At what temperature do you change your hat?

[metropd]

Felt all year. When I was in ST Helena, I wore fur felt in a 117 degrees during the summer.

 

[Hogdog]

I live in south texas and have not owned or worn a straw hat in 25 years. Western weight felts just do a better job of fitting comfortably and actually blocking the sun, instead of reflecting it into my face. I sunburn easily and hate working with sunglasses on so this is must for me. From taking it easy to working or hunting, even roofing jobs in July and August down here, I get better protection and service from a quality felt. I can't remember ever working next to a guy in a straw when he wasn't sweating just as much as everyone else, so I'm not inclined to buy too many of the arguments of how much cooler a straw is. I realize a lot of people probably have a different experience, but that's where I land on it.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

I live where summers are long and hot too. A quality straw hat will confirm and be just as comfortable as any felt hat. Felt is undoubtedly a better insulator and keeps heat out and keeps heat in better than straw. For me, the real advantage to straw is when the crown is well-vented. Having lots of venting allows for air movement and for perspiration to evaporate and natural cooling to take place. With felt, the air is trapped under the crown and quickly becomes saturated and won’t allow moisture to evaporate and do its cooling. Even if the felt has grommets for venting there just isn’t much air movement. To me, without venting, straw is only minimally cooler than lightweight felt.

My ophthalmologist would sting me up by my thumbs if I didn’t wear my sunglasses. I’ve damaged my eyes after years of working outside and my employer has even given me a disability rating for it. Sunglasses aren’t just for style/fashion, and I’m rarely without them. My health plan pays for a couple pairs of sunglasses every year. I feel awkward when I’m outdoors without them these days.

This is the type of straw hat I prefer when spending all day outside:

 

[Tukwila]

If it hits 60°F I start wearing linen, straw or hemp caps and ventilated Ecuadorian straw.

I have come to see things like Brent, ventilated straw to me is like having your own personal A/C on top of your head. Even the slightest breeze is funneled through the vents, cooling your head wonderfully.

Rain is the only thing that stops me from wearing straw more often.

 

[Bushman]

Past about 75* F, it becomes difficult to wear felt. That's when the switch happens.

 

[Rmccamey]

When I start perspiring a lot, I'll switch to straw...probably mid 80s. But, it depends on my travels. If I'm going to church or out to eat and I'm not going to be in the sun for very long, I'll wear my felt hats as often as I can.

 

[Dotneck]

I’ve always warmed up quickly...which can cause problems because my wife is a freeze baby. We always disagree about the AC/heat settings. That said...my felts are too hot for me above about 68 degrees. I just got a couple new straw hats for the season and I bet they will see duty in the next few days...

 

[glider]

I pretty much stick to Memorial day to Labor day is straw hat time. There really isn't a hard fast rule but I do like my straws and it's a good excuse to buy more hats. I think my first Akubra will be a straw. I think they have some felts with vent holes and I know Stratton does.

 

[dkstott]

I wear a lighter colored felt hat in a heat wave here in New England. But that's about the extent of any switching I might do

 

[Doctor Strange]

I don't go by temperature, I mainly switch on the old traditional dates - Straw Hat Day, May 15 and Felt Hat Day, September 15.

But one felt that I wear a lot in summer is my liner-less, vented, light-colored Akubra Cattleman - my go-to warm weather hiking and yard work shade hat.

 

[Edward]

Interesting to read these views. I broadly move with the seasons, though I'm less strict with hats than shoes. Labour Day not being a "thing" over here (in truth, I only know when it is because of Rocky Horror!), I tend to go by my birthday- usually the Sunday before that (15th September) is when I switch out of the co-respondents / light shoes to darker shoes (which, well, also include a couple of pairs of darker co-respondents) for the Winter. When I switch back to the lighter-hued Summer shoes will often vary; notionally, I work to either Easter or St Patrick's Day (17th March), weather dependent.

Hats vary much more by temperature. In lockdown, I've mostly beetled between a deerstalker, a ushanka, and wool or cotton berets depending on the weather. We had an unusually warm spell last week, so cotton beret all the way; this week, it's colder and wetter, so I'm back in the wool. In the peak of the Winter in January, the B2 Cap and Ushanka served me well. I'm actually looking forward to getting back in the fedora while I can still get away with wearing a mask in public, I like the mix of the two. My hat of choice would virtually always be a furfelt fedora, but that varies with heat and wind... In high winds I avoid a hat with a wide brim. For me, furfelt tends to start to get too warm around May or June - usually anything much above 20Celsius (which is generally too hot for me on every level - oh to be rich enough to travel the world and never have to suffer another Summer!). The only furfelt hat I currently wear much after April is a vented Akubra model with a hand-wound pugaree I made myself. I'm much more likely to be seen in a cotton or linen cap, or a straw (most commonly a polystraw for convenience, with my top choice there being one of several Akubra Capricorns, one of which I wore to my wedding last August). I tend with headwear to be entirely led by the weather; while I'll happily wear a lighter coloured pair of Summer shoes in an August downpour, I'll still reach for the trenchcoat and a furfelt to go with them. That's one of my favourite combinations, actually. The main reason I don't wear furfelt year round is the heat - my head will sweat significantly and I'll be uncomfortably hot; I once wore a light grey hat with a silver ribbon on a warmish July day in Vienna, and it left a sweat stain on the ribbon.

TL/DR: hats and seasons I treat much like tweed and linen: go with what the weather outside demands, rather than the date the calendar says.

 

[RossRYoung]

My breaking point is north of 90*, almost any condition with cooler temps and I’m okay in felt with minor perspiration.

 

[belfastboy]

My threshhold is high 60's which up here means only July and August are straw time...unless it is raining, then I wear a ball cap or a light weight felt.

 

[Edward]

I live in south texas and have not owned or worn a straw hat in 25 years. Western weight felts just do a better job of fitting comfortably and actually blocking the sun, instead of reflecting it into my face. I sunburn easily and hate working with sunglasses on so this is must for me. From taking it easy to working or hunting, even roofing jobs in July and August down here, I get better protection and service from a quality felt. I can't remember ever working next to a guy in a straw when he wasn't sweating just as much as everyone else, so I'm not inclined to buy too many of the arguments of how much cooler a straw is. I realize a lot of people probably have a different experience, but that's where I land on it.

I suspect hair makes a difference, too; being a shaved head sort -with increasingly less to shave as time goes on, I sweat a lot in my felts. For me, it's venting that makes all the difference; what I find cooling in a straw is not the lighter weight, but the increased airflow. Probably part of why I've been able to wear a vented felt in much higher temps than most of them. I think though if I had hair soaking up the sweat I might be less cautious about my felts on that count, as I'd be less likely to sweat-stain them.