Boonies and Buckets...and Cloches

[Zombie_61]

I generally only wear hats to prevent skin cancer and to protect me from cold. It's great to have a Tilley hat or bucket stuffed in a bag in case it gets to 112 degrees down here - which unfortunately happens most summers. They are survival items. But I don't really like the Tilley hat design although I think the T3 is passable. They are a bit charmless, especially once they are made from synthetics and have vents. For me they are practical but artless, like most bland packer's gear. And they rarely suit their wearers, me included. Anyway, they are necessary in this climate.

I believe the reasons we wear hats are just as important as the hats we choose; some hats purely for style/fashion, others for practical purposes. Tilleys, boonies, and bucket hats might not be the height of fashion, but if they suit our needs for wearing them who cares? I wouldn't wear a boonie to a wedding or a funeral, but for being outdoors on an extremely hot summer day or a rainy autumn/winter day I think it would serve my purposes rather well.

I actually did a lengthy and detailed review of the Tru-Spec boonies on Amazon (back in 2015--so you'll have to scroll a few pages to find it). The review was an A/B comparison between the Tru-Spec and my GI boonie that was issued to me in the Army. The review is under the screen name "totallyfrozen".

I found the sizing on the Tru-Spec to be accurate for how these hats are supposed to fit on a head your size. In other words, my 7-1/4 Tru-Spec fits exactly like my 7-1/4 GI boonie. Of course, what that really means is this...
Boonie hats are supposed to have a slightly looser fit. My GI patrol caps and my beret fit slightly more snug than my boonie. So I think the way they sized them and marked them is for proper fit. All that to say that I think the sizes are designed to fit slightly looser than their number indicates. As it says on the label "initial loose fit required for continued comfort" (or something to that effect). Some people make the mistake of thinking they need to buy a size larger than normal. I've found that you don't. They're made to fit loose enough if you buy your proper hat size.

One caveat: the hat sizing/fit is based on the military fit which, of course, is designed based on the wearer having very short hair. If you have long hair, a top knot (aka "man bun"), pony tail, etc. you'll need to get a larger size than the listed size.

Thank you, this is the kind of response I was hoping for. I hadn't considered hair length, but I figure a size 7-1/4 is a size 7-1/4 regardless and it's up to the individual to determine which size is right for him or her. So I'll order my size, and thank you again!

 

[totallyfrozen]

While in the pool! Because ANY opportunity or excuse to wear a hat...

PS Excuse the "frosted" look of this pic. My iPhone is in a ziplock bag to keep it dry.

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[totallyfrozen]

Today was a hot one. Temp of 99°. DJ on the radio kept giving warnings about the heat index being 110°. I had to do some dirty work cleaning a pool filter. So I soaked the boonie with the garden hose, wrung it out, and wore it. Honestly, I felt VERY comfortable. Felt like it was in the mid-80's to me. Been wearing this hat for 4 years now. don't think I'll ever find a fault with it.


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[Zombie_61]

My Tru-Spec "military boonie" finally arrived; sometimes Amazon takes their sweet time when you select the "free shipping" option.

First impression--I like it. The sizing is a little "generous" as totallyfrozen mentioned previously, but not unreasonably so. If I had a short "military style" haircut I would probably need to go down a size, maybe two, but it fits very comfortably as-is even though it's looser than my other hats. I'm used to wearing fur felt fedoras so the comparatively "floppy" brim might take some getting used to, but I knew that going in. As you can see, I chose the A-TACS FG Camo pattern. I'm not crazy about them sewing the "A-TACS camo" tag onto the exterior of the hat...

...but I suppose it's better than the Tru-Spec logo, so I'll leave it...for now, anyway; removing it might be more trouble than it's worth.

Seeing the hat on my head the first time, my wife immediately demanded...er, requested with extreme prejudice...that I never wear the hat in public when she's with me. Somehow I get the impression she doesn't like it as much as I do.