Hello everybody,
I’m sure this subject has been discuss before but I wasn’t able to find anything about it here. I’m looking for a hat to use while fly fishing, I don’t know much about them but something kind of like a “Indiana Jones” hat. I was looking at an Outback Trading Company hat.
I don’t want to spend a lot either.
Thanks in advance guys and ladies.
Martin
Indy wore a wool felt fedora. You can find them reasonably priced on Amazon:
I am sure several on here will guide you towards a Tilley. Good hats but they can get a bit pricey. Tilleys are 100% guaranteed never to wear out.
I have a Broner Solarweave Floater with the little hidden pocket in the top like Tilley offers. Something similar to this:
http://store.scottsbt.com/Solarweavereg-Floater-P19957.aspx#
Whatever choice you make you are on the right track with a wide brimmed hat. They offer the best all around protection from the elements with maximum comfort. I love my Broner. Like the soft hats with snaps to raise the sides. I can wad this hat up into a ball, give it a snap with a flick of the wrist and it pops back into shape. Tilleys are like that too. My Broner is bone white so I am considering buying a darker Broner or Tilley myself.
The wool felt fedoras of higher quality can be crushed and will pop back into shape too.
Orvis sells a fedora too, http://www.orvis.com/store/search_results.aspx?keyword=fedora&x=48&y=1.
However, I prefer the boonie hat my son sent me from his first tour in Iraq…
If there were a surplus store around here I would have bought another boonie hat, I lost the one I had left from my ARNG days doing float tube tricks last fall. I recently purchased a replacement at wallyworld for $10, wide brim cloth with mesh around the top and a little pocket in the crown. I will add a fly patch of some type since I rarely wear a vest but always wear a hat. I have a straw from Bass Pro I wear in warm weather. The straw has a sun blocking brim and crown, since my hat doesn’t do a good job anymore.
Looking for a hat to fly fish? Putting aside any sun-protection considerations, a brimmed hat offers more hook protection than a billed cap; this may be especially useful if you are a novice or are fishing from a boat with a novice. Some of us believe that a dark color is better than white or some other light color if you are wade fishing. Your polaroids will be more effective if you wear a hat that shades your eyes rather than either bareheaded or, say, a ski cap. Other than that, Martin, cover your head with whatever you are comfortable in.
Crotalus got it exactly right. I got a Tilley airflo wide brim last year and it is by far the best hat I’ve ever put on my head---- except for winter.
I too would prefer the Tilley. Unfortunately, they are over my budget, so I wear a jungle camo boonie that I picked up at the Army/Navy surplus store for $6.00. With my boonie, sunscreen & sunglasses, I’m set for the day. Cabela’s carries a lot of hats including Tilleys and Indiana Jones type fedoras.
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/clothing-mens-casual-clothing-mens-headwear-mens-brimmed-hats/_/N-1102410/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104006880?WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104797080%3Bcat104448780
The “Tilley” is also insured against loss or theft. I’m also partial to the Airflo. They are expensive and Lotec indicated.
And the Tilley is guaranteed. My first wore out (really…up in the front above the brim). Sent it back to Tilley and they sent back a brand new one and included my old one for my fish cave’s Wall of Fame. Can’t beat that for the best hat on the market. Ya gets what ya pays fer.
Heres another vote for the Tilley. Best hat made.
Try for one of these Martin! Helluva lot cheaper than those tooty and uber expensive Tilleys!!
Cabelas “Outback Trading” line of hats has plenty to choose from in wool, straw and Tilley style. Several are currently on sale including the Tradewinds for $23.
any hat with a full brim that meets the weather conditions, usually for me its a Boonie hat or a boyscout wool fedora type. I like a full brim, it keeps the hook out of and the sun off of my ears. I also like a chin strap for the days when the wind is blowing.
Eric
I have this same hat. It’s great for hot, sunny days. It blocks most of the sunlight, and the breeze goes right through it.
One word…Tilley. Here is one on e bay for 55 dollars and free shipping…
Not that much more that the Cabelas listed above…
Brad
One of the things I enjoy most about any endeavor I attempt is the collecting of the ‘stuff’ one requires to be comfortable and properly equipped.
It’s really easy to just mail order the darn hat and be done with it, but what fun is that. I really enjoyed prowling second hand shops, old hardware stores, swap meets, yard sales, and the occasional mall until I found a hat I really liked. I did buy several, but as I searched for ‘the’ hat the criteria kept shifting and advancing as I saw different features and styles.
Along the way I found lots of fly tying stuff, a few pieces of tackle and tools that I’d not have seen otherwise, and have some neat memories of the hunt.
I did finally find the hat (actually bought two of them, just in case). Don’t know (or care) what brand it is, what it’s made out of, or how it ‘looks’ while I wear it. It fits me, keeps my ears and neck shaded, my head cool and protected from occasional rain. It gets crumpled, bent, and stained.
It’s just a hat, but it’s MY hat.
Buddy
You will not find a better hat, and at this price, it’s a STEAL as long as the seller has a good rating. I own 2 LTM6 Tilleys…1 olive one that was a gift & the other a khaki color that I found on sale in Cabelas last year for $56.00.
As stated so many times, they are great. Once you wear a Tilley, you will be spoiled for life!
BTW, go to a Tilley dealer & try one on before you order (if you buy online).
Mike
First of all I cringe:-? if I pay more than $30 for a great hat and with that small stipulation I now have them sitting around everywhere. :roll: Ebay is the way to go as several of my “like new,” Indy hats as well as others came from there. Although I was always seen in my Vietnam style, Aussie Hat when teaching diving in the sub tropics for years, I really prefer the Rands, Stetsons and other well made felts that retail for $300 and up. As I said that’s way out of my price range but do manage to find them on Ebay for on or about my max above.
Outback makes some really nice Indy style hats as does Kakadu, Stetson (Gun Club) and others. I do prefer felt in the fall, spring and winter and a good straw in the summer. Other than that if you really get serious about the sun,
go for a Lefty’s Lid with a detachable side/back flap and wear a, for lack of a better word, face gaiter or sun hoody! Add a long sleeve shirt, long legs pants, pair of sun gloves and you’ve got the stuation and your skin pretty well covered. This also depends on where you are fishing if you are into style at all. Although a Flats Hat is the rule on the gulf and around Florida, once you get north a bit folks seem to favor the western, Aussie, Indiana Jones style. Come on out here and you’ll see more of the wider brim western or cowboy hat style.
This is the greatest hat ever made:
http://www.millerhats.com/cavalry_index/cavalry.html
Stetson is the finest quality but I am not wearing my “Cav Hat” on the stream.
Stetson does make some really nice, very comfortable outdoor fedoras too.