I take the hat off and wipe my head with a handkerchief often? Yes. Did I regret wearing it? No.

Hey, it's summer time- it gets hot. But I haven't found anything that keeps the sun AND the rain off as well as felt, at least nothing that won't scare little children.

I'll also note that I saw MANY Orthodox Jews wearing the same large fur hats and coats that they wear all year round. This leads me to believe that comfort level is really pretty subjective, or dare I say, psychological. If you decide it's crazy to wear felt, you'll feel hot and wish you'd worn something else. But if you're resigned to wearing it, you'll stop thinking about it, and it won't bother you.

 

[Havana]

I sweat a lot and I wear my felt hats regardless of the heat. I usually take two equally long pieces of duct tape and stick them together so there's no sticky part explosed. I then take that single piece and tuck it around the inside of my crown, behind the sweat band. I've found this blocks the sweat from reaching the felt and you can pull it out at anytime with no damage to the hat. I still have to watch for forehead sweat. If I look down, it can run down the brim which also leaves a stain. I am convinced that humidity is the real issue. I've been more sweaty and "hot" wearing my hat in 90+ degree weather and high humidity in South Carolina than while wearing the same hat in Africa in 120+ heat and very low humidity.

 

[John in Covina]

I am convinced that humidity is the real issue. I've been more sweaty and "hot" wearing my hat in 90+ degree weather and high humidity in South Carolina than while wearing the same hat in Africa in 120+ heat and very low humidity.

*****************
In the American South West most of the time when it is hot it is also dry, very low humidity. I have noticed that at the low humidity end the sweat can evaporate almost immediately, so that one doesn't get as soaked as one might in a high humidity place like NYC or LI in the summer.

 

[John in Covina]

I wonder if you could "cure" a hat by dunking it in salty water and drying it, such that sweat would no longer leave a visible stain?

****
I think plain or distilled water would remove more of the stain than salt water.