At what wind velocity...

[Bassman]

do you leave the hat at home? Or do you?
When reading the weather forecast in the daily paper, I've also been checking out the expected wind velocity to see if I'm going to have to "hold on to my hat". 6 to 12 mph has been the norm lately and I find myself bowing my head into the wind so that it blows my hat onto my head, not off of it. I'm also getting hip to some streets and intersections on my way to work that are usually a bit "gusty".
How 'bout you?

 

[HungaryTom]

Finally a fellow walker

Bassman,

I always look out whether the windblasts are there-if I see the trees shaking...I like to walk in my hats and not run after them to save them out from the cars wheels.

When I got my first fedora, it was straight blown off my head between the rails of the commuter train...and it survived since it did not land ON the rails.

So whenever the weather is so foul that I need to make extra efforts to protect my head instead my hat (rain+snow9wind) I rather opt for a black wool cap or whatever it is called.[huh]

 

[Stoney]

Wind Cords, Ya gotta love em

I usually don't let any amount of wind,or rain, short of a tropical storm, prevent me from wearing a hat. I take one with a wind cord, on very windy days, and make sure to attach the cord to my jacket.

 

[KilroyCD]

Bassman, if the wind is forecast to be more than 10mph I usually leave the fedora home and wear a driving or newsboy cap because I don't have any wind cords. If you're wearing a stingy brim you might be able to brave stronger winds, but with the wide brims I wear it would go sailing off my pumpkin head in no time!

 

[Bassman]

Yeah, I've been wearing my old Dobbs Newsboy so far this winter until my new Akubra Fed arrived. I just want to wear that all the time now. I guess its novelty will wear off eventually.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Even though they all say 7 1/4, some are tighter than others. On windy days I just pick a tight hat.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Shoot...I thought this was going to be a thread about sailing...

 

[KilroyCD]

Shoot...I thought this was going to be a thread about sailing...

Close. It's about hats sailing...

 

[Diamondback]

Actually, it doesn't even take a breeze to send some widebrims flying, especially with the aerodynamics of a fedora--I had problems because, even on a dead-calm day, just from the speed I move at (my normal walking stride's a pretty good clip), and I'm always moving unless wired in here, there would be enough airflow to generate functional lift just from my "slipstream".

 

[Tomasso]

I'm good with a fedora up to around 20 mph. before I go to a flat cap. In Chicago, when it's 0¬? with 40 mph. winds I'll wear this Thinsulate lined tweed cap with rabbit fur ear flaps. I can lock this baby down. Mind you, the look is Fuddesque.

 

[tandmark]

Hi,

Wind trolleys are vanishingly rare on new hats, and not particularly common on vintage ones. So if the wind is too fresh, I tend to wear cowboy hats or outdoorsy wool felt hats that have stampede strings.

Or else I default to a cap or beret.

For light winds with the occasional intense gust, I might wear a Tilley fur felt fedora. No stampede strings on it, but it's better designed to stay put than most dress fedoras are.

Just a week or two ago, the winds were gusting as high as 45mph/72kmph around Boeing Field where I work. So I wore a Scala fur felt fedora and kept the stampede string cinched up tight every time I had to walk through the "wind tunnel" area (actually a narrow E-W passage between buildings that concentrates the prevailing winds). The winds strove mightily, but that hat stayed in place.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[EricH]

Don't forget to consider the felt. A floppy felt will distort the brim to balance the aerodynamic forces a stiffer felt will launch the fedora like a paper airplane.

 

[NonEntity]

If the wind is a fairly constant velocity, even if quite stiff, I've learned to cock my head in such a way that a fedora will not blow off.

However, sudden gusts or changes in wind direction necessitate a perpetual clutch near the front of the brim. Not that big of a problem, except that, when carrying a briefcase, that leaves no free hand to open doors, or, as the case may be, fend off marauders.

I'd like to try a wind trolly, but hats made for them are few and far between. I've noticed here that some Akubras come with them while the same model offered by another vendor does not. Of course, a wind trolly does not keep the hat on your head but does prevent it from flying off beneath the wheels of a bus, which renders a "conversion" few of us desire!

My Akubra Slouch has a chin strap, which keeps it securely on through gale force winds, but I rarely wear that hat these days. Because I wear it in highly active pursuits in which both hands are often busy, I'd like a chin strap on my Banjo Patterson, but like all the models in Akubra's Heritage Collection, it does not come with chin strap hooks, and I would be very reluctant to punch holes in it.

 

[Lefty W.]

Wind trolleys are vanishingly rare on new hats, and not particularly common on vintage ones.

Speaking of such, what's the etymology of the term "wind trolley?" I have wondered how that term came to be used for a string that attaches one's hat to one's clothing through a buttonhole. I think the wind trolley really adds a touch of class to a hat.

Lefty W.

 

[Mojave Jack]

Don't forget to consider the felt. A floppy felt will distort the brim to balance the aerodynamic forces a stiffer felt will launch the fedora like a paper airplane.

Just so! We have sustained winds today of 22 mph with gusts to 30, and had sustained winds yesterday of 30 with gusts to 40. My Riverina, which fits perfectly and has been wadded up repeatedly to remove some of the stiffness, stays put just perfectly. Of course, there is also a small matter of skill in keeping the windward edge of the brim slightly lower.

My Filnders is still so stiff even after having it for about 8 years that the slightest wind will send it flying, leading edge dipped lower or not. I got tired of chasing that thing, so I just don't wear it on windy days!

 

[Tomasso]

Speaking of such, what's the etymology of the term "wind trolley?"

It may have something to do with trolley cars which were attached to and pulled by cables.[huh]

 

[Mustang]

I've been outside with my Akubra Sydney in wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, and only had 2 instances where it felt like it was about to take flight. In both of those instances, I managed to grab the hat in time. I am absolutely amazed at how unaffected it has been by the wind. So, to answer your question...The wind will not be part of the equation in determining if I wear my fedora.

 

[Tomasso]

I've been outside with my Akubra Sydney in wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour.

Straight on wind isn't that bad but when you're surrounded by skyscrapers the wind comes whipping around from every direction.:eusa_doh:

 

[Tomasso]

Here's a classic piece. I love the guy at 00:28. I've been there.

 

[duggap]

Around these parts I don't have to worry about the wind too much. About the only exposure is from the house to the car and car to the office. Last week I took it off and carried it into the office because the wind was blowing pretty hard. Most of my hats don't have wind trollys on them. I almost always wear one of my hats from Art and he hasn't been able to match my colors to do a wind trolly. Oh well, I would rather have wind than rain.