Felt hats in summer..

[thomasrodd]

Escapeway for moisture helps me

Last year I installed grommets on two new hats --a fairly tightly woven panama and -- gasp! -- an akubra federation. These hats were too hot and thus pretty uncomfortable for me even in mild weather, -- I run hot-blooded, I guess.

The grommets I put in are about 3/8" brass; they may well be overkill, but they made a big difference in comfort, no beads of sweat on the bald pate.

One reason those very wearable canvas and nylon Tilleys have fairly large grommet holes in the crown may be assuring customer satisfaction.

 

[scottyrocks]

I started my hat wearing career several years ago with Panama hats. The truth of the matter is that a good Panama hat is way hotter than a light weight felt. My light weight Art stays in my summer rotation. If I am going to be outside for an extended period of time I wear the felt. It is cooler.

Yeah, I was wondering about that. Ive had straw hats of different types on my head over the years, and the more expensive ones were the hottest because their weave was finer. The cheaper, coarser-weaved hats allow more airflow, which is what I need. Ive had hats with grommets in them and they might as well have not been there for the lack of coolness they provided.

 

[Akubra Man]

Up just above the 49th parallel approximately 45 miles north of the US border at North Dakota, in Winnipeg, Canada summer temps will stay in the 80's and move into the 90's too ... I can only handle wearing straw. Right now it has been warm enough already for a few days to switch to straw. I like my straw hats as much as my felt ones so the change is a good one for me, but by the time September rolls around I am looking forward to wearing a felt hat again. Any other Winnipegers out there?

 

[Rick Blaine]

Up just above the 49th parallel approximately 45 miles north of the US border at North Dakota, in Winnipeg, Canada summer temps will stay in the 80's and move into the 90's too ... I can only handle wearing straw. Right now it has been warm enough already for a few days to switch to straw. I like my straw hats as much as my felt ones so the change is a good one for me, but by the time September rolls around I am looking forward to wearing a felt hat again. Any other Winnipegers out there?

I was in Calgary in Feb. & 30 below is just too cold to wear a fedora. It was a toque for me. I have been there in August tho' & the heat is so dry a fur felt is very do-able. Down here in Dixie however, it's straw or cloth from now 'til October/November... >sigh<

 

[Viper Man]

I own a few lightweight felts (my VS being the favorite) but I don't usually like to wear them when the weather gets above 70-75 degrees. However, I enjoy my straw hats quite a bit and I always look forward to the 4-5 months that I can wear them.

 

[Fletch]

Never. My head is hot all summer, even under a light cotton or linen cap.

 

[Neil]

Ugh. I know panamas are hot, too, but I cannot imagine wearing a felt in summer, even a light felt. It just seems a sweaty/greasy, hot, uncomfortable thing to do. I don't wear heavy wool suits or scarves in hot weather, either.

 

[handlebar bart]

Need a poll.[huh] I wear the same fur-felt lids year-round.

 

[Ordinary Guy]

I guess I am an in between kind of guy...

Way too hot for me to wear felt, but I can get away with Panama.......[huh]

 

[kaosharper1]

Ugh. I know panamas are hot, too, but I cannot imagine wearing a felt in summer, even a light felt. It just seems a sweaty/greasy, hot, uncomfortable thing to do. I don't wear heavy wool suits or scarves in hot weather, either.

Depends on the weave. As nice as the high wpi panamas are to the touch, I never found them that practical. I go for medio-fino.

Unlike in the northeast, being in the shade makes a big difference in SoCal so a hat helps in hot weather when there's no humidity if you're in direct sunlight.

 

[Slim Portly]

What humidity? Thank goodness for DRY HEAT here in the West

Indeed. At half-way through May we are already experiencing temperatures that hover at the century mark, and a long summer is not too far off, yet I am able to wear three-piece suits and fur felts as I wish. As Barrelhouse said, going from an air-conditioned home to an air-conditioned car to an air-conditioned office is not such a bad thing.

However, I have had my eye on a nice Panama...

 

[Mid-fogey]

The difference...

...for me between a fur felt fedora and a straw is the difference between stifling and just hot.

Marc C had a thread on ventilating fur felts. He'd done a pretty good job of it.

Wearing no hat is worse - I went for a short walk the other day and the sun was very bright. I could feel the uncomfortable warmth on the top of my head from no shade at all.

Straws as an alternative? My straws are not really as good as they could be. Held up to light, one shows pinpoints of light and the other, a tightly woven shantung (whatever that is) shows none at all. As a side note, isn't a point of pride of authentic Panamas that they will hold water? Wouldn't that keep trapped heat in the hat?

I'm sorry that boaters have drifted to the edge (perhaps over the edge) of costume wear. Some of them have a very open weave that seems perfect for ventilation.

Of course there's always the plantation inspired golf hat. Those usually have a solid top for solar cover but a completely open basket weave around the sides. They aren't always the best looking, which is probably attributable to cheapness of manufacture and a lack of conscious styling. They're not really dress hats.

 

[Trebuchet64_Fal]

I only wear fur felt if the conditions suit , otherwise i wear either my Akubra Hayman or my Akubra Capricorn , they are both light and well ventilated and look good enough to be worn any where.
I choose to wear those hats to save my felt hats from sweat marks as much as anything.

 

[avedwards]

Here in Britain the weather may be quite horrible a lot of the time, but one advantage is that felts can be worn nearly all the time. I can count the days it was over 30C last year on my fingers. Even when it gets that warm, I think you can have the choice of straw or felt (if you take the hat off to cool down as suggested previously).

As for whether it is socially acceptable to wear felt in summer, Bogart does in Casablanca. During the scene where he is out during the day he wears his fedora. Considering that everyone else is in straw or pith helmets it must be warm. Then again, I have seen no pictures of Bogart in straw, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[MattStat]

FedoraFan112390, I'm in the city, too, and wear felt most of the summer, though a light colored one, but I go for straw or a cap when wearing light-colored linens. Keeping the sun off the head really brings the temp down, even if it's felt.

 

[irb]

Oh, no. Not in 110F heat, on a bicycle. Down here in AZ it's Panama Hat weather now.

 

[Fletch]

110°F on a bike? Only headgear I'd be wearing is a helmet with an ice bag on top!

 

[rrog]

I wear felts year round.[huh]

No eyelets for ventilation? It was down your way that I wore my Sunbody back in March and decided that I needed eyelets. I could see wearing felt with eyelets, but couldn't imagine wearing one without. :fing28:

rrog

 

[ortega76]

I'll wear my felts at night but rarely during the day. Way too hot and humid here in Illinois.

 

[indycop]

No eyelets for ventilation? It was down your way that I wore my Sunbody back in March and decided that I needed eyelets. I could see wearing felt with eyelets, but couldn't imagine wearing one without. :fing28:

rrog

No eyelets, though I am not against them.