I wear a nylon wicking fabric reebok baseball cap in the summer. It fits, is super light and protects my bald head.

In the winter I have a series if hats spending on the temps - a Novarra thin liner (I use it cycling as well which is what it is designed for), a Spyder basic fleece beanie and a heavier mountain hardwear Dome Perignon ...

I'm bald so I need something pretty much all the time.

Oh yeah and a Columbia waterproof boonie hat.

"Another 7 3/4"

When it says L/XL or one size fits most I can still be out of luck. 7 3/4 is tight on me. I just measured my "dome" and it hit the 24" circumference mark!

Hat sizes like shirt, pants and shoes sizes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

According to the hat size charts I've found, 7 3/4 falls on the borderline of XL and XXL

I was, until I checked it out, under the impression that your hat size was one third of your head's circumference. That would make me a size 8. But the hat size charts do not bear this out.

When I wash my "ONE SIZE FITS MOST" Booney I put it on my head "wet" and stretch it to fit loose and then line dry it. Ball caps for me better have velcro, elastic or adjustable bands. Beanies in the large and extra large size are more forgiving because they stretch but I still give them a trial run before laying down the credit card.

My merino wool Buff fits fine but I picked up an original 100% microfiber polyester Buff and it's a tight fit.

Size does matter! ;-)

Party On,

Newton

Edited by Newton on 11/20/2012 07:58:24 MST.

I'm a member of the 7.75 club myself. Three lies you should never believe:

The check is in the mail

No new taxes

One size fits all :)

I wear my old Tilley fishing hat. Not sure what model. It's on the heavy side and probably dorky, but lots of sentimental memories. My poncho tarp lacks a hood so this doubles as rain hat.



In winter, I like the smartwool beanie, plus a plethora of hoods as needed.

> Look to the left.
>
> It works.. :)

I also have a boonie hat. It is some off brand I purchased several years ago. It is my favorite hat, though. It has some amount of Thinsulate and was advertised to be Goretex. I have worn it walking (not working) in wet snow and the outer wet through but it did the job for my head. I like a hat rather than having to always wear a hood.

If it is rainy but warmer and not windy, I can just rest the hat on top of my head rather than pull it on. The shape of the hat gives me a bill while the sides flop down over my ears (wind gusts push them flat against the windward ear), and the back has a nice round brim.

I mostly walk in cooler weather and typically the hat is for light walking or resting (Long stops to use a camera). When I am working in cooler weather, I use a wool beanie cap. It is easy to put on or remove and tuck away while walking.

I also have a Columbia Bora Bora mentioned by John. This is a nice warm weather sun hat for me.

As far as hats blown off, both of my brimmed hats have bungee cord in the crown. I tuck the chin strap up inside the hat and tighten the bungee. The bungee runs below the.. skull bump at the back of my head and at the top of my neck muscles. Maybe I have a pronounced skull bump... My hats have staid on in wind that had the brims shaped like unhappy umbrellas. I did fit the chin strap loosely while in a boat (seemed prudent) at about 35-40 mph. Not in the bow, but not behind a windscreen and the hat staid on. Much stronger wind and I think the hat would go. Prehensile eyebrows help, too.

Gotten to love the boonie this summmer. Fantastic 360' protection in the sun (no sun burned ears!), good ventilation, the brim is just stiff enough to keep the poncho off my face in rain and works surprisingly well in wind. Great for napping. Draws crowds of admiring... naw, just dreaming.

In winter, an old Norrøna Dovre cap with fleece, Gore-Tex and ear-muffs.

..I even wrote a 'review' of sorts. :)


http://www.pmags.com/gear-review-the-boonie-hat

Heck I'd take issue with the fits most...

I had the best lightweight compressible North Face beanie that I left on the subway in NYC when I was there working all winter long. It was windproof and quite warm. Particularly for how thin it was. The subways were warm, however, and I'd have to take it off and unbutton my coat. Had it sitting in my lap and forgot about it when I got up after a 14 hour day at the client site and just zoned... I've never been able to replace it. What made me think of this is that I tried on probably 20 different beanies at the outdoor provision store in manhattan to find one that fit. They only had one of the north face ones in stock - i went back trying to find another one - and had to try on a good 20 more to find the spyder fleece beanie which only worked because it stretched a good bit but was not nearly as windproof...

I pretty much have to try a hat on. Ball caps included even with velcro backs as some still are too small in the body of the hat.

Nike has a range of elasticized dry fit mesh ball caps that also fit well, partly because the mesh stretches but I've had a hard time finding them as well.

It's hard life for those of us with big brains! :-p