Club Obi Wan

I recently ordered my first AB hat and was wondering how your head feels on a hot, humid day. I plan on wearing mine on a trek on the Inca Trail in a couple of months, where the weather can be rather hot, down in the lower elevations, and quite cold up in the mountains at around 4000 feet.

Thanks!

Just returned from wearing mine in China. Very hot. EXTREMELY humid. Beijing was suffering it's worst heatwave since the 19th century.

Honestly, it was too hot to be wearing a fedora if I was going to be sensible. But I still did, climbed half way up a mountain to get to the Great Wall & was drenched in sweat, but the hat didn't have any issues.

Steve's sweatbands are amazing from what I can tell. Really awesome quailty

Wear it in Peru & make sure you get plenty of awesome pictures!

I agree with Skippy. I wore mine in the Puerto Rican Rain Forest and it was entirely too hat for a fur felt hat, but I got a lot of cool pictures and that is what really matters! Right? Like, my current avatar, for instance.

At one point, I was so hot, I dipped my head in the La Mina River! But, you know what? It was that hot anyway.

In your case, it is going to swing in temperature, so I think it makes more sense to wear it. The shade of the brim does help a little. Some folks take out their liners, but I like mine too much.

Bottom line, it is a great hat; wear it and enjoy it, take a bunch of photos, and get a lot of use out of it. Steve's hats are made to be well-travelled.

Hemingway Jones wrote:Some folks take out their liners.

Sometimes the dog likes to take out the liner too! I wear mine everyday, even if it is 100°F outside!

I wore my AdventureBilt in Mexico and at Chitchen Itza. It was plenty hot and I did some good sweating in it. Did it affect the hat? Not at all. I even had several locals try to buy the hat off my head they liked it so much!

Here's some pics:

http://public.fotki.com/binkmeisterRick ... ramid.html

bink

Great pics Bink Especially the boulder one!

& having been to Chitchen Itza too (tho' not in Gear) I can confirm it's very, VERY hot!

Yeah, that boulder pic was fun! On sheer coincidence, IndyMcFly and I happened to be vacationing in Cancun and our schedules overlapped. When we met up, there were these big, goofy concrete shperes as part of the decoration outside his hotel. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to mock that scene.

My AB also when from an extemely cold climate, to an extremely hot one, and back again. (Home, Mexico, and back in the winter.) It held up just fine. That's also where it started getting some good, natural distressing due to good, old fashioned adventure!

bink

binkmeisterRick wrote:My AB also when from an extemely cold climate, to an extremely hot one, and back again. (Home, Mexico, and back in the winter.) bink

Home; yes extremely cold because, as I recall, you left your wife at home when you went to Cancun.

Yes, Hemingway, that's true. But the flip side to that coin was that she was invited, but because of her class schedule, couldn't afford to take the time off. She told me that I should go anyway, which wasn't a hard sell.

bink

HJ,

You know that she actually threw bink out of the house, and he went wandering off on a trip, because he didn't have anything else to do. By the time he came back, she eventually let him back in. Why, I don't know.

Because I'm so cuddly.

That, and she couldn't pay the rent on her own.

bink

I'm just guessing, that it was reason number two.

Bufflehead Jones wrote:HJ,

You know that she actually threw bink out of the house, and he went wandering off on a trip, because he didn't have anything else to do. By the time he came back, she eventually let him back in. Why, I don't know.

Is that who was banging on my door? I heard it, but I couldn't find the motivation to answer. My wallet thanks me.

Hey! You stole a picture of me! I forgot you took that photo.

Yeah, that boulder was just so funny I hadn't looked at them that way before... I just thought they were stupid balls that were supposed to look like lights - there were other big things like that, but they lit up at night.

OH - sorry, I was getting off topic.

I have no problem with my Akubra out in warm temperatures. If it's REALLY hot though, I just push it back a little to get some air on my forehead. Otherwise I just take it off once in a while, wipe off my forehead, and put it back on.

In Christ,
Shane

The Inca Trail trek won't be as hot as China, Puerto Rico or Chitchen Itza, but will probably be 80 degrees or so (and humid) during the day and around freezing at night, especially at the high passes (over 13,000 feet, yikes!!). I may be sweating a little during the day, but I'll look cool!

I'm thinking of traveling to Marocco this July by backpacking. Of course I'm thinking of wearing my hat on this travel. But I'm affraid it might be too hot. And just wearing a hat for fashion but sweating the #### out makes not much sense to me.
I need some advice. Would you wear your AB's in Marocco?

Neolithic wore his HJ to Marrakech.

viewtopic.php?t=9020
viewtopic.php?t=9239

BreinederIndy wrote:I'm thinking of traveling to Marocco this July by backpacking. Of course I'm thinking of wearing my hat on this travel. But I'm affraid it might be too hot. And just wearing a hat for fashion but sweating the #### out makes not much sense to me.
I need some advice. Would you wear your AB's in Marocco?

I will be taking mine to Morocco, but not until November. In July it's VERY hot there and, if it were me, might take a Panama instead. But if you are planning on more adventure travel, i.e., trekking in the Atlas mountains, than you will be at high altitude and you'd probably be better off with the Adventurebilt.

Heck, Indy wore hit in the Peruvian jungle.

Kaleponi Craig

I'd say that if you step back and use common sense, these fur hats are not meant to be be used in such hot, humid conditions. You wouldn't wear a fur coat in such conditions, not even if it were thin, so why wear a hat that traps hot air in the one spot in your body that you should be letting cool off as much as possible? Certainly makes sense to trap that warm air in there in 'cold' temps since you want to stay warm, right?

I guess this is the reason hat shops (at least Optimo) primarily sells only straw hats in the summer, because straw hats breathe. Straw in summer to keep you cool, felt in winter to make you warm. The straw hat is generally a lighter color as well, reflecting the harsh warmth of the summer sun, but allowing your head to breathe and let out warm body heat. The felt, on the other hand, is generally darker in color, to attract the warmth of the suns rays and is also much more dense, helping keep the warm air in.

Remember, Indy is a fictional character and even Ford said whoever had his character wearing a fedora in the jungle outta be shot. He had total common sense backed by experience. I guess though, that if you do plan to get up in the mountains where it does get colder, it may come in handy to have a quality felt fedora, especially at night. In the rockies it was 90 in the day and low 30's at night. Like a different planet.

I've worn my AB in everything from 90 degree heat and high humidity to snow. Its just as comfortable as anyother hat (including ballcaps) I've ever worn in those conditions. Of course like Agent5 said, a panama hat would probably be better in the heat, but if your in varying conditions I wouldn't recommend one. If it were me I'd take it along.

a panama hat would probably be better in the heat,

I have found that the really finely woven Montecristas are hot, real hot. The weave is so tight that you cannot get a decent air flow. But, they sure are purty thangs. Panama Bob is looking for me one with the woven vents in the sides. Not too many vents, just enough to let some cool air in. For the felt hats, the eyelets like some of the Akubras have is a godsend for summer wear. It does make a difference. But, the truth is, even straw hats can be rather hot in the summer. But, I would rather have the sun kept off of my balding head, so the tradeoff is not that bad. I will take a hat, any hat, if the sun is out and it is hot. I have been known to dip my felt hat in a creek and then wear it wet. You get a few minutes of relief, and it can be repeated if you are hiking close to a water source. The water evaporating from the felt cools the head down nicely. (and the felt hold more water, hence a longer cooling cycle. The old timers were smarter than us)

I am sure the early cowboys wore felt hats, year round. Perhaps they were just tougher than us? But ask yourself this. What would be the best protection to take on an extended wilderness trek? I think I would opt for a felt hat, thick pants, thick shirt, and thick leather boots. Murphrees law has a habit of raising its head, at the worst time. Give me heavy duty gear, all the way. You can keep the gore tex and nylon clothing. If worse came to worse, you could boil the leather and make soup. Gore Tex isn't as tasty. Fedora


Oh, talking about clothes and heat. My dad and his family of farmers always wore long pants and long sleeved shirts even in the Mississippi summers. They had this strange idea that sun exposure was not good for ya. If I were to spend any time in desert areas, the long sleeved shirt would be my choice as well.

I'm going to second and up the point Fedora made - if you are going to be experiencing exposure to the sun - a hot sun - cover that head. If you've got a lighter hat, or something w/ vents, great - but put SOMETHING on it.

I've worn my AB on some pretty hot days here, sweat it good, no problem. But then, I'm the kind of guy that can wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt all year. I like the heat, and I don't sweat easily. (Same when I lived somewhere SUPERHUMID, so this isn't due to the arid California climate.)

Cover that melon. Bald or not, that's an egg you shouldn't fry.
J

I dunno, Jerry. Remember how much fun we had shaving Jess bald and writing messages on his head with sun screen, while the rest of his noggin burned? Oh, those were the days....

I always have a hat on my head in sunny weather, especially in the summer. I burn easily enough as it is. Sure, you look good in a fedora, but it's supposed to protect you from the rain and sun, remember? Who cares if you sweat in it a little.

bink

binkmeisterRick wrote:I dunno, Jerry. Remember how much fun we had shaving Jess bald and writing messages on his head with sun screen, while the rest of his noggin burned? Oh, those were the days....

Have you seen 'Yellowbeard'?
http://imdb.com/title/tt0086618/

That map may still be on his noggin...time to replace his coffee w/ grog so we can shave his melon while he's sleeping and see if the treasure map is still there...

Fedora wrote:[I am sure the early cowboys wore felt hats, year round. Perhaps they were just tougher than us?

I was gonna say that I'd never seen John Wayne or Clint Eastwood in a straw hat. But then I remembered "The Searchers" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

Anywho, I agree Steve, give me the good old stuff.

I was allready going for a straw hat, but you guys again made me thinking
I wore my old ugly Akubra on a hike in Canada 1 1/2 years ago. I walked 5 hours, the sun was burning down and I made my way strait through the bush and it had 35 to 40 Celsius. This is a temperatur which I call #### hot since I'm not really used to it and not a real fan of hot weather.
I swore never to wear a hat again for such occaisons. I had the feeling that my brain's boiling in my head and I would have collapsed for shure if the hike would have taken a hour longer.
Well, the weather was humid since I walked in the woods.
Do you really think that a straw hat wouldn't do a better job in Marocco?
On the other hand, the famouse boy scouts hats, also used by Us Army drill sergants and R.C.M.P. officers where originaly constructed for hot regions, and they are of felt, too.
Hard to tell

I totally agree with long sleeved shirts and long pants.

I wear mine 365 days a year... if it can handle New England weather, it can handle anything anywhere else.

If anyone thinks that felt hats cannot be worn year round in high heat, I'd say they've obviously never been to Texas in the summer. For another example, look at old photos of what the well-to-do folks wore in New Orleans in July in the 19th century. Just a felt hat seems like nothing by comparison...

Antone

Been there, done that in July in Ft. Worth, and though not the most fun I've had in a while, my fur felt Borsalino was MUCH more appreciated in the Texas sun rather than having a bare head, I assure you!

Regards! Michaelson

I have a few Akubra Colly hats with air vents for summer (Tokyo summers can get pretty hot and humid). They are a bit big for the city, but perfect protection in the field, and don't get overheated. In the city I have usually worn a felt hat as well. The trick is to remove it often to circulate the air and sometimes wipe your brow.

Over the years several ladies have smiled and bowed to me when I did this, thinking I was tipping my hat to them. In the case of the younger ladies, it was no doubt the first time anyone ever tipped their hat to them.