Hats-more than just a stylish "cover"

[ohiotuber]

I am pushing 65 years of age & until I turned 50, I NEVER wore a hat while fishing. Call me lucky, but in spite of a blistered nose & peeling ears, I somehow avoided skin cancer. Then I started wearing a ball cap, then a "boonie hat" for full brim protection. In one of our many discussions, dear old departed friend, Jim Birkholm (Castwell from FAOL), & Ladyfisher, Deanne, suggested I consider a Tilley hat. Those were nice but WAY out of my hat budget. Then I semi-retired & among my gifts was a $75.00 gift certificate to a local store that carried literally NOTHING for the fly fisher. I was thinking about trying to sell the certificate to another customer when I saw a Tilley display. Well, I ended up buying a supposed "over priced" Tilley LTM6 Airflo hat (mine is olive). That was two years ago.....I wear it EVERY fishing trip, to soccer games, zoos with the Grandkids, & literally everywhere I will get a lot of sun (and rain!). If I ever lose that hat, I WILL spend the money for another. It is extremely light weight, and besides providing great sun protection, it literally eliminates side glare which really helps you focus on the fly/line in front of you.
The reason for this post is NOT to market Tilley Hats (I have no ties to them), but to try to suggest to others that hats, particularly full brim hats, are an extremely important tool in the outdoors. Brand is of course up to individual preference but price should not be a deterent to protection & our individual health in addition to function.
Just my opinion & what I feel is a necessary reminder. Regardless of brand, please look at a full brim hat...they definitely serve a purpose.
Mike

[Uncle Jesse]

Tuber, as a fisherman who parts his hair wide I would have to agree. I do not have a Tilley hat but still have a boonie hat for cooler days and a wide bream straw hat for warmer days. One of our friends recently had a photo on her facebook page of a newly pierced ear that a brim might have prevented. A decent hat, I got my last two at a large sporting goods company for a deal and they have a fabric underneath the straw to block the sun, and decent sun glasses are two investments I would encourage everyone to make.

Skin cancer can be a lot more serious than most of us, especially youngers under 50, take. My alma mater had one of the starting football players die from what started as skin cancer last fall, it moved extremely fast and got him within about 6 weeks of discovery. He was a young black man from Birmingham, and most of us think dark complexion protects us or them from skin cancer. Be smart.

[Jack Hise]

For once Tuber is right on!! But he forgot to mention that the "Tilly" is warrentied against loss or theft. I don't know of any other hat that is!? If you read the history of the Tilly you will find that one was eaten by an Elephant and then passed with no damage!! I think I would have reported it stolen!!
Good post Mikey.

[TyroneFly]

Way too much information Jack.

Good post Mike. Like a lot of people I tend to grab a baseball style cap, but full brim is a better way to go as you stated.

[kbproctor]

My very first job was working on a ranch outside Glenrock, WY the summer I was 14. I wore a full on western hat or "cowboy" hat for years. The wide brim keeps the sun and rain out of your eyes and off your ears and neck and does it quite well. As time passed, I switched to ball caps most of the time. I still wear a ball cap most of the time with my logo on it. When I fish, though, I wear a Tilley styled hat with a wide brim. It does what the old cowboy hat did for me and also keeps errant flies from embedding themselves in my ear. It's not a Tilley, but has that general shape. It's camo and I picked it up at Wally World for $10. I enjoy that hat as much as any I have ever owned.

[quivira kid]

I went a bit different route, myself. I bought a Buff earlier this spring to protect myself from the sun and the bugs. It's been on a few trips now, when I've fished mid-day and would have gotten a dandy sunburn. Absolutely love it! They are comfortable to wear, more breatheable than I figured, and take up VERY little space when not in use.
It's definitely an option to consider.

[farleycat]

I too bit the bullet and purchased a TilleyLT5 a few months ago. I really agonized over spending that much money for a hat. I absolutely love it and would not hesitate to purchase another if I ever had to. Sits on my head and is so light I forget it is on. Wore it to the VA Fly Fish Festival and gave it a good workout....no rain running down my neck and yes, it did stay on in the wind. When I go to the PA Fishin in I will be pairiing the hat with a "buff" for the neck and will occasionaly dunk the buff in the stream for the cooling benefits!
Bernie


AAAHHHHH.....my new rod is still virgin territory but this Sunday I am hoping to rectify that situation........

[Bluegill222]

I didn't go the Tilley route either, but I don't even go outside to go to the store without something on my head. In fact I have friends who claim if I took my hat off my brain would fall out since they've never seen me without one. Good post, Mike.

[WarrenP]

I have always wore a baseball style hat and never worried about the sun. Born and raised on a farm and spent many hours out in the sun in the hay fields and spent many hours in the sun while tournament bass fishing. After becoming a fly fisher, about 20 years ago, I continued to wear the baseball style hat and put up with the sun burnt ears and neck for the first few outings and never gave skin cancer a second thought, but, a little over a year ago I had to have surgery on the top of my left hand to remove a rather large spot of skin cancer and have had to go back for check-ups every 3 months since. The surgeon told me that most people do not realize that the skin cancer that "pops" up now did not happen from the sun we are exposed to now but is really the damage done by the sun many years ago and now the body is older and cannot continue to fight the damage and it turns into skin cancer. He advised me to be more careful of exposed skin to the sun and use sun blocker and any other protection I could. Thanks so much to "CO Flyfisher", I now own and use a Tilley everytime I am on the water and just love it. It not only protects the neck and ears, it also blocks the sun from coming in from the sides which interferred with vision. It is so light, I never know it is on and it repels water.

Thanks so much, Jared, for your thoughtful gift. You are a good caring FAOL friend and hurry back here so we can fish again.....

[James Smith]

I am also a huge Tilly hat fan. Like Warren, I grew up working on farms as a kid and never wore a hat unless I was on the baseball field. As I grew older, I would get a really bad sun burn on my face, neck and ears the first couple of outings; but never worried much about skin cancer. The edges of my ears would get slightly "crispy", but the skin would peel and I'd be okay for another season. About 12 years ago, I decided to avoid the pain of my annual sunburn and crispy ears so I started wearing a ball cap. It did okay for my face (mainly my forehead) but it left my ears and the back of my neck exposed. After reading about Tilley hats, I shopped around and found one on sale and I couldn't be happier. Very comfortable and as Jack Hise alluded to, very durable. I now avoid my annual sunburns and hopefully will retain my youthful beauty I now have a Tilly for fishing that I've dyed olive green and one that I use for yardwork and gardening that I left white. Great hats and well worth the money even at full price.

Jim Smith