How to travel with hats

[Blackthorn]

:rofl:
Good Video! Sad but good

Thanks for all the input guys. The plastic bag tip for keeping it me during the flight will come in handy. Tom I thought about taking my Fed IV or Stylemaster but dang, the VS wants to GO! I think seperate bin and plastic on the flight will be the way to go. I really appreciate all of the experience and advice!

Let us know how it turns out, Rogera. Travel in the US isn't too bad, really. It's the foreign airports where the screeners think they have the power of life and death that really get to me.

 

[gtdean48]

The biggest challenge at screening is the "curtain" as the bins go into the scanner. That thing knocks hats off/out of bins & then lets the belt have its way with them.
Best to not have the hat on top of a coat or shoes...

 

[Rogera]

Aren't they x raying us anyway? Why do I even have to take the thing off to begin with?

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

My goodness! I had no idea that men traveling with hats had such a rough time. I have traveled with my 20s cloches and they can be laid flat like a sweater. As can some of my 30s and 40s hats. I have a small hatbox that I can stack about 3 -6 hats and be good to go. I put it in the overhead bin of the plane and no problems whatsoever. Traveling with hats that have feathers or other plumes would be challenging though since you have to worry about the feather getting crushed.

 

[Blackthorn]

I travel with a beater & if I take a nice one, it is in a hat can. Cutdown Resistols make great travel hats, also used Fed4's.

Can you post a pic of a cutdown Fed4, GTD? I can't picture it, but you have my interest piqued. I'm leaving for Thailand soon, and might just try that out.

 

[gtdean48]

Can you post a pic of a cutdown Fed4, GTD? I can't picture it, but you have my interest piqued. I'm leaving for Thailand soon, and might just try that out.

Fed4 cutdown & bound edge = Akubra Wanderer...

Cutdown Resistol = DIY Hitchhiker...

 

[Blackthorn]

NICE, GTD! Did you do the work yourself? And is the brim still dimensional (I hope not)? What is the brim width?

 

[dogrocketp]

Aside from the hat in the lap, I have a very large nylon suitcase. I put the hat in the suitcase in a cardboard hat box when I get to the airport. You should see the look on their faces when they see the size of the suitcase and it always comes in way underweight. THe hat goes back on my head as soon as I retrieve it from luggage.

 

[gtdean48]

NICE, GTD! Did you do the work yourself? And is the brim still dimensional (I hope not)? What is the brim width?

Thanks. Oh no. Parker at Falcon Park did the brim work, 2 5/8 all around.

 

[kaosharper1]

The biggest challenge at screening is the "curtain" as the bins go into the scanner. That thing knocks hats off/out of bins & then lets the belt have its way with them.
Best to not have the hat on top of a coat or shoes...

I travel a lot. Best to give the hat its own bin. I also put it in the overhead after everyone is on board and all the luggage is stored. There's usually someone who has a low bag in the overhead, or I put it under the seat in front of me.

 

[SpeedRcrX]

When I when to Florida I put my Dualist under the seat in front of me, no harm done.

At the airport I put the hat alone in a bin.

At DisneyWorld, on rides I put the hat between my legs and at Universal Studio they offer free locker to put our stuff during rides.

 

[Ranbro]

While flying out of Amarillo, TX last year, the TSA agent standing at the entrance to the Scanner took an empty bin and placed it upside down at an angle to cover my felt hat already in a bin. I noticed they also had benches and boot jacks in front of the scanners to facilitate those wearing boots. I also used the plastic bag and extra bin last month to fly from Dulles into Tucson to protect my straw OR. It worked well. However not surprisingly there were no boot jacks at Dulles but Tucson did have them.

 

[Rogera]

Thanks again everyone for the sound advice! SpeedRcrX it looks like you had a blast in Florida.

My wife and I are trying to figure out where we are going to go still and are thinking about going as far north as Maine. We have got to get out of this desert for a while.

 

[great white]

How do you travel with a hat?

You wear it!



Ok, now that we have that answer out of the way here's the question again.

How do you travel with a good hat? Not a baseball style cap, but a good vintage fedora or similar.

I travel by airline a lot and the thought of it in the overhead bin is a little disconcerting. Everybody travels with a bag these days that barely fits in the bin. If i put my hat up there, it will undoubtedly be crushed by some troglodyte cramming his stuff in there. I travel 6-8 hour legs usually, so leaving it on my lap is out. I'd rather not wear it either.

On the floor is an option I guess, but there's not a lot of room down there with my feet and shoes (shoes come off for flights this long, comfort and heat).

Checked baggage is out of the question for sure.

What do you do with yours?

Maybe a "crushable" hat? Most of the ones I've seen advertised as "crushable" just don't appeal to me.

Dunno.

For that matter, how do you travel with a hat in your car if it doesn't fit on your head because of the roof line? Drop it on the seat? chuck it in the back? Hang it? Special rack? etc...

 

[daizawaguy]

6 pages of views here!

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?809-How-to-travel-with-hats&highlight=travel

Looks like you need a hat case. Easily checked in. Otherwise the key is to place the hat on a flat surface. Safe travels!

 

[great white]

Sigh.


I even searched and didn't see that one......apologies to everyone.

 

[Lotsahats]

A short answer to the overhead bin idea: I wait till the bins are full, then I find a place for the hat. Flights to Israel are north of 10 hours, and I've never had a hat crushed in flight.

A

 

[TheDane]

Find an old drum case. Depending on your head size and preferred brim width you should look for a case for a 13" or 14" drum. A case for a so called side-tom with a height of 9" will hold three hats with a 1-1.5" foam-rubber rings inbetween. Furthermore, many drum cases are not circular, but have a flat area on the side - so it will stand up without rolling away. The older ones come in some kind of fiberboard - the newer in plastic - but forget about modern drum bags made from fabric.

You'll need to improvise the "false bottom" with the oval funnel to place the hat in. That done, they make great hat boxes for travelling

 

[Blackthorn]

Sigh.


I even searched and didn't see that one......apologies to everyone.

No worries, great white, it happens to me all the time.

 

[great white]

Find an old drum case. Depending on your head size and preferred brim width you should look for a case for a 13" or 14" drum. A case for a so called side-tom with a height of 9" will hold three hats with a 1-1.5" foam-rubber rings inbetween. Furthermore, many drum cases are not circular, but have a flat area on the side - so it will stand up without rolling away. The older ones come in some kind of fiberboard - the newer in plastic - but forget about modern drum bags made from fabric.

You'll need to improvise the "false bottom" with the oval funnel to place the hat in. That done, they make great hat boxes for travelling

Thank you, that's a very interesting idea.

I will look in to it.

I'm currently a "two hat family" so I wouldn't need much. One formal, one casual is about all I would travel with anyways.