If you could only have one hat....

[Richard]

what would it be? I am brand new to the world of hats (bought first non-baseball cap type hat approx. 30 days ago). I spend a lot of time outdoors and have been very very bad about sun protection. I am now resolved to never again leave my house without a hat on. I currently own a new pith helmet and a straw Sunbody gambler style hat. After reading your old posts it is now clear to me that I need a lot more hats. I don't know how many, but a lot. At least 8. This question comes up often on a similar bicycle chat group in the form of, "if you could have only one bicycle, what would it be?" The question provokes angst and hand-wringing on the part of responders, the impossible compromises that will ahve to be made, the unsuitability of one bike for all tasks, the beloved old bikes which could never be discarded etc.. To non-bike people, or people who just own one bike and seem to be getting along just fine, thank you very much, this kind of agony, as if they were being asked to decide who among their children shall live, would seem, well, insane. I love bicycles but could probably survive with just one. I won' bore you with what that bicycle would be, other than to say it's not any of the 8 bicycles I currenly own, but would be custom made to incorporate certain features from each; it would be steel; it would be gorgeous. So what about hats? What is the one essential hat to have, from your perspective? I live in Southern California in the desert 50 miles inland, but it does get nippy at night when I walk the dog, and hiking in the winter can be chilly early mornings and when the sun goes down. It rains sometimes int he winter, a lot this winter. Do people wear straw hats all year round? What about at night, is that all right? Can you go out on the town ina straw hat in darkness. Could a straw hat be the one hat? Probably not. Rain. I am truly interested in the answer to this question, not just from an academic perspective, because I am planning to plunk down some serious change on some of the hats, and going real cheap on others, and would prefer to spend the most money on the hat most likely to be worn most often. Obviously since I haven't been at this very long, it's hard for me to anticipate what this would be. Thanks for your input. I realize the question may be unanswerable as posed, and if you need to make it "what two hats would it be, you'll get half-credit.

 

[colorblind]

hats & bicycles

one hat- Tilley
one bicycle-Rivendell Ramboulett(or maybe Atlantis)

 

[Biltmore Bob]

If I could only have one hat it would be felt, no straw, no cloth, no felt...that's right felt. And it would be a dress fedora in dark brown, no gray. But what about when I dress casually or in shorts. No, it would be a 8 panel newsboy gray herringbone, no linen. That's right a Newsie. What about rain, a felt outback like an Akubra Cattleman, it's even vented so I could wear it in the summer too. But what about when I want to be more formal. It would have to be a fedora in brown, no gray...What about when I ride, a Cowboy Hat, yeah, thats right in black, no silverbelly...



there is no way on God's green earth that I could get by with one hat!!

 

[SHARPETOYS]

I could not do it.

I could never do it. I need a Montecristi Panama ,A pure beaver fedora and a Newsboy cap. :cheers1: Root Beer All of you know who my favorite hat/cap makers are! :cool2:

Sharpey

 

[Aaron Hats]

I tell my customers all the time that if they're going to have only one hat it has got to be a Tilley. Even though I have three Tilley's if I could only have one hat it would have to be a western. Western movies (and hats) are what started my love of hats. Now if only I could look as cool as Clint Eastwood I'd be all set.

Cheers.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'll stick with my bone colored vintage Borsalino.

 

[IndianaGuybrush]

My Adventurebilt Indy. Nice enough to take out on the town, rugged enough to take out on the trail.

 

[English Bob]

Only one hat Doh!

"He who dies with the most hats wins"

_________________________________

"He who dies with the most TOYS wins" original quote by English Bob

 

[Biltmore Bob]

The problem that I would run into is that I always wear a hat but don't always dress the same...I have work clothes, I have Sunday go to meeting clothes, I have casual clothes, I wear shorts on ocassion with sandals, I have athletic clothes...the list goes on, and there is not one hat that will fit every ocassion. Although my favorite hats are fedoras, an eight panel newsboy fits most of these catagories.

 

[fedoralover]

Having only one hat is like owning only one pair of underwear. No thanks!!

I couldn't do it.

fedoralover

 

[binkmeisterRick]

I have to agree with Guybrush. If I HAD NO CHOICE but to own only one hat, it would have to be my Adventurebilt. It lives up to its vintage predicesors and is built to take any abuse you give it, while still looking good. While I love vintage fedoras, I'd probably be a bit timid in wanting to wear one of my vintage hats in every imaginable type of weather. My Adventurebilt HAS been worn in every type of weather and handled it well, so that's why the AB would be my choice.

bink

 

[jamespowers]

Having only one hat is like owning only one pair of underwear. No thanks!!

I couldn't do it.

I agree. You just can't do with a single hat for all purposes.
If I was faced with the choice though it would be a lighter weight felt hat. The color would have to be one of those gray/greens that you see once in a while. That way it could work with browns as well as grays. The hat would also have to have a wide brim and a tall crown. It would be sort of like my 40s Borsalino I guess.

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Having one hat to choose from among my lovely hats would be traumatic. I am faced with a situation somewhat like this because, sometime this autumnl, I have to put most of my stuff in storage and travel back to Iowa to live for awhile with my sweet mother, who is almost 86.

I have to decide which hats to store and which ones I ship to her and/or take with me on my journey.

It is like choosing between one's children.

I will take my classy blue fedora, creme fedora, black Bogart, one of the brown fedoras -- don't know which one yet --, my two vintage Borsalinos and the tan Knox. Caps -- all of my B!Wear caps, plus a couple of others. For rain, my Tilley Hemp hat. And my cowboy Gus for rodeos and visiting Texas.

I could not choose, if I had to, just one hat. Would it be the cowboy hat, or a classy fedora, a tweed cap?

Thank goodness I don't have to choose....

karol

 

[Film_Noir_Buff]

Itd be a Yankees cap

A med grey fedora or a dark green trillby like that guy in Foyles war wears.

 

[Tyto]

I wouldn't want to go with only one, but if I had to, It'd probably be my fawn Akubra Leisure Time. It goes with almost anything, keeps my head either warm or shaded, and is tough as nails.

That said, I'd also have to consider my sage 40's Stetson with black band.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Scenario-wise, if I were stcuk in the outback and had no other choice, I'd have to stick with a good quality vintage. Tested through time, they don't taper and they hold up against the elements better than anything I have seen on the market today. If they weren't available I'd go with a heavy weight hat from Optimo, probably in the Beaver Nutria blend because I like them soft.

 

[guitone]

Richard, cannot be done...you need one fedora, one cap at least (if I was to have one it would be my Borsalino Ivy cap), and a baseball cap..a linen cap would be nice for the warmer temps when I have to look a bit dressier than a baseball cap would provide..
BTW, looks like another Rivendell fan on the thread....

 

[Kaleponi Craig]

Sorry, couldn't do one. But if I could only have two, one would be a Montecristi Panama fedora and the other would be my brand new black pure beaver fedora, shaped in a vintage Borsalino style by Art F. (just got it yesterday, it's awesome!).

Regards, Kaleponi Craig

 

[Wil Tam]

NO WAY!

Nah, I can't do it, sorry....

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'll stick with my bone colored vintage Borsalino.

That hat was stolen on the Queen Mary a few years ago. Ugh...