Hats As Sun Protection, NOT Just for Bald Men

[tm3]

everyone should be diligent about sun protection.

a friend of mine just had a big chunk of his face and half of an ear removed for skin cancer. he plays a lot of golf and i have never seen him wear a hat on the golf course.

 

[Orvil Newton]

George didn't wear a hat either.

Really?

 

[scotrace]

Sort of goes with the state of your head in hat wearing yada yada. So. Bump.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Hat started as style. After many years I realized the favor I was doing myself as protection from sun

 

[jpbales]

after reluctantly going to the dermatologist (which my dad now praises), my dad went and the doctor found that he had melanoma (or maybe it was just pre-cancerous growths or a little of each, i can't recall exactly) on his face and on his back. Fortunately, it was removed and there hasn't been any problems yet (except he bugs everyone about wearing a hat [usually a ball cap] and wearing sunscreen). My dad has to wear wide-brimmed hats, but the only ones he ever wears are weird cloth things- modern, with no style at all. Hopefully someday I'll get him in a fedora or a straw or something!
I'm at the ripe old age of 20 and since having gotten into hats I haven't gone out a single day without one, so hopefully I'll avoid the situation my dad got into. Originally, though, I got into hats simply for the style.
I applaud the hat! :eusa_clap
Jimmy

 

[Aerol]

Got cancer?

This is a great article on men, hats and cancer. I send it to anyone who gives me grief about my hats.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E7D91539F932A15755C0A9629C8B63

I've converted a number of people with this article!

 

[Delthayre]

Most fine all around

I have rather pale skin that is quite prone to sunburn; I am also rather sensitive to light, which might be attributable to my light blue eyes. A hat is, at any rate, a solution to both these problems as it shields much of my skin and my eyes from offending rays while also fitting my peculiar ideal of style. I have seldom been out of doors with a bare head since 2001 and have certainly not been any worse off for it.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

This is a great article on men, hats and cancer. I send it to anyone who gives me grief about my hats.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E7D91539F932A15755C0A9629C8B63

I've converted a number of people with this article!

You are singing my tune...I get heartburn from people because I wear hats I am also a musician so I wear gloves. I have had too many smashed fingers and cuts. Nevertheless, I am expecting a few hats in the near future to add to my collection.

 

[avedwards]

I have to say I only wear a hat for fashion and rain protection, not for sun protection. This is because firstly, I am lucky in that I never really burn, and secondly, there is hardly any sun where I live in England worth wearing a hat for. But a hat is useful against rain (which comes quite regularly), so I wear my Stetson Chatham all the time, which will soon be replaced with a fedora which can actually properly withstand rain.

 

[Lou]

I became interested in hats about a year ago for style reasons, but didn't start wearing them until a doctor on another forum wrote about the skin conditions he treats in older men. He recommended wide-brimmed hats, and that's what brought me here and got me into my first hat. I also have my son wearing hats.

 

[leo]

I have a full head of hair but had reconstructive surgery on my face two years ago because of skin cancer. The surgeon said there was likely a cumulative effect from the sun over time. I had returned to frequent wearing of brimmed hats in recent years, but it was too late.

"Frequent" has now become "nearly always."

Bill

 

[awest84532]

I did it backwards.

A little over four years ago I was diagnosed with Melanoma. After having my ear amputated (I now have a silicone replacement) and finding the cancer had metastasized to my lungs I was given a 5% survival rate. Well, here I am now. I started with cheap hats, wasn't sure if I was going to last long enough to warrant the investment.

Anyways, I bought my first $100.00 plus fedora this past weekend and I am now hooked. My wife said it was like her shoe thing. I have a dozen or so hats, but only a couple are worth more than $50.00, but I see that changing.

 

[CopperNY]

my grandfather always wears a hat and long sleeved collared shirt w/ coveralls; even in summer. he's worked outside his whole life, both on his own farm and with the local DPW.

my father has his 'fishing hat' (in fact very much like an Akubra Angler) that he won't go without. he's a flyfisher and wears the hat and wool Pendleton shirts for sun/mosquito protection. of course the pipe smoke helps keep the mosquitoes at bay as well.

until if found FL i typically wore military styled 'boonie' hats or indonesian styled bandanas. now that i'm actually acquiring a wardrobe, i'm looking for some good straw for the summer.

(with my family history of cancer i've got to hedge my bets....)

 

[Pduck]

A little over four years ago I was diagnosed with Melanoma. After having my ear amputated (I now have a silicone replacement) and finding the cancer had metastasized to my lungs I was given a 5% survival rate. Well, here I am now. I started with cheap hats, wasn't sure if I was going to last long enough to warrant the investment.

Anyways, I bought my first $100.00 plus fedora this past weekend and I am now hooked. My wife said it was like her shoe thing. I have a dozen or so hats, but only a couple are worth more than $50.00, but I see that changing.

I'm glad you're still with us! And welcome from one newbie to another!

 

[EVEN-STEVEN]

A little over four years ago I was diagnosed with Melanoma. After having my ear amputated (I now have a silicone replacement) and finding the cancer had metastasized to my lungs I was given a 5% survival rate. Well, here I am now. I started with cheap hats, wasn't sure if I was going to last long enough to warrant the investment.

Anyways, I bought my first $100.00 plus fedora this past weekend and I am now hooked. My wife said it was like her shoe thing. I have a dozen or so hats, but only a couple are worth more than $50.00, but I see that changing.

I'll take off my hat to the man who beat the odds! Welcome! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[scotrace]

A little over four years ago I was diagnosed with Melanoma. After having my ear amputated (I now have a silicone replacement) and finding the cancer had metastasized to my lungs I was given a 5% survival rate. Well, here I am now. I started with cheap hats, wasn't sure if I was going to last long enough to warrant the investment.

Anyways, I bought my first $100.00 plus fedora this past weekend and I am now hooked. My wife said it was like her shoe thing. I have a dozen or so hats, but only a couple are worth more than $50.00, but I see that changing.

HAving read hundreds of my friends' wonderful stories here, this is one of the best. Thanks for the upper - and WELCOME to The Fedora Lounge.

 

[rumblefish]

Twice a year I visit my Dermatologist, and every visit the conversation goes sorta like this, "You wearing a hat?"
"Yep, all the time"
"Good... You should have started years ago"

I never considered wearing a hat unless I was out on the water, even then it was only a ball cap,,, when I remembered it. In my avatar behind me is a cleat for an outrigger halyard, that's where my hats would spend most of their time.
My first fedora-shape hats were a Filson Summer Packer hat for "visiting a watery part of the world", an Orvis Panama for nonworking activities, and a Filson Tin Packer for the rain. Now I wear a hat almost always. For style first, but for warmth in the winter and sun protection in the summer.
At 44 I can do without being well tanned, and it really is so much nicer not to have that constant, slight sunburn all summer long. Even nicer would have been avoiding all the sun damage to my head by starting earlier.

awest84532, I plan to show your story to friends and family. Glad things are going in your favor.

 

[awest84532]

Encouragement

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I had no idea there was a fedora/hat forum until yesterday. I've learned a lot already.

When I was diagnosed, my mantra became "Drink more beer," both literally and figuratively. Meaning, enjoy life as much as possible. For a while I was doing my bucket list, now I'm just doing many things I put off for many years. I look forward to learning much from everyone here as well as getting my hands on an Akubra or three in the future.

 

[demian]

I like hats simply because they make me smile...

They really make me grin and I can't help it!

Very interesting and humbling the stories above regarding skin cancer. I have ben recently paranoid regarding every new freckle as I was a sun fiend 5yrs or so ago...

Also of course I like the style, character, individuality they exude, but my primary reason is the above one I think. The sun is certainly a new (and little needed) reason for wearing one these days that's for sure.


Anyway, my .02 cents

 

[John in Covina]

In the mid eighties I used to go camping, shooting and dirt bike riding out in the desert along the 395 out past Adelento. One thing I was told before we started was sunscreen or sunblock and get a hat with a brim to protect your head and neck. While I settled on a canvas hat that looks a bit like a slouch hat and also one that's similar to the boonie hat but a much wider brim for those trips, I had not considered a fedora.

Earlier than that for fishing I had an L.L. Bean canvas hat that had a wide brim. It shrunk so badly I could not wear it.

These days for in the sun and out of doors yard work I will use my pith helmet in very hot weather or my Akubra Bushman.