THE SUNBODY ASSOCIATION

[Short Balding Guy]

Taking a break inside from storm clean up chores.

My Sunbody is ~14-15 yrs old. I dunk it all the time to cool down. It Is starting to crack out just a bit where I pinch it all the time. Has turned into a golden tan from the yrs. The only time the brim got droopy was from the steam a couple of times I wore it in a hot tub.

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Jack I hope the cleanup chores are completed.

I agree with the sentiment that the Sunbody hats are terrific tools. 15 year old hat - Darn you need to be an advertisement for the company. I like the crease that has been worn into the hat.

The Sunbody hats are relatively new to me. My 2+ year old hats have born hard efforts like champs. I needed to have read this thread a lot earlier in my hat wearing history.

Terrific warm weather hats for outside effort.

Best wishes, Eric -

 

[Doctor Strange]

Coincidentally, I've got a Sunbody hat on order - Open Road style with a 3" brim in their better straw. It's been two weeks today, so it shouldn't be much longer... I'm definitely looking forward to checking it out!

Long ago I had a Stetson Open Road Panama I wore for 20 years - picture from 1982 - and I haven't owned a cattleman-creased hat since... so this may be like the return of an old friend.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Jack I hope the cleanup chores are completed.

Thanks Eric. I got the last truckload of limbs hauled off this morning. Some raking left to do.

The Sunbody hats are relatively new to me. My 2+ year old hats have born hard efforts like champs. I needed to have read this thread a lot earlier in my hat wearing history.

One thing that works if you get a build up of dust & dirt along the seams of the palm leaf is to use the duster brush on a canister vacuum. Works better that just a hat brush in that instance.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yesterday I got my Sunbody Open Road - in their better straw, with a 3" brim. It's VERY nice for the price, but I really hope the sweatband shrinks nearly a full size as promised - it's currently a little big even with sizing foam in place. Obviously, I have to get out and sweat in it!

Here are a couple of quick selfies:

 

[Scooterz]

Yesterday I got my Sunbody Open Road - in their better straw, with a 3" brim. It's VERY nice for the price, but I really hope the sweatband shrinks nearly a full size as promised - it's currently a little big even with sizing foam in place. Obviously, I have to get out and sweat in it!

Here are a couple of quick selfies:

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You can wet it with cold water and wear it til it dries and it will shape to your head at least some.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I started sweating in it yesterday. Today's supposed to be hotter. If it doesn't shrink enough on its own after a while, I'll consider trying that method.

 

[1961MJS]

Hi
Actually, you NEED to wet it and wear it at least at the beginning of the straw hat season and at the end. if you don't the palm leaf will get brittle and if you drop it or sit on it, you no longer have a hat.

Don't ask me how I know this...

 

[Short Balding Guy]

My Sunbody hats are getting lots of head time in the summer heat.

I did some trimming and thoroughly sweated through my shirt. Before the task I soaked my Sunbody hat with the hose and let it drain down my head. The cooling effect lasted over an hour with no adverse effect to the hat. I wet down the "sweat band" and let it dry and it is good as ever and ready for the next chore.

Go Sunbody hats!

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Hard sweaty yard choes in a Sunbody today. It was refreshing to soak the hat a couple times with water while working. I washed the hat and sweatband with the hose and put it out to dry. Dryed within a couple hours and is ready to go. I am not ready to go yet!

Best, Eric -

 

[Yahoody]

weaty yard chores in a Sunbody today. It was refreshing to soak the hat a couple times with water while working.

We generally start out with a wet hat in the morning. It's a pleasure. Wear them till we hit the next water. Then soak them again in the water tanks or anything with clean water every chance we get during the day. None of us would be going far in the heat without a wet Sunbody.

N

 

[Yahoody]

Along the same train of thought. I have a Sunbody that I have used for 5 years here. Not my every day hat these days as It is getting pretty long in the tooth.

But it's been 100+ pretty much on and off for the last months. Never been below 90+ in those 2 months. Somehow the old hat got back into the rotation. Smaller brim for me than normal at 4"+. Almost a daily soak to wear it. More often than not it was left with the sweat band totally soaked and wet with sweat, at the end of the day and left to dry on the kitchen counter. In late and up early so It was seldom dry again by morning chores. Pretty soon I noticed the stink of mildew in the hat. Thought I'd just throw it away or off to Goodwill. Wife suggested I wash the sweat band in the sink. Smart woman

I did just that a time or two and let the hat dry in the bright sunlight and heat. Then soaked the sweat with rubbing alcohol and let it dry again. Couple of days of doing both and the hat and sweat were as good as new. Mildew gone for the most part. Or at least close enough.

My more typical Sunbody hat size.

 

[Scooterz]

Just acquired a Sunbody Outlaw hat. It is bigger than I expected it to be from the pictures.

 

[Yahoody]

A few years ago I had a couple of these made up for late summer use. First day in a new hat is always a pleasure

 

[Who?]

That hat and the shirt make you look “all duded up”.

 

[Yahoody]

New hat of course. Shirt buttoned to the neck keeps a good bit of the dust, grime and the sun off your body. It isn't dressy, just what you do in this environment to protect yourself. Sunglasses are in the same category.

 

[Who?]

I don’t know what you call those little bees out there (like the one sitting on your hat brim) but when I was a kid in Indiana we called them “sweat bees”. (at least I think that’s a bee)

 

[Yahoody]

Buttoned shirt and bees? Nice catch. I never noticed. On the ground here, this time of year, wasps are a problem. Thankfully they don't normally ground nest where I am at. Love our hollow steel fence panels though. Nest in pretty much every panel. You learn to pay real clsoe attention opening gates of moving panels! Horses aren't thrilled with them either. Another reason to button up. I've been stung in August alone 17 times. It gets old. Finally got a prescription for an epi pen because of them. A few stings late summer is common. More than that isn't. Wasps and hornet are bad enough. Thankfully no yellow jackets nearby. They can sting but are just as happy to bite and take a nice size chunk of skin with them.

 

[Who?]

We have yellow jackets.

You do not want to run a lawnmower over the entrance to a nest. The only thing you see is a 1” to 2” hole in the ground.

They are “irritable” and a lawnmower over their nest tends to annoy them.

 

[Doctor Strange]

So I wore my Sunbody Open Road through two months of major heat, sweating my brains out... and the sweatband shrank MUCH less than I expected. A little, but nothing like a half size. There are visible sweat stains all around the crown/brim, but I still have to keep the sizing foam under the sweatband unless I want the hat to come down and hit my ears.

In my case, the "go up a size" advice was clearly wrong. I must be at the 7 end of 7-1/8, not the 7-1/4 end. (I haven't actually measured myself in ages, but all the 7-1/8 and 57 hats I've gotten in the last 20 years have fit well.) I should have gotten my usual 7-1/8, it would probably fit me perfectly even after the sweatband tightened up.

Hey, sizing when buying online is often a crapshoot. That's my only complaint. Otherwise, these hats are really great for the price.

 

[ILB Frank]

Out with the old...

A "Gas Station Rescue" palm straw. It is being retired to hot, sweaty yard duties. It is much thinner than a Sunbody. The straw is cracking at the top of the crease.

And in with the new...

A Sunbody 5 3/4" crown and 4" brim.

I am a 7 3/8 but ordered one size bigger as suggested by Sunbody for padded cotton sweatbands. It did shrink and now fits dang near perfect.

I went with a simple paracord hatband (simulating a 3-ply ribbon) as it should hold up to water and abuse in general. The leather band on the old palm was quickly turning to crumbles with all the soaking in water, sweat, etc. (this experience also steered me away from an "unfinished" leather sweatband on an upcoming new hat).

After creasing, the crown is about 4 1/2" at it's lowest and 5" on the sides.