I cannot believe it is that time of year again that I am looking at hats. For around 10 years I used the same baseball cap, my lucky hat, however finally it is looking too tatty for it to be wearable – the peak is slowly easing out the stitching. In the middle of last season I started wearing some of my spare baseball caps and have just not been happy with them. My Orvis hat was too bright and a cap I bought off eBay despite having wee patches for flies turned out to have too short a peak.
I was down in Luss and was browsing around a traditional Scottish shoppe when I came across a rather snazzy tweed cap – you know the old school kind. I tried it on and it felt great however all it took was one look from the wife to tell me that this look was never going to go down well.
So it was back to the drawing board.
I remembered trying on some Tilly Hats a few years ago and she thought they looked rather snazzy. Seeing as how the wife is the main person who gives me hat advice in life (you cannot trust yourself seemingly) I browsed around and found some of them on E – Outdoor
They have some nice wide peaks and keep the rain off your neck as they are so wide. Of course because of their style they also keep the sun off your neck as well. At around 50 bucks these hats are not cheap however they come with a lifetime warranty so if it gets too tatty then they will replace it. Of course I think that the tattier a hat is the luckier it is however I am pretty sure something can be worked out. Sure, some folk might give you the odd funny look as the standard hat for fishing in an urban environment however all you would have to say is that your hat is made out of “hemp” and then you are back in with the cool kids.
mmm. These hats are dearer in Go outdoors, but they guarantee to beat any price by 10%, as long as you’re a discount card holder. So you could get one of these for 10% off the e-outdoor price.
…Also there is a cracking picture of a hemp hat wearer, in the hat description, on the Go Outdoors website!
Big Tilley fan here…now. After a Mohs surgery, better coverage of my face, neck, and ears (not covered at all with baseball caps) seems more important than ever. Yeah, it’s old school looking, but better dowdy than the removal of more chunks of flesh.
Tie me Kangoroo down sport. 🙂
Kangeroo. (Sorry )
I bought my first Tilley Hat in the late 1990s, and to date, and now I have eight of the darned things. I guess I’m a real Tilley fan. I lived in Sarasota, Florida, for 8 years before I moved to the Missouri Ozarks 4 years ago. I also had Mohs surgery on the side of my nose while in Florida, even though I always wear a hat while outdoors.
I think you guys have sold me on them 🙂
Mate, you having a mid life crisis? All that time couped up at the inlaws changed you? Remember the guys who are talking about skin cancer live where the sun actually shines, not like here! It may protect you from the sun but it is not gonna help you with furred arteries and heart attacks! I look forward to seeing you wearing one.
Tilley’s are great hats,if pricey…..My fav fishing hat is from a company called Sunday Afternoons out of Talent ,Oregon here in the US. Besides hats they have several lines of UV protective clothing and outdoor stuff…I’m on my 3rd one (one is now the garden hat,one floated away) but they’re worth checking out….