Good hat for the Florida heat?

[dog20]

I want it to be stylish (looks good on a 21 year old), durable (it doesn't have to be kept in a case/ won't get damaged by the outdoor elements), offers great sun protection, and is comfortable. Any suggestions?

 

[genphideaux]

VS Customs Artlite, wear it everyday in Biloxi Mississippi. Been to Hawaii, Florida, Alabama and Lousieanna with it also.

 

[Kaosharper1]

Might be a little expensive for a 21 year old. I'd go with a panama from Panama Bob on ebay.

 

[indycop]

I agree with the VS custom in a light color!
You do mean a felt hat and not a straw?

 

[Tomasso]

I wear vented straw in the heat. I'm waiting on this one from Optimo.

I want it to be stylish (looks good on a 21 year old), durable (it doesn't have to be kept in a case/ won't get damaged by the outdoor elements), offers great sun protection, and is comfortable. Any suggestions?

Something like this may fit the bill..

 

[dog20]

I have a straw hat and the brim got bent .

 

[grey ghost]

living here in Fla, I wear a vintage panama that breaths a bit,

I have a Riverz hat which I use while kayak fishing,it is a great shade hat but does not breath which makes for a sweaty day.

You also find a lot of stngy brimmed straws around which are very popular down here.

 

[Colby Jack]

I've been eyeing those Riverz hats...which one do you have?...I want something to float around with on the rivers where I live. ...I don't think an Artlite or my new or old for that matter, panama, would take the icy waters...I guess I could vent the Riverz to make it breath better....[huh]

 

[Tomasso]

I have a straw hat and the brim got bent .

Well, then bend it back.

 

[dog20]

Where in the St.Petersburg/Largo/Clearwater/Seminole area can I get one of these panama/straw hats?

 

[grey ghost]

I have the Riverz Delta great hat especially while wearing it kayaking.

 

[Woodfluter]

I want it to be stylish (looks good on a 21 year old), durable (it doesn't have to be kept in a case/ won't get damaged by the outdoor elements), offers great sun protection, and is comfortable. Any suggestions?

I'm not entirely sure anything will fully meet all those requirements. However, here are a couple of suggestions from my perspective and experience.

(1) I am very partial to my hemp Tilly hats. No, they aren't fedoras. I like the coffee-brown colored ones, have both the T4 (wider dimensional brim) and T5 (narrower dimensional brim) and they are about the only Tilleys I currently wear, despite having an obscene number of Tilley hats in most styles. They shed water very well in a rain, breathe amazingly well, dirt just falls off them, they dry quickly, they can be crushed and come back. My favorite field hat, often my choice for traveling. Maybe not sufficiently stylish, but I like them regardless.

(2) The general perception is that felt hats aren't suitable for warm weather, but I think it ain't so. I have ordered an Akubra Riverina from Outback Outfitters at an unbeatable price, and plan to adapt it by stripping out the lining and adding large brass grommets a la Tilley, for ventilation (the large hole size makes all the difference in my view).

In any case, good luck in your search and let us all know what you decide!

- Bill

 

[RBH]

This classic panama from PanamaBob, reblocked and ribboned by Art would look sweet in the Florida heat.

<a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9433/hpim1280bw3.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>

 

[Mike K.]

Might I suggest...

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=18199

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=26255&highlight=safari

 

[Doctor Strange]

Let me chime in on the unlined-Akubra-with-ventilation-holes idea.

After getting sick of sweating up my nice Stetson panama, I got a "sand" (off-white/very light beige) Akubra Cattleman around this time last year. (At that point, it was still under $100, including shipping, from Aussie Bush Hats and Oilskins. Alas, the falling dollar has changed that.)

I was dubious that a felt hat would be comfortable for hiking in the summer heat, but those six ventilation holes work wonders: it's really no hotter than a straw hat, and with its 3-1/4 inch brim, it's an even better shade hat. Sure, I sweated profusely... but the Cattleman didn't care: it didn't stain, distort its shape, or even show any wear at the end of the season.

I still prefer my dressier panama hat for city jaunts, but the Cattleman is my first choice for everything else in the summertime. It's great!

 

[ScottyBlues]

NASA has the answer

Having lived in Florda, the only hat I find acceptable for that weather is a space helmet. It needs to be paired with a space suit and portable air conditioning system.

Perhaps you could commision Art to make you a fedora large enough to wear over the space helmet, which would then afford the desired combination of comfort and style.

 

[Dave McCone]

A quick review/story regarding the Riverz ...

As the owner of a Riverz hat, I would politely advise against getting one. Here, for what it's worth, is my story:

Several years ago, my daughter was invited to attend an international children's dance festival in Salvador, Brazil. Since we live in Seattle, WA, the odds of our ever visiting Brazil again were remote, so we decided to take a side trip to the Amazon rain forest. We ended up booking a few days at one of the jungle lodges a few hours by boat north of Manaus, Brazil.

I found the Riverz hat at the local REI store; it's made of polypropylene, and nearly indestructable. The polypro "straw" is actually fairly thick. It could be packed in a suitcase and popped back into shape -- it looked to be the right hat for the trip (or so I thought at the time).

So - we arrive at Manaus. Getting off of the plane, the heat and humidity hit us like a freight train - probably 95+% humidity, and temperatures in the mid 90s and up.

The Riverz hat, which seemed to do OK in cool, maritime Seattle, was absolute torture -- it didn't breathe, and was quite hot; the sensation was somewhat like wrapping your head in a few garbage bags on a hot day. Misery deluxe.

We attempted to give the hat a proper buriial in the Rio Negro [a tributary of the Amazon], but the blasted thing floats, and wouldn't sink. It ended up coming home with me -- a less than pleasant momento of our Amazon trip.

 

[Woodfluter]

Having lived in Florda, the only hat I find acceptable for that weather is a space helmet. It needs to be paired with a space suit and portable air conditioning system.

Perhaps you could commision Art to make you a fedora large enough to wear over the space helmet, which would then afford the desired combination of comfort and style.

lol lol lol :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

Re Doc Strange's seconding of the felt hat with ventilation route, let me add two things:

1. Don't get hung up on the idea that it has to be light-colored to reflect the heat. This is a common misperception. Dark colors do absorb more radiation, but they also re-radiate more effectively, plus the hat will get plenty of cooling by convection before any of it conducts through the felt to your head. I've seen the heat balance calculations before, but for a brief summary consider the following from "Deserts: A Global Outlook", 2006:
"Protection from extreme heat and extreme cold is an important design consideration for desert clothing. Bedouin robes of light wool are considered to be an excellent compromise (Louw and Seely 1982). Evaporative water loss can be reduced by about one-third and heat gain by 55 per cent by wearing appropriate, loose-fitting clothing. Although white clothing will reflect solar radiation in the visible range, black or white clothes ensure the same body surface temperature."
So the white hats look cooler, but they aren't really any more effective.

2. I've had hats with the little eyelets, and I've also installed them in several hats. They have helped, but none were as effective as the four 1 cm diam. eyelets in the Tilley hats. I think the size matters because it effects the quantity of air that can flow through - it's not just the total area, but also the diameter. Anyway, I'm not completely sure I'll do that with the Akubra Riverina when it arrives, but that's my current plan.

- Bill

 

[funneman]

Hats for the heat?

We're down here in South Florida with lots of heat and humidity.

Like Kabuto has stated, I find straw hats really don't hold up all that well down here. They seem to stain quicker than most of my felts and they also seem to feel a lot hotter. I've had some actually droop from the moisture while I was wearing them.

What I find is that a lot of the older/cheaper brand names like Penny's Marathon, Steven Stetson, etc tend to be made with a lighter, thinner felt and are actually quite cool in the summer.

When it comes to straws, I like to pick up Adams, Bees, Dobbs and the like when I can find them on the auction site very inexpensively so if one gets stained, it's not a huge monetary loss.

Hope this helps.

 

[indycop]

but none were as effective as the four 1 cm diam. eyelets in the Tilley hats. I think the size matters because it effects the quantity of air that can flow through - it's not just the total area, but also the diameter. Anyway, I'm not completely sure I'll do that with the Akubra Riverina when it arrives, but that's my current plan.

- Bill

Are these the same as the screen type that come in boonie hats? If so where can you buy them?