Help selecting new hat - breathable and packable?

[camhabib]

Thanks to some great advice I received on here, I picked up an Akubra Balmoral hat some time ago and have loved it since. Unfortunately the hat has since been lost and I find myself in the market for a new one. I enjoyed the brim size (70mm) but have a few things I’d change. I wish it was more breathable, and that it was more resistant to deforming. Packable would be ideal but from what I’ve read, that’s much less common. Durability isn’t a huge concern for me. There’s no real budget, but not looking to spend unnecessarily either.

Hoping someone can point me in the right direction as I’m rather lost on what I should be looking at, if anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[VansonRider]

More breathable than a hemp hat, I think you’d want a vented crown. The Akubra “range” hat is from the company you enjoy and a vented crown hemp hat.

I don’t have any experience with packable straw (or hemp or palm etc) but I have a packable wool felt Stetson. If you decide on a packable wool hat I can confidently recommend you go at least a size “too large” and preferably two sizes large.

Packable wool hats shrink with sweat and heat and even rain. Going oversize let’s them shrink to fit. I needed to put foam in the sweat liner of my wool packable when it was new, but it’s since shrunk a full size over the course of about a year of wear.