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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Hats - what do you recommend? (1 Viewer)

A

Andrew Clarke

Well-known member
Hello there

Spent a few hours waiting for an Icterine Warbler to reveal itself this morning (great Welsh find for a friend!) while singing from the cool and shady willows of a little pond nearby.

I manged to get rather hot in the process, and now the sunstroke has eased I must ask a crucial question..... bird people, what hats do you wear/recommend for summer????

Ideally I'm after a few new hats for different conditions, as I'm rather good at loosing them on obscure mountain trails in Snowdonia. My wish list would include:

1. Something like a Tilley hat, with:

wide brim - but not "Ascot race day" wide..

with a nice strap for when I'm out at sea counting Manxies

lightweigth - I find some of the Tilleys a bit heavy

light green/creamish - obviously

eco material e.g. organic cotton or hemp (talking of which I beleve the Tilley is now available in Hemp but have not seen it - reviews anyone?)

adjustable/different sizes available

cheaper - I do not want to have to sell any family members to pay for it. if anyone from Tilley is reading this - you are way too expensive!


2. Hat number two would be more like a baseball cap thing. But without that curved peak, but flatter and slightly wider and with out those annoying elasticated straps at the back. And greenish.

I don't want to look like some chav who has decided to swap his nike/adidas for some camouflaged Real Tree design to wear while badger baiting in the country. Unfortunately I do wear such a cap at the minute. A Jack Pike real tree hunting cap that barely casts any shade but does stop the sun (and that flyover Red-footed Falcon) from reaching my eyes.

I would be eternally grateful for any smidgen of advice you lovely Bird Forumers could offer. :t:

I now have to go and stick my head in the fridge again....

Good Birding

Andrew
 
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Andrew Clarke said:
Hello there

Spent a few hours waiting for an Icterine Warbler to reveal itself this morning (great Welsh find for a friend!) while singing from the cool and shady willows of a little pond nearby.

I manged to get rather hot in the process, and now the sunstroke has eased I must ask a crucial question..... bird people, what hats do you wear/recommend for summer????

Ideally I'm after a few new hats for different conditions, as I'm rather good at loosing them on obscure mountain trails in Snowdonia. My wish list would include:

1. Something like a Tilley hat, with:

wide brim - but not "Ascot race day" wide..

with a nice strap for when I'm out at sea counting Manxies

lightweigth - I find some of the Tilleys a bit heavy

light green/creamish - obviously

eco material e.g. organic cotton or hemp (talking of which I beleve the Tilley is now available in Hemp but have not seen it - reviews anyone?)

adjustable/different sizes available

cheaper - I do not want to have to sell any family members to pay for it. if anyone from Tilley is reading this - you are way too expensive!


2. Hat number two would be more like a baseball cap thing. But without that curved peak, but flatter and slightly wider and with out those annoying elasticated straps at the back. And greenish.

I don't want to look like some chav who has decided to swap his nike/adidas for some camouflaged Real Tree design to wear while badger baiting in the country. Unfortunately I do wear such a cap at the minute. A Jack Pike real tree hunting cap that barely casts any shade but does stop the sun (and that flyover Red-footed Falcon) from reaching my eyes.

I would be eternally grateful for any smidgen of advice you lovely Bird Forumers could offer. :t:

I now have to go and stick my head in the fridge again....

Good Birding

Andrew
Click to expand...

My dear boy may I recommend for the extremes of heat a rather nice Panama,for seawatching a black Kangol beret and for general birding a "newsboy Boston" cap all very "de rigueur". Never ever a baseball cap they are so passe.

POP
 
Great stuff chaps!

Think I'll be sorted for all occasions at this rate... not quite sure about your suggestion though Rob - them big hats do get caught in the vegetation at times ;-)

Keep em coming. My head is peeling already and the flies are gathering around.

Gratefully

Andrew
 
passe or not baseball cap for me though i did buy an ozzy cattlemans hat while over there at christmas but havent the nuts to wear it out yet,my son reckons i look like johnny kingdom in it but my daughter says i look more like Indiana Jones (always liked girls better than boys)
 
This is a tricky one. For sun protection I would go for a wide-brimmed hat such as Tilley or less expensive similar. Unfortunately, I find that a brim affects my ability to localise sound, so is less useful when trying to locate birds by their call or song. In which case a baseball cap would be better, but then you lose the ear and neck protection. Without being alarmist, I don't think you can ignore the risks of UV exposure in an activity which involves long spells outdoors.

Any thoughts from Australian members? The Aussies are beginning to take skin cancer very seriously.
 
Last summer I got a sandy-coloured canvas cap with a Foreign Legion-type flap on the back to keep the sun off my neck. Millett's, I think. Very cheap. Rolled up, fits in a small pocket. Most camping shops do similar. Highly recommended. And POP, I really do have a Panama I used to wear in my frolicking rollicking youth, made in Ecuador of course, as all real Panamas are....gone a bit yellowish now, and don't believe that nonsense about being able to roll them up, it bu..ers them eventually. No, go for the khaki Foreign Legion-flap hat, with a pair of sunglasses, it makes you look like an extra from a post-apocalyptic movie.
 
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After years of mocking a friend for wearing a Tilley I got bought one for my birthday last year... I used to use a baseball cap but have found the Tilley much better, the full brim is great and I find my head stays cooler in it. Sure I look a bit stupid in it, but no worse than I did in a cap! In fact I like it so much that I have also now got a Tilley winter hat for when it gets cold.
 
Thanks again people.

Sancho I did have one of the Foreign Legion hats - lost it on mountain in Snowdonia. Found the flap a bit annoying and less than chic, which is my usual style....

Kev, don't diss Johnny Kingdom - he is the canine's testicles when it comes to getting kitted up for fieldcraft but how he still manages to see anything despite the camouflage with that bellowing Devon voice is beyond me! Must admit that Bambi's sad demise was a little disturbing. Crikey - I sound like a regular viewer!!!

Anyway, I'm still searching - interesting how Tilley is becoming more enticing. They look great on the website but awful on my head. When not being ultra chic I have the uncanny ability - if I try very hard -to look rather silly in almost anything, and if it stops me burning up it's got to be worth thinking about.

Good Birding

Andrew
 
Andrew just get out and buy yourself a Tilley, it will last you for years and with two chin straps you shouldn't lose it . There is a lightweight summer version available too. You'll need to visit a supplier to ensure you get the correct fit, worth the effort.
Go on , spoil yourself ,you know you want to.
 
I was in town yesterday and noticed a Tilley clone made by a company called white Rock .
It was in a sport shop and the hat colour was khaki, price £20 . Might be worth a look if you can find them in your area.
 
Chaps,

I live in Australia (as of last year since being sent to the Colonies !) and wear a Indiana Jones special ! I would have called it a Crocodile Dundee special but it doesn't have any teeth in the band round the hat.

I feel a bit of a you know what wearing it sometimes but it does the job.

Not sure what birders etc. wear and it's pretty hot at times as I'm in Tropical Far North Queensland (rainforest, wet season, humidty etc.) but it keeps the sweat that otherwise runs down my head from going in my eyes !

Andy
 
the boot of my car has a few, a baseball cap, a waterproof round brimmed hat and as mentioned an Indiana / cowboy wide brimmed hat, depends on the occasion all but the waterproof hat are useless for photography as the peak brim gets in the way and you constantly have to push it back on your head.
 
I have been trying on various hats recently when I have seen them but my partner just bursts out laughing each time, which is not very supportive of her! Mind you, she looks equally ridiculous in the ones she has tried. I guess we are simply not 'hat people'. Perhaps ultraviolet light and personal pride just don't mix. ;)

Ron
 
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