Why It's Hard to Wear Hats in Kansas

[earl]

When you consider that much of the time winds here blow through at 15-25 miles per hour and you need Brylcream laced with superglue to keep your lid on, wearing hats in Kansas is a real challenge. Earl

 

[monbla256]

When you consider that much of the time winds here blow through at 15-25 miles per hour and you need Brylcream laced with superglue to keep your lid on, wearing hats in Kansas is a real challenge. Earl

We have winds averaging 20/25 mph year round down here in the DFW area of N. Texas and I did not know they STILL made Brylcream Last time I used it was around 1968 I just put my head into the wind, if need be put my hand on the crown to hold it on and head on down the road. No big deal, just hat wearing in Texas

 

[Feraud]

You need a cap.

 

[monbla256]

You need a cap.

Baseball ? Worn backwards ?

 

[suitedcboy]

you wear your hat all the time except when you sleep and after a time you end up with a ridge around your skull just like the ridge a pop off cap Coke bottle has. Most of my hats tolerate gale force winds and stay put.

 

[Feraud]

Baseball ? Worn backwards ?

No, no, I am talking caps for big boys.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?23684-The-Cap-Faction&highlight=caps

 

[earl]

No, no, I am talking caps for big boys.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?23684-The-Cap-Faction&highlight=caps

Being of Celtic extraction, have long thought of getting 1 of those. Will say that I can screw a baseball cap down on my head to stay better in high winds than my fedora however. Having tired of chasing hats down the street, just forego them on real windy days, however. Earl

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Kansas is where Wind trolleys for Fedoras are needed for sure.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have some fedoras that never blow off my head because they fit well, and the brims give way before the hat takes flight. I have lost western hats and baseball caps, though, in windy conditions.

 

[azhiker]

Yes, we get allot of wind here in Detroit also. I wear a hat everyday. and oh BTW, I've been to Dallas and KC both, and I go to oklahoma City at least 3 times a year, so I do know what wind is! As earlier post said, I just hunker my head down, and work with the wind, instead of against it.

 

[FormerDATT]

Western Kansas calls for better ideas than a bigger hat squashed down tight, which is what I needed today out here on the frozen plains. I recently aquired a Stratoliner with a wind trolley. I heard of them here, have one now, but am clueless. It is supposed to be buttoned in a shirt collar? Now that really looks dumb. Where am I going wrong? The thread in any event doesn't look like much of an anchor.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I have some fedoras that never blow off my head because they fit well, and the brims give way before the hat takes flight. I have lost western hats and baseball caps, though, in windy conditions.

I, too, find that fit has a lot to do with it. And by fit, I don't necessarily mean that snugger is better. But my first Art Fawcett lid stayed well-seated in a tornado. Sounds like Kansas weather to me! Still, I wear a newsboy as much as possible for windy weather, unless rain is also involved. This year, it seems, my cap days have been very few.

 

[caul]

I live in Baldwin City, KS and we get some strong winds here. There are times when I've had to pedal my bike downhill! I'm a newcomer to wearing hats and so far, just tilting my head forward so the wind doesn't catch the brim has worked but I haven't yet been out when we have some the really strong winds that are common around here.

 

[Sam Craig]

Been wearing fedoras and westerns DAILY in Kansas since 1973.
Had ONE blown off. It was stiff brimmed, loose fitting, I was walking on campus at KU and was paying much more attention to a passing girl than my hat.
After the embarassment of chasing it a block down Jayhawk Blvd., I learned me lesson.
It's tension, plus tacking skills ... yep, you pull it down tight and tack it into place.
Works every time!
It's served me well on the windiest hill tops in the state, as well as pretty much as high as you can get in the Colorado Rockies ... not the stadium, the actual mountains.

Sam

 

[Sam Craig]

PS

Seriously, if you are going to spend a LOT of time outdoors ... I had this issue earlier in my career ... there is a great argument in high wind conditions to favor a more western fedora and just go ahead and install a bonnet string.

Watch the later John Wayne movies. He has them on all his hats ... post 1965. He usually wore his in the back, which is the best way to keep it out of the way. It helps hold the hat in place and it's there to move in the front in really severe conditions.
When I was spending a lot of time out doors and still wanted to look nice, I favored a couple of stiff-brim, wide-brim western fedoras ... sort of like the Akubra Cattleman ... fitted with a simple leather bonnet string ... stampede string, whatever ... with a simple bead slide.
After you get used to using it, it's just natural to slip it behind your head as you put the hat on. It really does solve the problem.

Frankly, for walking around town, I've never felt the need for one and I am out in the wind here, wearing a fedora EVERY day.

Sam

BTW .... I recognize the Duke may not have worn a bonnet string on EVERY hat after 1965, but you get the drift, hopefully.

 

[scottyrocks]

I, too, find that fit has a lot to do with it. And by fit, I don't necessarily mean that snugger is better. But my first Art Fawcett lid stayed well-seated in a tornado. Sounds like Kansas weather to me! Still, I wear a newsboy as much as possible for windy weather, unless rain is also involved. This year, it seems, my cap days have been very few.

The brim is pretty key. For instance, I have two Imperial grade Fed IVs, a brown one and a tawny fawn one (that I got from you, I believe). The brown one is more broken in and the brim gives way very easily in the wind. The fawn one's brim doesnt give way easily, and I'd be hesitant to wear it in a high wind situation.

I've heard that different color Fed IVs, in the same grade of felt, have differing levels of stiffness, right out of the box. I dont wear the fawn one very often (although I did today). I suppose that if I did it would soften up a bit.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I have found my Fed brims pretty consistent. Once, I bought three different colors at the same time. I found the crowns different in stiffness, but not the brims. Could be luck of the draw, though.

I'm thinking that a few wears in the rain will soften that tawny quite nicely. You might have gotten it from me, as I did sell one, but I have the memory of a flea with brain damage.

 

[The Good]

Windy over there, huh? The hat in my avatar almost flew off today, here in coastal southern California. The weather was supposed to be rainy as well, although it was not so at the time.

 

[Chinaski]

Why is it so windy in Kansas? Because Oklahoma sucks!

Old Nebraska joke, particularly when Barry Switzer coached the Sooners...

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I've almost lost mine shoveling snow a couple times. I've just learned to be mindful of what my hat's doing up there.