Andy, the Shelta hats are available on Amazon. Customer service has been excellent. I had one hat that developed an issue (the steel mesh over the vent holes rusted) and they replaced the hat with no questions asked. The replacement is doing fine, one year later.
I have tried both the looser fitting “boonie” crown and the form-fitting five panel (baseball cap style) crown. I prefer the “boonie” crown as it seems a little cooler but it’s a subtle difference. That said the Firebird style wasn’t available when I bought mine. I do like the option of a larger brim on the Firebird, but haven’t had any issues with the brim coverage on the Seahawk.
My wife loves her Tilley. She found it at a yard sale for “1 or 2 dollars”. Brand new; never worn.
I wouldn’t wear one if somebody gave me a new one.
If I want a hat to wear when it’s raining; I wear an REI rain hat.
If I want full coverage to save my face from UV wear & tear; I wear a straw hat, which I think cost me 25 or 30 bucks, and I look so damn good in it!
Cloudy to partly sunny, no rain…ball cap.
Cold days it’s one of a variety of wool or fleece, stocking hats.
Recommendation: wear one regardless of brand with a full brim.
Or have bad things burned or cut off your head every 6 months so they don’t become really bad things.
@string said:
Recommendation: wear one regardless of brand with a full brim.
Or have bad things burned or cut off your head every 6 months so they don’t become really bad things.
I always hated hats… now they are cutting on me… now I wear hats…
String, love the Seattle Sombrero for rain and cold, but it doesn’t matter how “old” the rain is.
I use visors because even vented hats are too hot. If I decide to wear a sun hat due to needing more of a brim (for weeding), I bought a straw “lifeguard hat” from NRS. It is not what you might assume. It is almost as brimmy as a Mexican sombrero. Not waterproof, so I won’t use it for paddling.
I recommend the Riverz Delta straw hat (“techstraw” = polypropylene). It’s a C-crown fedora style, 3" brim holds up to wind well, good in the rain. Floats, washes clean (tar came off), has a chin strap, CoolMax sweatband, fairly well ventilated crown. Mine is 12 years old, might need to be replaced next year. Can be had in XXL, which is rare, has some style for a paddling hat, even more rare. There are a few other models, with up to a 5" brim: shop.sfhat.com/catalog/riverz-amphibious-hats
I’ve got a pile of wide brimmed paddling hats, because my wife goes to garage sales all the time. I thought her latest find would probably not be as practical as any of the others, but it felt right and for now it is my favorite. It’s a J-hat from Denmark (Safari) and my guess is that it would be pretty spendy if store bought. I forget what my wife said she paid for it, but she’s a tightwad when it comes to garage sales.