Advocacy & Safety - Does anyone ride wearing a regular hat?

I think I want a hat while I ride... not a helmet (I've got a helmet that I don't wear much already).

The problem I have often is that I get sunburned on my ears or around my hairline, where I can't apply sunscreen real well. Also around the sweatband, because it rubs off the sunscreen.
I kinda like this one: http://www.villagehatshop.com/sunbody_gus.html
it'd need a strap to say on, of course, and riding real fast would be out of the question, but I tend to totter along at 14-15 mph most of the time anyway.
,,,,
A hat won't protect me much in a crash I realize--but I haven't ever had a serious crash. I get mild sunburns all the time, and it doesn't make much sense to bother with preventing the problem that has never happened, while putting up with a problem that happens all the time.

I've never seen anyone IRL wearing much of any had while riding, but I did notice that there's a photo of some people doing it on the Challenge website:
http://www.challenge-recumbents.com/html/index.php?taal=en

The Challenge website has a series of photos for the top-graphic. It starts randomly and rotates through them when you refresh the page. The photo I am talking about is screen-shot-ed here:
http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper/assorted/inanities/recumbent/general/stuff/common.html

As can be seen, both riders are wearing hats, not helmets at all--and fairly wide-brim hats at that. Not something silly like a traditional riding cap, or a baseball cap. Also we can see--one rider has even tied his helmet to the bike, so this was not just an error of "forgot the helmet at home, so we stopped and bought hats along the way".

Does anyone here ride wearing a regular hat?
Does anyone else have issues with sunburns to the head?
What solutions have you found?
~

Get ready for a barrage from the pro-helmet lobby...but that's not your question.

OK, I wear a helmet, but those are pretty big vents on top. I'll get a really nice sunburn through those. Since I have no hair, I:

1. Slather my pate with sunscreen.

2. Wear a lycra bandanna under my helmet. It's a long bandanna so it also protects the back of my neck.

3. Both.

Sun protection is a very important issue. A wide brimmed hat is a good solution to keep the sun off the top of your head and your ears. You are right, baseball caps do nothing to protects the tops of your ears from sunburn.

Just my 2c.

Does anyone here ride wearing a regular hat?
Does anyone else have issues with sunburns to the head?
What solutions have you found?
~

No, I ride with a cycling cap.. headsweats & cool max
No, and I'm bald. Possibly a light sunburn on my scalp after my first 6+hour in full sunlight ride due to rays penetrating the coomax, but that's typically it.
For some reason, it seems my ears don't burn and I don't get any on my neck either when cycling. Now if I'm doing yard work in the same sun for the same period of time, both tend to burn. I don't know why.

I ride with a regular hat for cycling - it's called a 'helmet'.

you could always wear a boonie type brimmed hat underneath for extra sun protection, or just a cotton or synth cycling cap.

around town i'll wear nothing on my noggin, especially when i head out on the bakfiets or one of the dutch bikes. this is typical if i'm running errands in the neighborhood or using the bike path as my main route. if i head across town on the FG or road bike i'll wear the skull bucket.

if i'm off on a 'ride' i'll wear my helmet with a cycling cap underneath, and i'm usually adorned in full cycling garb - shorts, jersey, shoes.

I like to wear a helmet while riding. Among its advantages in warm sunny weather are that my ears have never gotten sunburned under the helmet and the helmet's pretty breathable. I figure in the summer it's close to equally hot with or without my helmet- the shade of the helmet and the extra insulation where the helmet is against my head approximately cancel each other out.

I wear a linen "newsboy" cap. It protects the top of the ears.

http://www.dadshats.com/capsmal1.html

http://www.stetsonhat.com/raw/images/Spring/images/4S52%20Fan-Tastic.jpg

There used to be a high-quality basket-type pith helmet you could buy. It actually blocked the sun nicely and was heavy enough to keep from blowing off. It wasn't too heavy though since was a basket weave-type material and allowed lots of air flow. It was rigid as well so it wouldn't flap about as you rode.

Yeah I wear a regular hat when I cruise the paths or the beach boardwalk... just your basic baseball hat. My ears are still exposed though, so the hat doesn't help that much.

I think you need a cowboy hat or a porkpie hat... or something like that.

http://www.stetsonhat.com/raw/images/Spring/images/4S52%20Fan-Tastic.jpg

There is a guy I see here and there who rides a 'bent (often pulls a trailer) who wears a hat that looks just like this one.

Al

I often wear a wide brim hat, not cowboy style, straw with a loose weave, lets air flow and keeps the sun off so it's cool and comfortable.

It's for portable shade, not sun protection as I have long hair and don't think I've ever had sunburnt neck or ears.

Ken.

Baseball cap or sun visor. Works for keeping glasses drier in rain storms also.

Knit cap and/or hoodie as cold temperatures require.

There is a guy I see here and there who rides a 'bent (often pulls a trailer) who wears a hat that looks just like this one.

Al

don't forget that classic from '85,

http://cache.cinemanow.com/images/boxart/175/AmericanFlyers_FDZLA_175.jpghttp://uk.geocities.com/mikstar123/issue16/flyers.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088707/

starring KC with a nice mustache, and Eddie Merckx has a cameo

I think I want a hat while I ride... not a helmet (I've got a helmet that I don't wear much already).

The problem I have often is that I get sunburned on my ears or around my hairline, where I can't apply sunscreen real well...

Does anyone here ride wearing a regular hat?
Does anyone else have issues with sunburns to the head?
What solutions have you found?
~

from
http://www.daclarke.org/AltTrans/helmet.html

...Now, for contrast, let's look at a situation where I really am in a high risk group. According to the CDC, we can expect over 47,000 new cases of skin cancer in the US this year (2000). They also predict almost 9,600 fatalities from pre-existing skin cancers. That's ten times the number from bike crashes, remember? Nevertheless, I see plenty of people (sailors and cyclists) out there sunbathing, "working on their tan" (or on their early demise). And I don't see other people, no matter how health-conscious, walking up to sunbathers and lecturing them on their social irresponsibility. I personally wear sunscreen and a hat. In Hawai'i I got laughs all round for snorkelling in a long sleeved shirt. Heck, I don't mind being laughed at if I can avoid cooking my epidermis. More on this below...

As a pale North European type, I'm in the second highest risk category in the world for skin cancer and sun damage in general (second only to albinos). When I ride my bike, I wear a hat; just like my dermatologist told me to. I told my dermatologist that I didn't want to die from skin cancer; that, to me, was an unacceptable risk. She said, "Wear sunscreen and wear a hat with a big floppy wide brim. And I mean on every sunny day, and any overcast one when you're out for more than an hour." So I thought about that. I don't like hats that much, but on the other hand, I don't like painful sunburns or the feeling that I'm doing something for which I'm in a particularly risky category. And cancer's a bad way to go. So I wear the damn hat. Mostly. And I loathe slimy, disgusting sunscreen, but I wear it. Mostly.

If I wear a bike helmet, I lose that wide hat brim that my doctor told me very seriously to wear. Now, in my humble opinion it is my business, and no one else's, to figure out which risk is more urgent for me. Weighing the odds, the figures, and my own unique exposure, I figure the skin cancer is scarier and more immediate than the face plant. I already have skin abnormalities, but I have a flawless safety record. So I ignore the helmet and wear the hat. And thus I get yelled at :-)...

I don't mind so much being yelled at (after all, if you're a woman who routinely cycles everywhere, you do eventually build up a kind of immunity to having various things yelled at you -- and sometimes even thrown). But it's really going to piss me off if police officers start ticketing me for my own adult and informed strategy of risk avoidance. No one should be able to force me to risk skin cancer because of their own unfounded fear of bikes, any more than I should be able to prohibit you legally from eating a steak just because BSE makes me a tad nervous. I would consider that harm. It might even be enough to make me move to the Netherlands -- or any other place where the government is willing to treat me like a grown-up...

I wear an old-style corduroy English golf cap, which shades the ears somewhat, when I ride my old two and three speeds, a helmet the rest of the time. Either way, I slather on the SPF 50. I must be weird, because I don't even notice I have it on.

And I loathe slimy, disgusting sunscreen, but I wear it. Mostly.

Way, way off topic, but if you hate slimy sunscreen (I certainly do) give Bullfrog a try. Not only does it come in really high SPF ratings, but their spray and gel are the least greasy and easiest to apply of any sunscreen I've ever used. I can't even use creams because I sweat them right out but Bullfrog lasts all day on me. Having had moles removed from my back due to too much sun as a kid, the sun on my skin is not something I take very lightly (though I still sometimes forget to lather up).

As to hats, when I'm not wearing a helmet for whatever reason, I'll be wearing one of three hats, either my newly acquired Headsweats Spincycle cycling cap (http://www.headsweats.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=31&idproduct=99)(all white Coolmax, much cooler than a helmet), my Outdoor Research nylon baseball cap (probably not too much any more now that I have the Headsweats cap) or my Smartwool lightweight winter hat. None of these keeps the sun off my neck and ears but the rimmed hats do keep the sun off my forehead and a little more of my face than my sunglasses both of which are appreciated.

Seattle Sombrero (http://www.outdoorresearch.com/home/style/home/headware/rain_hats/82130), available in a number of subdued earth tones, suitable attire for any latte emporium.

Way, way off topic, but if you hate slimy sunscreen (I certainly do) give Bullfrog a try. ...
I do use Bullfrog gel, and it does work better than any other sunscreen I've tried.... -but it still seems to sweat off my head faster than it does anywhere else. And especially gets wiped off near the sweatband I usually wear. "Sunscreen above the neck" just doesn't seem to work real well overall.
~

i wear a WALZ wool cycling cap. Warm in winter, cool in summer, wicks sweat away quite nicely and does'nt stink.

Kind of resurrecting an old thread here...

Have you ever seen the cowboy hard hats? I don't know how practical it would be for cycling, but it might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone (protection from sun and protection for your skull).

http://www.tasco-safety.com/hhats/Cowboy-hard-hats.html

I'm not sure how they would work while cycling though, but it's an idea.

Every now and then... I wear a bright yellow Penzoil hat.

Depends on what I am doing... if I am going out in heavy traffic, I wear a helmet. But for local cruises and riding on the bike path, I wear a baseball cap.

Baseball cap or sun visor. Works for keeping glasses drier in rain storms also.

Knit cap and/or hoodie as cold temperatures require.

When a baseball cap or hoodie won't do this might be just the ticket:

As the song goes "you can leave your hat on". So sometimes, just my brown derby...and nothing else. Of course, there are the holiday specials. Santa hat (if it's big enough you can even wear it OVER a helmet, and of course an Easter bonnet (with a nice tie string so it doesn't blow away), I saw (honest!) a turkey hat at a Thanksgiving parade, and of course, a steel helmet (with/without camoflage) for Veteran's Day. And the traditional '50's era lampshade on your head for New Years.

.... Of course, there are the holiday specials. Santa hat (if it's big enough you can even wear it OVER a helmet...

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041116/wd3.jpg

I wear a cycling hat, baseball cap, and someitmes a sock hat when it is cold.

Hmmm, thinking of this one ... should I go for the elastic band or a good tie on feature?

http://www.gageacademy.org/upload/enews/enews_Party_Hat.jpg



lol - have stuck one of these things on my HELMET on a birthday ride with people.

Now back to normal - Friend of mine took a little ride around the block with his baseball hat on this past Spring. Woke up with bike still clipped onto him, bad head wound - and he did not know who he was - or where he was. He got on his bike and rode, bloody, down the street where he presented his license to some people in a driveway - who directed him home. He recovered - but still does not have any recollection of several hours of his life (had a concussion).

These kinda posts are just useless. You have a piece of equipment that is presented to you to protect you. But then I almost think that this post is almost an inciting kinda post as this subject has been hashed out and remarked to death - in just about every bicycle forum I've been in.

All I say is go fer it, do what you want - but you won't be riding any rides with my club or any other club in my city as a helmet is required. Have fun and be safe.

with a post like that, I'd think Tude would be wearing that hat all the time

You have a piece of equipment that is presented to you to protect you.

Let's say some company comes out with toddler helmets to protect children learning to walk from bumps and scrapes on their heads. Do you strap them on your kids immediately?

And something from reality: There are plenty of helmets designed to protect the head in an automobile crash. Do you wear one all the time, even as a passenger?

If not (to either situation), why not?

Kind of resurrecting an old thread here...

Have you ever seen the cowboy hard hats? I don't know how practical it would be for cycling, but it might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone (protection from sun and protection for your skull).

http://www.tasco-safety.com/hhats/Cowboy-hard-hats.html

I'm not sure how they would work while cycling though, but it's an idea.

I think the biggest problem with riding wearing a hat with a brim, like the OP's suggestion or the example posted above, would be trying to keep it on your head in the wind - either "regular" wind or the relative wind induced by your cycling. (Of course you could always resort to a "stampede string".) A particular problem with the "hard hat" would be having the brim catch on something during a fall, and causing hyperextension or hypercompression of the cervical spine.

Living is more fun when you are not injured.
I wear gloves, helmet, loud color shirts.
Smile when you ride, I do.

Let's say some company comes out with toddler helmets to protect children learning to walk from bumps and scrapes on their heads. Do you strap them on your kids immediately?

And something from reality: There are plenty of helmets designed to protect the head in an automobile crash. Do you wear one all the time, even as a passenger?

If not (to either situation), why not?

Lemme guess: Hypocrisy?

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/771/520270.JPG

:)

I think the biggest problem with riding wearing a hat with a brim, like the OP's suggestion or the example posted above, would be trying to keep it on your head in the wind - either "regular" wind or the relative wind induced by your cycling. (Of course you could always resort to a "stampede string".) A particular problem with the "hard hat" would be having the brim catch on something during a fall, and causing hyperextension or hypercompression of the cervical spine.

Yeah I mean even without the brim there are good discussions on bad helmet design due to it's shape causing unwanted twisting.

http://www.lafavre.us/genealogy/clarence_mowry_sigma_chi.jpg

:)

...These kinda posts are just useless. You have a piece of equipment that is presented to you to protect you. But then I almost think that this post is almost an inciting kinda post as this subject has been hashed out and remarked to death - in just about every bicycle forum I've been in.

All I say is go fer it, do what you want - but you won't be riding any rides with my club or any other club in my city as a helmet is required. Have fun and be safe.


lets see the OP said


The problem I have often is that I get sunburned on my ears or around my hairline, where I can't apply sunscreen real well.

and at http://www.skincancer.org/skincancer-facts.php they say,

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 1 million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.

More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure.

A person's risk for skin cancer doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns.


so, where's the greater risk and what would be the more effective form of preventative measure?

Friend of mine .. Woke up with bike still clipped onto him, bad head wound - and he did not know who he was - or where he was. He got on his bike and rode, bloody, down the street where he presented his license to some people in a driveway - who directed him home. He recovered - but still does not have any recollection of several hours of his life (had a concussion).
I've had an injury like that before. It was not, by far, the end of the world.

I didn't have a helmet on either.

After all, I was driving a CAR, an activity which has a higher rate of head injury than biking, but nobody has ever sneered at me and told me how foolish I was to ride in an automobile wearing a helmet.
I know someone else who had an injury like that too. They were walking in their house at the time.

I've had an injury like that before. It was not, by far, the end of the world.

I didn't have a helmet on either.

After all, I was driving a CAR, an activity which has a higher rate of head injury than biking, but nobody has ever sneered at me and told me how foolish I was to ride in an automobile wearing a helmet.
I know someone else who had an injury like that too. They were walking in their house at the time.

Mostly because of the kinds of injuries sustained in a car are not preventable by a helmet, aka: taking a bumper in the side of the head at 45mph. If the airbags aren't saving your head, a helmet wont.

My helmet IS my regular hat!

Semper Fi!

http://www.lafavre.us/genealogy/clarence_mowry_sigma_chi.jpg

:)

Riding brakeless fg... what a bunch of hipsters.

:p

Riding brakeless fg... what a bunch of hipsters.

:p

... still waiting for a comeback of the part-down-the-middle where the hair is not as long as John Lennon's :)

Mostly because of the kinds of injuries sustained in a car are not preventable by a helmet, aka: taking a bumper in the side of the head at 45mph. If the airbags aren't saving your head, a helmet wont.

I agree with this. When you're in a car accident, there are a number of safety features (air bags, seat belt, the car itself) that keep you from taking the full brunt of force from the other car. When you're on a bike, it's just you against the other car, and that's a pretty big difference. Wearing a helmet isn't going to hurt you, but not wearing one might.

Getting back to what the OP was asking, wearing a hat under your helmet wont help your ears or your neck, but wearing one of these under your helmet might:
http://www.solareclipse.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=417

Mostly because of the kinds of injuries sustained in a car are not preventable by a helmet...

... and those same injuries are the type that can't be prevented by a bicycle helmet either.

It's not necessarily the blow to the skull that is the biggest problem. It's the movement within the skull (the moving and twisting of the brain) that leads to the most devastating types of injuries to the head (brain injury) and current bicycle helmets cannot prevent this movement.

2 new designs show some hope to address this problem. A cone shaped liner helmet http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s2145828.htm and the Phillips helmet http://www.phillipshelmets.co.uk/

here's an 1987 Australian study that addresses these concerns (http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/1987/Mcycle_Helm_1.aspx) where it says,

"very little crushing of the liner foam was usually evident... . The substantial elastic deformation of the child head that can occur during impact can result in quite extensive diffuse brain damage."

I agree with this. When you're in a car accident, there are a number of safety features (air bags, seat belt, the car itself) that keep you from taking the full brunt of force from the other car. When you're on a bike, it's just you against the other car, and that's a pretty big difference. Wearing a helmet isn't going to hurt you, but not wearing one might.

Getting back to what the OP was asking, wearing a hat under your helmet wont help your ears or your neck, but wearing one of these under your helmet might:
http://www.solareclipse.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=417
Ears and neck are a good point, however I'm more worried about face injuries, with or without helmet, it's the #1 thing I wish was protected without a dorky visor or something stupid...


... and those same injuries are the type that can't be prevented by a bicycle helmet either.

It's not necessarily the blow to the skull that is the biggest problem. It's the movement within the skull (the moving and twisting of the brain) that leads to the most devastating types of injuries to the head (brain injury) and current bicycle helmets cannot prevent this movement.

2 new designs show some hope to address this problem. A cone shaped liner helmet http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s2145828.htm and the Phillips helmet http://www.phillipshelmets.co.uk/

here's an 1987 Australian study that addresses these concerns (http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/1987/Mcycle_Helm_1.aspx) where it says,

"very little crushing of the liner foam was usually evident... . The substantial elastic deformation of the child head that can occur during impact can result in quite extensive diffuse brain damage."

Of the unhelmeted cases involving severe head injury, over 40
percent would definitely have had an improved outcome if a
substantial bicycle helmet had been worn.You know linking to material that say the exact opposite of your nazi-stomping around attitude of anti-helmet attitude isn't exactly smart.

What I see that refers to your issue mostly pertains to children's helmets due to differences in how the head absorbs energy at an early age. Stop being dumb, the impacts are completely different considering you're leaving out a huge amount of accidents... people never fall from their car and hit their head on the pavement, they do on bikes and motorcycles. Don't expect helmet to save your life on a motorcycle if you hit your head against a CAR.

somehow, being called dumb by someone who misses an entire concept, is enjoyable. :)

Mostly because of the kinds of injuries sustained in a car are not preventable by a helmet...
Which is why race drivers don't bother with helmets, eh?

..your nazi-stomping around attitude of anti-helmet attitude...

Who, exactly, is anti-helmet in this entire debate? I can't think of a single post in this entire thread that has been anti-helmet. Annoyance at people for going all religious about someone deciding that their tolerances for danger differed and that they were more worried about dying sick and bald in chemo than they were of falling off their bike and hitting their head, yeah, I see lots of that. Annoyance at people for, once again, trying to support the 'get cyclists off our roads' lobby by trying to -force- people to wear helmets, yeah, plenty of that too. But I don't believe there is a single comment that is anti-helmet.

Of course, there are cycle helmet covers made by Headliners Australia http://www.arpansa.gov.au/uvrg/50.htm that provide sun protection and allow you to continue wearing helmets. Except for helmets being compulsory over here, I'd just go a (not too broad-brimmed) hat myself.

"At last.... A hard hat shaped like a cowboy hat."

just what the world has been waiting for, and it was featured on extreme makeover home edition. All of my consuming decisions are based on the products I see on prime time reality television, so this is obviously the product for me.

Which is why race drivers don't bother with helmets, eh?
They're protected by cages from outside influences, for the most part. When was the last time you saw a race car driver taking a t-bone in which the car actually blows through the roll cage and makes contact with the driver.

It would have more to do with the neck brace and debris along with making contact with parts inside the car itself as opposed to making contact with a physical part of the other vehicle.


Who, exactly, is anti-helmet in this entire debate? I can't think of a single post in this entire thread that has been anti-helmet. Annoyance at people for going all religious about someone deciding that their tolerances for danger differed and that they were more worried about dying sick and bald in chemo than they were of falling off their bike and hitting their head, yeah, I see lots of that. Annoyance at people for, once again, trying to support the 'get cyclists off our roads' lobby by trying to -force- people to wear helmets, yeah, plenty of that too. But I don't believe there is a single comment that is anti-helmet.
Closet goes around like this in all the helmet threads, not so much this one.


somehow, being called dumb by someone who misses an entire concept, is enjoyable. :)
Don't be a ******bag because you're wrong.