Hat

[mattheus]

I'm pretty prone to sunstroke. A buff has been my best friend on hothot rides (covers head+neck quite nicely). I always have a proper cycling cap with me as well - you can even combine them for certain conditions. Either can be wetted to aid cooling (although I rarely bother)

This combo is probably lighter (in your pockets) than almost all "conventional" hats.

[andrew_s]

I use a cap with a neck flap, legionnaire style.
Currently, it's the Outdoor Research Sun Runner cap.

I also use it without the flap for keeping regular sun and car headlights out of my eyes.

[Vorpal]

I wear a baseball cap. If my neck needs something, I either use sunscreen, or if it's really hot, I use a bandana, or similar piece of cloth & keep it wet from my water bottle.

I have trouble keeping hats on my head, so they need a chin strap or something. With a baseball cap, I can put my ponytail through the adjuster at the back & that usually keeps it on.

Mr. V wears a cricket hat.

[Bonefishblues]

I use a cap with a neck flap, legionnaire style.
Currently, it's the Outdoor Research Sun Runner cap.

I also use it without the flap for keeping regular sun and car headlights out of my eyes.

The flapping drives me mad on these, and also the tail is of limited use on bike as it flies up at the mighty speed that we all ride at

[freiston]

I use a cycling cap with plenty of factor 50+ on the neck, ears, face etc.

I've tried cycling in my wide-brimmed hats of this ilk (they call it a boonie hat) but the brim just gets pushed up by the wind. I have thought about the hats with the neck flap (and possibly a larger peak than the cycling caps) like the legionnaire style but haven't yet committed to purchasing one.

What I like about the cycling caps is their ability to pack right down to pocket-size and that they are easy to wash and dry.

[simonhill]

Neck? Wear a shirt with a collar.

I normally ride where 30 is on the cool side. Long sleeve shirt with collar, so no gap between hairline.

Normally in the mornings or going face into the sun I wear a baseball type cap. Peak keeps sun off face. May need a dab of sunscreen on end of nose.

Towards midday, a wide brimmed hat, cheapo lighter weight version of Tilley, which keeps sun off ears, etc.

Can't understand why people cover themselves in sunscreen slime instead of using a natural barrier like clothing. Especially as some of you wild camp - uuugh!

[Richard Fairhurst]

Thank you all - enormously helpful responses!

[mjr]

I use a cap with a neck flap, legionnaire style.
Currently, it's the Outdoor Research Sun Runner cap.

I also use it without the flap for keeping regular sun and car headlights out of my eyes.

The flapping drives me mad on these, and also the tail is of limited use on bike as it flies up at the mighty speed that we all ride at

Oh I quite like the flapping. Combined with the rhythmic clicking of top gear overdriving the low gear pawls, it makes me feel I'm powering along like a train!

[Tangled Metal]

https://www.outdoorresearch.com/cl/en/gear-and-accessories/hats/sun-hats/radar-pocket-cap/p/2434460800008#sizefitguide

This is my go to hat. Pocketable too. Only I suspect I should have got the xl. They only had the s, M and l in stock where I bought it so didn't know about the xl size that would have been better.

I've owned a Tilley hat. Nylon with vent. It's OK but feels warmer to me. Plus it shrunk on first wash (40C setting as per destructions) and I could not stretch it back. They say stretch it back into shape after washing. It probably shrunk at least 3 hat sizes. I got one back but it no longer has the 2 fingers wiggle room the company advises when finding your size Tilley. Way too expensive for the quality IMHO. Jeez! Two washes and the colour has gone too!

That hat is now occasionally worn by my other half or my 6 year old son if we're away for a weekend, it's hot / sunny and they've forgotten their hat. It's no good for my head any more. Carp!

[mjr]

Neck? Wear a shirt with a collar.

I normally ride where 30 is on the cool side. Long sleeve shirt with collar, so no gap between hairline.

Ah but I'm now a respectable-looking businessperson with a short back haircut, so there is still a gap to the collar and flipped-up collars on hiking shirts don't stay up at cycling speeds/angles. A hat brim or flap is needed for me. Maybe I just have a long neck - better for fitting brass to!

[Tangled Metal]

Hmmm! Personally collar doesn't cover the gap and I've not got an exceptionally long neck neither. Unless you buy the better outdoor ones for tropical / hot and sunny places nearer the equator with the double flip up collar. IIRC rohan and / or crag hoppers / Royal Robbin do these not not many others.

Covering up with clothing. You have to pick the right fabrics and even colours. Light, open weave often found in clothing to keep you cool by venting could have less effect than even SPF 15 / 5 star gunk.

I had relatives who got skin cancer in places that were covered up most of the time but exposed necks or ears had no signs of skin cancer. Gunk was used by them but only on exposed places. Still I do think covering up is better than gunk, just cover up with something capable of giving you the protection you need.

[Bonefishblues]

Hmmm! Personally collar doesn't cover the gap and I've not got an exceptionally long neck neither. Unless you buy the better outdoor ones for tropical / hot and sunny places nearer the equator with the double flip up collar. IIRC rohan and / or crag hoppers / Royal Robbin do these not not many others.

I've got a couple, but they don't work for me, can't keep 'em up. Nor do buffs, which are very much de rigueur amongst the fashionable fishistas at the moment because too confining.

On the theme of pocketable caps, this is a bargain, also from Patagonia (designed for long distance runners at their request):

https://www.countryside.co.uk/patagonia ... fgEALw_wcB

I have lots of Patagonia gear, and it's just excellent, as is the company & its ethos, btw.

[mattheus]

Can't understand why people cover themselves in sunscreen slime instead of using a natural barrier like clothing. Especially as some of you wild camp - uuugh!

Sunscreen is like the smell of summer.

There aren't many days in any year that I need it, so I like to make the most of the experience.

(and decent quality stuff isn't slimey once it's on you - it just has a distinctive smell)

[whoof]

Can't understand why people cover themselves in sunscreen slime instead of using a natural barrier like clothing. Especially as some of you wild camp - uuugh!

Sunscreen is like the smell of summer.

There aren't many days in any year that I need it, so I like to make the most of the experience.

(and decent quality stuff isn't slimey once it's on you - it just has a distinctive smell)

I currently smell like a Bounty bar which I find quite pleasant and am not at all slimy.
WRT hats along with some others on here I wear a cycling cap. Currently a blue Campag one or if touring a rather tattered TVM one. Don't have a probelm with the back of my neck and don't have a mullet/pony-tail like Gert either.

[freiston]

Can't understand why people cover themselves in sunscreen slime instead of using a natural barrier like clothing. Especially as some of you wild camp - uuugh!

From experience, I know that clothing and a hat that are not unsuitable for hot weather or cycling are not enough to stop me from burning, especially on the face. Friends have joked that I would get burnt under a full moon.