How to travel with hats

Blackthorn · Oct 5, 2014

Seb Lucas said:
I only take one hat anywhere and I carry it around in a cotton shopping bag if I'm not wearing it. I only ever wear hats that look okay a little battered (Cattleman, Campdraft, Drover) so I'm not too concerned about storage. Over the decades I have never had my hat accidentally crushed.

I have had mine crushed on purpose. It's not fun. I began traveling with cheap cotton hats because of that.

bobkeenan · Jun 2, 2016

We are going on a big trip this Sept that includes all of places above and a River boat. I have a Panama and fur felt fedoras. Both are rollable. So I should be fine with those. But...

In NYC or London I thought it would be fun to get a really nice hat. Probably another fur felt fedora. I will also probably NOT be crushable or rollable.... unless you can do that with any hat? I have bought a neat little item that is a belt glove carrier that can be adapted to carrying a hat when in a restaurant or other place where wearing a hat is not appropriate. THe hat just hangs from your side.

I have seen a plastic hat carrier that can be carried as a stand alone piece of luggage or fit in your luggage. But we are traveling with just a roller bag and back pack.

I guess I could wear it for a while and ship it back when it was inconvenient.

So I guess that I am asking is Do any of you travel a lot with a non crushable hat and if so what are your tips for me

Alive'n'Amplified · Jun 2, 2016

When I travel with family, we usually drive. That makes it pretty easy to transport multiple hats. I'll bring a felt or two plus a straw hat, either Panama or Milan. They rest in the hotel room when not in use. If I travel for business, I'm generally flying, so I try to pick a hat that I know I'll wear each day I'm out. Sometimes I keep the hat on in the plane, since the seats keep getting smaller and smaller, and my flights are typically less than 2 hours. I wear a hat daily, so it's pretty easy to travel with.

Fed in a Fedora · Jun 2, 2016

I travel with an Akubra CampDraft or similar hat almost always. When traveling, I try to limit to one hat. It is not rollable or crushable and is generally on my head almost all the time. In airports, I hand it to TSA through the metal detector and request a hand search as it is not a cheap hat and I do not want it to be destroyed in the x-ray machine by the turning belt. They generally comply, but not always.

If in a theater, it will be on my lap so as to avoid blocking the view of people behind me.

In restaurants, I follow the ballcap lead. If there are multiple ballcaps on fellow diners, it stays on my head. If not, it goes either in the car, on the extra seat or on my lap. I had a small hook which would facilitate hanging it over the back of my seat, but almost walked off without my hat once and stopped using that device. Same could be true of a seat, but I have always seen them there. One or two hats have chinstraps, but these are generally rougher work hats than I use for travel. An exception is when out West and I might be riding horses or mules or I might be hiking where the hat could easily be lost. Then I use a chin strap.

In the wife's car, I wear a hat because she likes to have the light from her sun roof and I want sun protection. In my trucks, it goes on the back seat. On the Harley, it goes in a plastic bag and into the saddlebag with the brim oriented upwards. Rides better this way.

I do own a hard plastic octagonal case and this is helpful for some situations, but it is often more trouble than it is worth.

But as stated at the start, on the head is my most frequent method of carry.

Fed

suitedcboy · Jun 2, 2016

"on the head is my most frequent method of carry" ditto for this.
If it blocks someone's view then hold it. Movie theatres are where this applies unless there is no one behind you, then keep it on.

hatsRme · Jun 2, 2016

I don't think I've shared this secret with anyone yet, so please keep it to yourself. On planes, always place your hat in the BACK of the overhead stowage. The likelihood of shifting during flight is generally confined to the landing, when the breaks are applied, causing forward movement. If your lid is in the back of that movement, no problem. I have successfully pulled this off several times, even with my precious current straws, although NEVER with a vintage straw.

It may help to take an elderly person with you so that you qualify for early boarding, assuring you get to claim your space in the overhead.

TheDane · Jun 3, 2016

hatsRme said:
It may help to take an elderly person with you so that you qualify for early boarding, assuring you get to claim your space in the overhead.

What a pity you live so far away, Charlie

andrew_AU · Sep 26, 2016

I travel a bit for work. Now that I have more than one "good" hat I want to take at least 2 hats away with me. I'll wear one and pack the other.

My hats are generally 5.5" or shorter crowns and 2 3/4 or narrower brims.

Can anyone recommend the Travel Hat Box

Or is there something else I should look at?

rclark · Sep 26, 2016

andrew_AU said:
I travel a bit for work. Now that I have more than one "good" hat I want to take at least 2 hats away with me. I'll wear one and pack the other.

My hats are generally 5.5" or shorter crowns and 2 3/4 or narrower brims.

Can anyone recommend the Travel Hat Box

Or is there something else I should look at?

I have one and really like it.

gtdean48 · Sep 26, 2016

Use mine a good bit & have had nothing but good things to say about it...

RJR · Sep 26, 2016

gtdean48 said:
Use mine a good bit & have had nothing but good things to say about it...

+1

DanO · Aug 19, 2017

Going on 10 day cruise to Alaska next week. Not sure but looks like a rainy cruise at all stops. so I want to take my felt hats. Outside of buying an expensive hat box how do you pack more than a couple of hats? I found I can stuff two Strats together and then set them inside a super stiff wool Indy and wear one of my Akubras. But also would like to take a new Playboy that I am dying to wear. Most of my hat boxes are a little over 7 inches tall so not alot of room.

Thanks for moving this, when I searched this did not come up.

Redfokker · Aug 19, 2017

DanO said:
Going on 10 day cruise to Alaska next week. Not sure but looks like a rainy cruise at all stops. so I want to take my felt hats. Outside of buying an expensive hat box how do you pack more than a couple of hats? I found I can stuff two Strats together and then set them inside a super stiff wool Indy and wear one of my Akubras. But also would like to take a new Playboy that I am dying to wear. Most of my hat boxes are a little over 7 inches tall so not alot of room.

+1 following, we are going on the same cruise next summer. Remember about wind!!

DanO · Aug 20, 2017

Redfokker said:
+1 following, we are going on the same cruise next summer. Remember about wind!!

Three years ago same cruise in late June/July weather perfect only rain was heading back to ship in Ketchikan. Wind was a factor when we were leaving SF had to take my Stratoliner off or it would still be in the bay.

DanO · Aug 20, 2017

I actually just found the box I used on that trip, an old Dorfman-Pacific shipping box 10" high and will hold 4 hats without smashing them down.

Now I can even take one of my panamas

Boucaneer · Apr 23, 2018

Hi, I have just joined to participate in this conversation.

I have two wool felt Bowler hats that I use, a W.C Headdress and a higher crowned Try & Lilly Bowler hat that I use for work.

The high crowned Try and Lilly looks best whilst wearing a Greatcoat, and the lower crowned W.C Headdress looks best with simply wearing a black suit.

I take both to work in the Tourist Industy as if the weather changes and I have to put on the Greatcoat I change my hat to the Try & Lilly.

I transport these hats inside a British Army Rucksack ( Bergen ) upon a wheeled Trolly.

I was worried about the hats becoming damaged in Transit and was looking for a inexpensive hat box. I was relieved to find that a 12 litre mop bucket to be the perfect size to hold both hats securely and snug whilst in transit.

I have lined the bucket with a loose/free standing lint free polyester fabric.

The bucket is Oval/Square shaped and not round and fits the shape of the hats well. It's a inexpensive but robust option.

I'm working on converting the clip on mop squeezer attatchment into a solid 6mm plywood lid for the bucket.

At the bottom of the bucket shall be a foam pad/cushion to protect the inverted crown, with the Bowler hats being stored upside down.

I hope this may help as to a robust and inexpensive option for travelling with fabric baggage/luggage.

Boucaneer · Apr 23, 2018

The shape and style of the Mop Bucket that works well to fit, hold and protect the Bowler hats.

psklenar · Sep 11, 2018

I've flown twice this summer and what I did was pull one of the emergency cards part way out of the seatback pocket, gently curled the end of it and "hooked" my hat over it. Survived both takeoffs & landings for both trips. I have another trip scheduled in November and have started looking for something more purpose specific and while I've not found anything specifically for hats I have found a couple of things that I'm wondering if I can use them the same way ...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CNK3DXP
https://theairhook.com/

Does anyone have any other ideas or thoughts short of trying to get away with putting it in the overhead on what I expect to be fully booked flights?

Thank you,
pat----

bobkeenan · Sep 11, 2018

I had 7 fedora’s with me on our last trip to Europe. Started with 2 and they multiplied as I bought hats along the way. They were all foldable (rollable). All nice looking and they are still in my collection. In out next trip I am bringing one of my Art Fawcett hats (not foldable). And I invented a a cool hat hook which I will reveal for sale when I have made a bunch and tested in this trip.

psklenar · Sep 11, 2018

Yeah, I'm going to be wearing/taking my VC Custom/All Fawcett in November, hence my search for an option now.

I've got an idea for a travel hat hook, but don't have the skills to build it myself. <blush> I'm looking forward to seeing your future offering!

pat----

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