Hat type?

[astafford]

How about suggestions with regard to a hat. Light ball cap? Brimmed hat for sun protection? Bandana? Is a brimmed hat with sunscreen necessary? I'm from Wyoming and we get hammered with pretty intense sun. I hear the AT called the "green tunnel". Much exposure to the sun on the trail? What do think is the right choice? Thanks!

[Starchild]

I do like a brimmed hat as it not only works for sun but for rain. It makes a great mini umbrella to keep water off of the head and neck and out of the collar of the rain jacket.

[mcstick]

I like the spring traing caps that mlb teams use. Flexfit, light, kinda water resistant. I reccomend a cubs hat.

[prain4u]

I like the spring training caps that mlb teams use. Flexfit, light, kinda water resistant. I reccomend a cubs hat.

You must LOSE your Cubs hat a lot or maybe you got it from a LOST and found box. Ahhhh, there is always next year! :)

[mcstick]

You must LOSE your Cubs hat a lot or maybe you got it from a LOST and found box. Ahhhh, there is always next year! :)


This year is last year's next year!!!

[tnvarmint]

I use and love the Frogg Toggs brimmed hat. I have two of em. The boonie and the aussie.

[Meriadoc]

Wear a hat if it works for you. I tried three different hats. They didn't like me. I lost each of them. Off a convertible, off my pack, off my head, out of my hand. (Yeah, that's four times, one hat came back to me three times before I lost it for good).

A visor was nice for hot days because it let my head breathe.
A full brim was decent for rain. But the baseball cap was decent for rain too. And frankly, hatless was just fine for rain. A hat was nice for wind driven rain, but I only encountered that a handful of times. And one of those times, it was so windy that no hat would have stayed on my head. Hope I have muddled things enough :P.

Merry

[Canam]

I wear a plain old ball cap. It's nothing fancy but it works.

[Astro]

I like the spring traing caps that mlb teams use. Flexfit, light, kinda water resistant. I reccomend a cubs hat.

Another potential benefit, perhaps it could help identify you as a "friendly" if you have an encounter with a bear. ;)

[DeerPath]

I have this hat.

http://www.tilley.com/LTM6-AIRFLO-Nylamtium-Hat.aspx

[BirdBrain]

Wide brimmed hat. It helps with sun, rain and bug nets during black fly season in Maine.

[Old Hiker]

I used a ball-type billed cap. It kept the sun out of my eyes when hiking through the clear much better than my clip-on shades. It kept most of the rain off my glasses. It helped keep my head warm when my pile cap was too much and helped when my pile cap wasn't enough. I got mine in Franklin, NC with a Nikwasi symbol on it.

Boony hat was too floppy.

[Odd Man Out]

Not for gram weenies, but I wear this every day. Great for all purposes. I've gotten lots of sunburns on the tops of my ears when wearing baseball caps, so I always want a full brim.

http://www.barmahhatsusa.com/index.php?mod=ter_d&tr_id=53

[Kerosene]

I've worn a Mountain Hardwear nylon ballcap with a plastic brim for over a decade. It's light, doesn't mind water, and keeps rain drops off my glasses for the most part. I keep thinking about a wide-brimmed hat, but it's really not needed for the AT and it makes me look like even more of a dork.

[SCRUB HIKER]

On the AT, I was exposed to the sun daily until about mid-April, when full leaf cover came in at all elevations. After that point, there really was very little sun exposure. I came home and all my friends who hadn't been outside for 5 months straight were tanner than I was, and I didn't even have a sock tan line.

At the beginning of the AT, it can be really neat to hike areas with big elevation gains, like the Smokies, because the amount of foliage changes by the hour as you ascend and descend. I remember descending into the NOC and dropping below the leaf-line, feeling the humidity skyrocket and the air become more stagnant almost instantly.

I didn't wear a hat. Most people don't. Some wear baseball hats. It's not like out West at all where it's an almost essential piece of clothing in the summer.

[hobby]

I have this hat.

http://www.tilley.com/LTM6-AIRFLO-Nylamtium-Hat.aspx

me too great in sun or rain

[TrilliumTrekker]

In Spring sunburn can be a problem until the trees leaf out. This is later than one might think in the higher elevations. (June) I have fair skin and find a wide brim hat is not enough so use sun screen on my face as well. I have used hats like Seattle Sombero, seen straw gardening and fishing hats on the trail, and currently I am using a bucket style 'cause it'll squash into the pack for easy storeage.

[bigcranky]

It's only the green tunnel in the summer. For a typical thru-hike starting in March, you'll want some sun protection. I usually just wear my Tilley hat and that's enough. Sunscreen works, of course. I see a lot of sun-burned thru-hikers early in the season.

In the summer I just wear a light nylon ball cap.

[Tipi Walter]

Standard load is always a baseball cap with the crushable brim---either Patagonia or Mt Hardwear. Problem is, I can't find a new flexible brim hat to replace my worn out models. Any suggestions?

[58starter]

Ball cap has always worked just fine for me. Sock cap when it is cold.

[JansportD2]

I use a Nike Dri-Fit Core Running Cap. It's a polyester ball cap that dries quickly. I soak mine in permethrin (I soak everything in permethrin).

[flemdawg1]

I use a visor, but I also have long hair so no need for protection for ears and back of neck for me.

[peakbagger]

If you time it right its a green tunnel down south but if you are early before the trees leaf out, its easy to get a lot of sun, some of the BRP and SNP is cut wide enough that they are in the sun. From the Whites North there are many days were you will be on exposed summits, not all the time but enough. I expect they are more appreciated as folks get farther down the trail.

The other reason for a hat is it makes deer files and moose flies somewhat more tolerable as they tend to swarm and land plus try to bite the highest part of your body. Some years they are annoying enough that some folks attached double backed stick tape on the top of their hats so when the flies land they get caught. They arent bad when you are moving but if you stop to pick some berries or take a break they will find you.

I use a LLbean nylon baseball type hat that has some additive in the fabric to increase SPF

[Pedaling Fool]

I'm not really a hat person, but I do like to wear a hat when walking into the sun; I use cycling caps, which are like baseball caps, but with a smaller profile. http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2012/04/how-to-wear-a-cycling-cap/



http://d4nuk0dd6nrma.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/RogerDeVlaeminck.jpg



http://cyclingtipscontent.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/potd_8551776.jpg

[Drybones]

I use a lightweight ball cap with some stretch in the band for comfort, I treat the bill with silicon so it sheds water when I wear it under a rain jacket.

[Feral Bill]

a few years ago I did a trip in Oregon with a light "runners" ball cap. A few days of being cooked in blazing sun at 8000+ feet convinced me to go with the Tilley Airflow. Now that's a great hat.

[MuddyWaters]

Depends on environment.
Ball cap style on the AT
Out west at higher elevations, bigger style with more shade.

[Carl Calson]

something that has a full brim (ear coverage) that is water repellent and vented.

[Another Kevin]

When I bring a hat along for a clueless weekend, it varies according to weather and my mood. From cold to hot:

1. Tuque or even balaclava + tuque.

2. Crushable felt fedora. The one I use these days came from Dorfman Pacific, and I've Scotchgard'ed the heck out of it. (I wore a crushable Western-style fedora before the Indiana Jones movies came out, and refuse to give it up just because Harrison Ford carries it off better than I do.)

3. Sun hat with a brim (and possibly a headnet in blackfly season).

4. Baseball cap (possibly with a bandana, French Foreign Legion fashion, if otherwise I'll sunburn the back of my neck and ears.)

5. Just a bandana, either pirate-fashion or tied around as a sweat band.

My last outing, I went with option 1, because it was a tad chilly out.

[rocketsocks]

My go to hat is always a ball cap, sometimes I grab the Nylon one, sometimes it's gortex...depends on the mood of the day, and conditions, and time of year.

[Tim Causa]

I wear a brooks brimmed running hat. It breathes well, keeps the sun and branches out of my eyes, dries quickly, and doesn't weigh much when it does get wet. I used to bring a normal baseball cap but it would get wet and stay wet and heavy the whole time.

[FarmerChef]

something that has a full brim (ear coverage) that is water repellent and vented.

This is why I prefer the sombrero. It's wide brim allows for complete protection, often my full body. Water gathered on the top of the brim during rain is already purified and, with the help of a simple flexible straw, ready to drink. At town stops, I can also store extra food or supplies up top when my pack is full. You must be careful to walk down the center of the trail as the expanded width can sometimes be a hindrance when branches reach down low. :banana

In all seriousness, I just take an ATC vented ball cap. The venting can allow sunlight to reach my head when there aren't leaves on the trees yet or when I'm out in the open but that ventilation is sure nice when it's 80 or 90 degrees and humid out. It's also crucial to have a bill with a lightweight disposable poncho and so is a part of my rain system.

[Charlie Redwood]

Mil Spec Type II hat for sun, hot weather. USA made, vent holes, adjustable chin strap, comfortable on the cranium, and is very water resistant. I've had for for a decade and still performs.