Sun Hat

From LoveToKnow Swimsuits

A good sun hat can provide protection for your head come rain or shine.

Sun hat

Why Wear a Sun Hat?

A fabulous sun hat can be the perfect finishing piece to your swimwear ensemble, but that sassy little accessory perched on top of your head can do more than just make you look fashionable.

During the summer season, temperatures in many regions can be downright dangerous, so you have to be smart about protecting yourself whenever you plan to be outdoors. By now, everyone should know about the benefits of sunscreen, and use it liberally whenever you plan to be in the sun because even short exposures can carry consequences. However, general sunscreen lotion isn't meant to be rubbed in your hair, and does nothing to abate those hot rays of sunshine quietly baking your head.

A well designed sun hat will:

  • Protect your head from direct rays of the sun, lessening the chance of heat stroke.
  • Keep your hair safe from sun damage, which causes brittleness and bleaching.
  • Provide some sun shield for your face and the back of your neck as well.

About Dehydration and Heat Stroke

When temperatures soar, you need to take extra precautions to avoid dehydration, and possible heat stroke. Your body cools itself by sweating, and radiating excess heat through the skin, but unless you take in plenty of fluids, your body begins to dehydrate, and this can be the beginning of major trouble if you ignore it.

There are many signs of dehydration, including the following:

  • Dry mouth
  • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
  • Inability to sweat
  • Less need to urinate
  • Fever
  • Shallow breathing
  • Increase in heart rate
  • Loss of elasticity when skin is pinched
  • Dry/sunken eyes

Left untreated, your body temperature can rise to dangerous levels, leading to a condition known as heat stroke, or sun stroke.

Symptoms of heat stroke include:

  • Mental confusion
  • High fever
  • Headache
  • Seizures
  • Loss of consciousness

Mild dehydration can be treated effectively by drinking plenty of water, or a balanced electrolyte drink such as Gatorade. Serious dehydration should be treated by a physician, and life threatening heat stroke requires professional emergency care.

Function Meets Fashion

Now our goal isn't to frighten you, just make you aware of how important it is to protect yourself, and your loved ones from over-heating, and sun-blocking head gear can be an extremely simple tool to help you do just that.

With that in mind, let's take a look at what features make a serviceable sun hat, and see what the fashion gurus have to offer us this year.

Features to Look For

First and foremost, an effective sun hat needs to cover the top of your skull for best protection from direct sunshine.

Second, it should have some brim around it to provide extra shade to keep the sun off your face, eyes, and the back of your neck. Brims of about three to four inches should be sufficient for the task.

Third, if at all possible, your hat should provide some ventilation. Some hats have built-in mesh openings to let the breeze pass through. Other styles are a bit more open weave in construction, and allow a decent amount of air flow.

Quick, and easy head coverings include:

  • Ball caps
  • Fishing hats
  • Straw hats

Less suitable choices include:

  • Sun visors- No protection for top of head.
  • Knit caps- Popular year round now, but trap in too much heat for summer.

What's Hot This Season

The return of the 1980's continues. One of the "hottest", if you'll pardon the term, head coverings you'll find at retail and online shopping venues is the Legionnaire style sun hat. Those of us who experienced the 80's the first time around will recognize this hat, based on the uniform cap of the French Foreign Legion, as the style popularized by a band named The Clash in their music video Rock the Casbah.

The chief component of the Legionnaire is the curtain that drapes from the back of the hat to keep the sun off the back of your neck. Today, this handy little drape has been transferred to a number of other hat styles, including baseball caps, the Australian Outback hat (another 80's flashback with a pinned up side brim), and the ever popular safari hat. Even the humble cowboy hat has been curtained.

This sun hat design is available for men, women and even children as young as six months old, perfect for the entire family.

Already have a favorite hat? You can convert it to the Legionnaire style with The Chic Sheik II offered at SunGrubbies. Manufactured from a nylon Solarweave fabric, the Sheik is open at the top for ventilation, wraps around the top of your forehead, complete with cotton sweat band, and drapes around the sides and back of your head. The front edges may be joined under your chin with a velcro closure, if you desire.

This unit is easily worn under any hat, and has a sun protection factor of 50+ to block about 98 percent of ultraviolet rays.

SunGrubbies also offer a bug repellant version of the Legionaire, the Buzz Off, which is also available in adult and children's sizes.

Conclusion

Hopefully we've impressed upon you how important sun hats are as part of your overall sun protection plan, as well as the fact that you can look terrific wearing them too. So what are you waiting for? Start looking for sunwear for the family before this season's goodies are all picked over.

External Links

Great head protection, and plenty of other sun protection gear can be found at the following vendors:


 


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