Straight Dope Message Board

[Acsenray]

I wear a hat of some kind most days. The two kinds of hats that I don’t wear are baseball caps and (unless the weather is in Arctic range) ski hats (the cap with a thousand names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap) because they’re fucking stupid-looking.

Sometimes I wear a beret but usually I wear a brimmed hat of some kind.

Yesterday I was crossing a broad, busy street (with the light, of course) and it was a bit windy, so I was using one hand to keep my hat on my head. Suddenly there was a gust so strong that it blew my hat away even though I was holding it.

(Luckily a nice driver stopped for me to retrieve it but it was pure luck that it stopped in a place I could get it and no one ran it over).

So do I just have to stick with brimless hats in windy weather or did men in the early 20th century have a trick to keep their hats on their heads? I specify men because I know women used hatpins and stuff to keep their hats on. 1

[Smapti]

I wear a wool fedora on cold and rainy days. If it's breezy, I tilt my head down and pinch the crown with one hand. I've owned it for about ten years now and I haven't lost it yet, though I did lose a flimsier trilby to the breeze once. 2

[Ignotus]

It´s from late nineteenth century, but in The Blue Carbuncle Sherlock Holmes notes that a felt hat shows signs of having had a chinstrap attached. 3

[CalMeacham]

Originally Posted by Ignotus

It´s from late nineteenth century, but in The Blue Carbuncle Sherlock Holmes notes that a felt hat shows signs of having had a chinstrap attached.

Not a chinstrap -- there was a cord at the back that attached to a button on the collar.

Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect."

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_A...Blue_Carbuncle

Heck, I had one of those on the hat I wore while white-water raftering. Kept my hat on me when I got sucked into a whirlpool. 4

[Exapno Mapcase]

Men losing their hats to the wind was a trope in old movies and cartoons, so it must have been common.

Note: I'm not stalking you, Cal. Pure coincidence. 5

[Ignotus]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

Not a chinstrap -- there was a cord at the back that attached to a button on the collar.




https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_A...Blue_Carbuncle

Heck, I had one of those on the hat I wore while white-water raftering. Kept my hat on me when I got sucked into a whirlpool.

Thank you for the correction! I shall notify the editor of the Swedish translation I have! 6

[74westy]

Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.
-- Tom Reagan 7

[CookingWithGas]

I guess the phrase, "Hold onto your hat!" is now archaic. 8

[Just Asking Questions]

You think wool caps are "fucking stupid looking", but you admit to wearing a beret?

Hoo-kay. 9

[Thudlow Boink]

Originally Posted by 74westy

Nothing more foolish than a man chasin' his hat.
-- Tom Reagan

Originally Posted by G.K.Chesterton

there is a current impression that it is unpleasant to have to run after one’s hat. Why should it be unpleasant to the well-ordered and pious mind? Not merely because it is running, and running exhausts one. The same people run much faster in games and sports. The same people run much more eagerly after an uninteresting little leather ball than they will after a nice silk hat. There is an idea that it is humiliating to run after one’s hat; and when people say it is humiliating they mean that it is comic. It certainly is comic; but man is a very comic creature, and most of the things he does are comic—eating, for instance. And the most comic things of all are exactly the things that are most worth doing—such as making love. A man running after a hat is not half so ridiculous as a man running after a wife.

Now a man could, if he felt rightly in the matter, run after his hat with the manliest ardour and the most sacred joy. He might regard himself as a jolly huntsman pursuing a wild animal, for certainly no animal could be wilder. In fact, I am inclined to believe that hat-hunting on windy days will be the sport of the upper classes in the future. There will be a meet of ladies and gentlemen on some high ground on a gusty morning. They will be told that the professional attendants have started a hat in such-and-such a thicket, or whatever be the technical term.

--On Running After One's Hat 10

[mbh]

Old bit of ranchers' lore about cowboys:

"Never hire a man who rolls his own cigarettes, or wears a straw hat; if he's not trying to roll a cigarette in the wind, he's chasing that d*** straw hat all over creation." 11

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by Thudlow Boink

--On Running After One's Hat

Nice try, Chesty, but you're making a silk purse out of a sow's ear. 12

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by Acsenray

ski hats (the cap with a thousand names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap) because they’re fucking stupid-looking.

Sometimes I wear a beret

Talk about stupid looking. 13

[Dangerosa]

Originally Posted by Smapti

I wear a wool fedora on cold and rainy days. If it's breezy, I tilt my head down and pinch the crown with one hand. I've owned it for about ten years now and I haven't lost it yet, though I did lose a flimsier trilby to the breeze once.

This. They were also sized way back when and fit pretty tightly - so a light breeze isn't going to take it. I have my Dad's fedora from the early 1960s and its a tight fit on my head. 14

[RioRico]

Probably chin- or neck-straps in many situations but then alligator clips were invented; I've used a two-clip hat keeper since forever. Hat may blow off but it doesn't go far. I just jam other hats down tight.

The OP question makes me wonder about earlier times before fairly low fedoras replaced tall top hats. How did Abe Lincoln keep that stovepipe in place? 15

[Dinsdale]

Originally Posted by Acsenray

I wear a hat of some kind most days. The two kinds of hats that I don’t wear are baseball caps and (unless the weather is in Arctic range) ski hats (the cap with a thousand names https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit_cap) because they’re fucking stupid-looking.

...

The 2 styles of hats the OP eschews because of appearance impress me as among the 2 most practical styles of hats...

Not sure when it the last time I saw a man wearing a beret. But I CAN categorically state the last time I saw a guy wearing a beret and NOT looking like a doofus! That would be NEVER!

Unless, perhaps, he was in France, wearing a striped shirt, with a mustache, and playing a concertina... Nah, he'd still look like a doofus! 16

[ASL v2.0]

The peaked cap often worn by military and police (though increasingly only in a formal dress uniform) has a strap that goes across the front, just above the base of the brim. You might think it’s for use as a chin strap. And maybe, back in the day when such hats were worn as practical header, that’s what the strap was used for. But now? Strictly decorative (even though it is often capable of being brought down under the chin).

Anyway, I nearly lost my headgear to many a sudden gust of wind while walking along piers or up the ship's brow (the gangplank, if you will). It was blown off and sent flying more than once, but every time, I managed to catch it before it ended up in the water. Often only just.

[grumbling]Stupid impractical headgear...[/grumbling] 17

[enipla]

Originally Posted by Dangerosa

This. They were also sized way back when and fit pretty tightly - so a light breeze isn't going to take it. I have my Dad's fedora from the early 1960s and its a tight fit on my head.

Perhaps also that they would also use some sort of hair tonic/oil or whatever. With short hair and some sort of... elixir? I bet you could get a pretty snug fit. 18

[Acsenray]

Originally Posted by Just Asking Questions

You think wool caps are "fucking stupid looking", but you admit to wearing a beret?

Hoo-kay.

Originally Posted by Spiderman

Talk about stupid looking.

Originally Posted by Dinsdale

The 2 styles of hats the OP eschews because of appearance impress me as among the 2 most practical styles of hats...

Not sure when it the last time I saw a man wearing a beret. But I CAN categorically state the last time I saw a guy wearing a beret and NOT looking like a doofus! That would be NEVER!

Unless, perhaps, he was in France, wearing a striped shirt, with a mustache, and playing a concertina... Nah, he'd still look like a doofus!

Yep, I look fantastic in a beret, and like a doofus in a baseball cap or ski hat. That's life. And that's aesthetics. De gustibus non disputandum est. 19

[panache45]

I have the best solution: I never buy a winter coat unless it has a hood. 20

[Chronos]

[Moderating]

Let's doff all the discussion about which sorts of hats look stupid, fucking or otherwise. 21

[minor7flat5]

I just pull my fedora on as tight as I can get it. If it's too windy for that then I have to travel one-handed, with the other holding my hat in place--kind of like how old-timey ladies had to walk around one-handed, with the other fully occupied in lifting their long skirts above the filth in the city streets. 22

[KneadToKnow]

My Tilley hat has a wind cord. I used it when I was in Egypt, because if the wind took it from me, there wasn't anything to stop it until it got to Morocco.

N.B.: My particular model is no longer available, apparently, but the wind cord is still part of several models, from what I can see. 23

[Senegoid]

I am aware that some observant Jews, who wear a yarmulke (skullcap) at all times, may use a bobby pin or similar to hold it in place.

I have engaged in outdoor recreational activities lately that often entail getting hats blown off in gusts of wind. Hats with chinstraps were widely used. Also, hats with a flap in the back to keep the sun off the back of the next.

In direct answer to OP's question, my suggestion would be to go with the hats with chinstraps.

Vlad the Impaler had his useful techniques too, but I don't think OP would like that. 24

[steepone]

I can't recall where I read it or what the time frame was but I remember reading a story once where young boys earned pocket money chasing down hats on windy days 25

[Hari Seldon]

I wear a ski cap for at least 6 months of the year. It keeps my head warm and cannot blow away. If you don't like how it looks, that's your problem.

My father wore a fedora very tight and I imagine he held on tight when necessary. What I was never able to understand was why his ears didn't freeze since he never wore ear muffs. He said he got used to the cold and it rarely got that cold in Philly, hardly ever below 10 F. But still.... 26

[Acsenray]

Originally Posted by KneadToKnow

My Tilley hat has a wind cord. I used it when I was in Egypt, because if the wind took it from me, there wasn't anything to stop it until it got to Morocco.

N.B.: My particular model is no longer available, apparently, but the wind cord is still part of several models, from what I can see.

I have a Tilley hat. It’s a fine hat. but I’m not going to wear it with my suit to work. Maybe on days that I dress casually. 27

[enipla]

Where my Wife and I have gone horseback riding, you must have a chin strap for your hat. If it blows off, it can spook the horses. 28

[DesertDog]

Originally Posted by CalMeacham

Not a chinstrap -- there was a cord at the back that attached to a button on the collar.

A few years ago I had a batch of custom fezzes made by these folks for use at Burning Man, known for its occasional high winds. I specified some way of attaching a lanyard, just in case, and they came up with a small, sturdy loop at the back on the inside just short of showing.

I hadn't considered that the city of Fez, where they were presumably thought up, also has a desert climate with a lot of wind. While I've not gone out with it during really windy periods -- this causes what's called a 'whiteout' where you want to hunker down in place anyway -- but I have been hit by gusts I'd estimate at 30mph with no signs of the hat being lost. The lanyard loop had proved entirely superfluous. 29