Best Rain Hat Types for Men and Women — FranchiHatz
Introduction
The rain hats should first be selected to first protect from the rain, snow, and wind. But that’s not to say a rain hat can’t also be stylish and good looking.
In some cases, the weather may be so severe that you may have to also use an umbrella or hoodie or raincoat.
If you don’t wear rain cover, you will be soaked, get a rash, possibly get a cold, and of course, look like an idiot at work or wherever you arrive.
What Makes A Good Rain Hat
A good rain hat is made of good water-resistant material or at least water tolerating material that doesn’t turn into a sponge on your head.
A dry rain hat moves water down and out naturally by using the brim to get water away from you.
Lastly, a good rain hat looks good on you while the environment is a mess.
Bucket Hat
Do you know that bucket hat is one of the best light rain hats for men today? It’s True! The bucket hat has a downward-sloping edge, which is not only cool, but also makes the rain slide down and off the bottom curves of the hat.
Bucket hats are usually made of cotton or wool. Cotton is great for light showers, and wool caps are good for light snow.
Another great thing about bucket hats are that they look great on both women and men.
Bucket hats are very cool, and may be your coolest rain hat option. Buckets are also great because they are usually crushable and easily packable in bags, cars, and pockets.
Baseball Cap
If you are in a casual or informal setting and there is a chance of light rain, then a baseball cap may be the perfect option.
There are various kinds of baseball caps, ranging from dad hats to trucker snapbacks. But note that trucker hats usually have a back half made of mesh with holes, so they aren’t good for wet days, just sweat days.
Baseball caps are cotton, which means if they get wet, they’ll dry pretty quickly. They are also easy to air out an dry on a table, chair, hook, car dashboard, etc.
Baseball caps have flat or curved front bills, and that is another way to keep the rain off your face. The bills are great because you can wear the hat a bit down to block the water.
These hats are also good for when you are on the go — like running to your car, bus, train or zig-zagging through the city streets.
Ivy Cap
An ideal man driving hat, ivy caps, can be pulled low over the eyes to act as a stylish glare reducer and shield for the driver.
While Ivy caps are more semi-formal compared to baseball or bucket hats, they can still provide decent drizzle coverage.
Although the front bills are short on ivy caps, they can provide some coverage on the front of the face as well as basic coverage on the top of the head.
Ivy caps for men like its flat cap brethren get their name from European descent. The hats were initially worn by middle and lower-class workers but were soon adopted by the upper class for special occasions.
So if you need a slightly polished look, use an ivy flat cap. But if the rain gets rough, be prepared to level up to a full coverage umbrella.
Cowboy Hat
There are many kinds of cowboy hats, and most of them have wide enough brims to block rain.
In some cases, cowboy hats have certain crease designs on the top of the crown, that may retain water.
For summers or light rain, straw cowboy hats will work just fine.
For cooler temperatures or stronger rain, felt western hats will be better suited.
There are many cowboy hat brim shapes and rolls, obviously, a wider horizontal brim will block more rain over a brim that is vertical.
Outback Hat
Outback hats are great all weather hats, and they can endure very strong rainfall. They are big enough to block rain, but they can’t be folded and stored in your coat, back pocket, or bag like other smaller and softer hats.
The Australian Outback hat was made popular by movies like The Man from Snowy River and Crocodile Dundee.
These hats are usually made of leather, so they wont get wet like cotton hats. Since they are leather, they wont warp like the cowboy and fedora felt blocked hats will.
Outbacks have natural but wavy regular sized brims. Because they are long enough they will keep the rain away. Also because the brims are a bit wavy, the rain will fall off naturally.
While most people who use outbacks are in rural areas, they are still a smart choice for a good weather hat even in the suburbs.
Boonie Hat
Boonie hats are great for outdoors like camping, landscaping, and casual sun/rain blocking. They are like the more casual and practical children of bucket and outback hats.
They are very soft, breathable, and can easily be stored in a jacket pocket, backpack, or car trunk.
Boonie hats have fun wavy brims that are long enough to get the rain way from you. The natural and irregular shaped brim looks really cool like your protecting from the rain but you don’t need to over do it with a perfectly flat diagonal brim.
Finally, Boonie hats usually have cords to keep the hat on your head if it gets rainy and windy. The cords are also good before or after the rain when you can let the hat hang on your back.
Wearing Felt Hats In The Rain
Try to avoid wearing your felt hats in the rain. Felt hats usually include hats like fedora, bowler, porkpie, and cowboy.
These felt hats were made on a block, and were probably steamed into shape. And even though they had stiffner put on them, wetting these hats will eventually ruin their shape.
If your felt blocked hat does get a little wet, you need to turn out the sweatband, and then allow the hat to stand on the sweatband. You can even let it rest on the crown to dry.
Dont wet the following types of hats:
Dont Wear These In The Rain
These other fabric hats aren’t great for the rain. So we just want to call them out.
Beanies — will get wet and wont provide any protection on your face.
Newsboy hats — Dont have a brim so your face, ears, and neck will probably get pretty wet.
Berets — Can be worn to lean in many different ways, but most importantly, you probably can’t block the rain on your face.
Hoodies In The Rain
Winter coats with hoods, rain jackets, or zipped hoodies can help protect you from unexpected rain and snow.
You can even enhance your coverage, by pulling the hoodie over your hat — like a baseball cap.
Some hoodies also have a pull string to tighten your hood on your head, almost like a cotton beanie. But in some cases, you may want to wear your hoodie loosely like little red redding hood.
Another cool feature on some coats and jackets is that you can roll and hide your hood inside of a zipper so that you only whip out your hood when you need it. This kind of 007 swiss army knife jacket with an optional hood is just so cool.
Vinyl Rain Cap & Gear
Just to state the obvious, unless you work outside in construction or as crossing guard, big plastic yellow rain jackets are not cool.
However, women may look really cute with a big vinyl rain hat. The hat could be yellow, or another normal color. It can also be fun to use a pattern like animal print or polka dots.
Finally, women can look really good in fun water resistant rain boots, but depending on where you are going, you may need to bring a small pair of sneakers, flip-flops, or shoes in your bag for when you arrive.
Umbrellas vs Hats
While hats are so stylish, small, flexible, sometimes you just may need an umbrella.
Besides being able to stand up to wind and rain, an umbrella should be easy to open and close while remaining convenient and comfortable to be carried.
However, you don’t want to be the fool on a windy and rainy day that has their umbrella flipped backward while rain pours on their head.
If you need flexibility as you run around with a casual outfit, then a pop open umbrella can save your butt because it can be carried around easily in a car or backpack.
If you need something more rugged or more formal, then you may want a long formal umbrella.
One more thing, if you find yourself often walking with your spouse, friends, and coworkers, then you may want to buy an extra-wide golf umbrella. I also like to leave one in the car trunk.
Hot And Drizzling
Handling rain in a very hot environment is a slightly different challenge than just keeping the rain away. Maybe you’re handling summer showers at home or you’re on a vacation in a tropical environment.
Straw hats can be your friend when you just have a humid atmosphere with some light drizzle. They provide excellent airflow and coverage for most of the day. When that one big afternoon storm shows up, just stay inside or add in an umbrella.
Bucket hats and Boonie hats are also good during hot and wet times. They have air vents to let air flow through, but they can also block the bulk of light drizzle.
Baseball and Trucker caps with open mesh backs can also be a good solution for hot and wet environments where you can wear a casual hat.
Straw Panama hats and Straw Cowboy hats can also provide good sun ventilation while also keeping the rain off your head, face, and shirt.
Windy and Rainy
A few times a year, you may be unlucky enough to experience the perfect storm. A couple of days that are rainy with multiple inches a day, hurricane-level winds, and extreme temperatures.
When this happens, you’re going to have to use your entire bag of tricks including using them all at once.
This means using a hat that keeps the water away while also staying on your head and not flying away. You’ll also need extra backups like a strong umbrella, jacket/coat layers with a hoodie, and good boots. And if your rain is turning into slush/snow, then you’ll want to have a good long scarf that can be used in different wraps and gloves.
Also, you probably won’t buy all your gear the morning the storm arrives, so little by little start building up your stash of different hats, hoodies, and so on.
The Last Drop
When it comes to buying the best rain hats for monthly showers, you may want to have one for weekly light rain and another one for heavier downpours.
This article should have helped you figure out how to supplement your hats and accessories to keep you dry and also to help you look awesome.
If you want to learn more about the different types of hats discussed here and many more, check out our in-depth classes at our online hat-school.
Originally published at https://www.franchihatz.com on May 6, 2021.
