Did you ever feel like smacking someone upside the head that was annoying you?..........("Yea, every time we read one of your posts MT" ;D ) If so you might consider professional help or becoming involved in MMA.

This post is about being a hot head.....literally instead of figuratively. Sometimes we overlook obvious solutions to problems. When I hike or paddle I tend to run a bit hot. I have learned to run in a visor as opposed to any other kind of hat. As most outdoors folk know, one of the chief places you lose heat is through the top of your head. Most people apply this knowledge to cold situations but I also apply it to hot situations. If you run hot consider a visor, it really makes a big difference.

You must bring your regular hat as well however. If the horse flies or deer flies are about they will have a field day with your unprotected head. But even in the summer I can usually run with the visor at least 1/2 the time.  

BUT, if you expose your pate to the sun, you're increasing the chance of skin cancer.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

prouboy

Yes my head cooks if I do not protect it.  I wear a wide brimmed hat and when I am hot I dip it in the lake frequently. The wide brim better protects from the sun. Deer flies won’t bite your ears and neck under a wide brim.

To cure hot head I keep my baseball cap wet at all times when it's warm. Way better cooling than a visor.

In the heat (which I have plenty of here), my baseball caps change color (from "winter" to summer).  I generally wear darker colored hats in cooler weather.  In the past few weeks, I've switched to my summer head gear.  My ball caps are light colors (white to tan) and often have mesh panels on either side to aid in ventilation (like   (You need to Login or Register...I prefer ones with lighter-colored side mesh panels, but these seem to be more common).

I generally don't have to wet my cap ... it gets that way naturally.  But I do pull it off ever so often to give it a quick fan in the air ... that helps to cool the moisture already in my cap.  In the hottest part of the summer, I wear a rolled bandana above my brow (tied in the back) to stop the constant drip of perspiration down my face.

dd

I rekon just soaking your hat would work pretty darn well. I'm happy with my visor though and will probably continue to run one. I have noticed a huge difference in the visor and a regular ball cap though when I'm workin hard.

Last year offshore on the overnight boat one of the guys pointed out that the back of my neck was absolutely blasted by the sun. My first application of sun screen in my life saved me. One more day of that and I would of been done for. With that experience in mind and the same trip coming up I have picked up one of these   (You need to Login or Register
I'll probably toss it in with my canoe kit and see how it does. White's not my style but I figure that would be the coolest.

mastertangler wrote on Mar 19^th, 2011 at 11:01pm:

With that experience in mind and the same trip coming up I have picked up one of these   (You need to Login or Register I'll probably toss it in with my canoe kit and see how it does. White's not my style but I figure that would be the coolest.

That's another use of my bandana (unrolled, of course).  (Also, handy pot handle grabber, face washing implement ... )

dd

I wear a nylon fishing ball cap with mesh side panels.
A while back, I bought one of those Bug-Off brand bandannas that are impregnated with the Permethrin.

Mine had a button hole on one corner, and a button on the corner diagonally across from it. I assume it was for securing around the neck.

In a flash of out of the box " genius" ::), I decided to convert it into a Doo-Rag/ Sunshade for my hat.
I swapped the little button for a large coat sized one, and on the button hole side, I took a small stretchy pony tail scrunchies and looped it thru button hole and sewed it secure. Rather than tying a know to secure it, I just button it up. The stretch in the scrunchie loop, keeps it secure and comfortable.

Now I have bug/sunscreen to wear under my ball cap that still allows the mesh hat panels to breath but if the little no-see-um get thru, the can't bite my head/ears/neck area. I can also wear it sans hat, something I usually do on portages, as I always seem to be knocking the hat off or it gets skewed on my head in a most annoying fashion :P
It's long enough on the perimeter to protect my neck from sun and when I dunk them both, the cooling effect is really noticeable.
All in all a idea that really worked as I envisioned ;)

I always have worn a baseball style hat with mesh sides ( really like Oregon Research model).

A good buddy of mine who has a whole lot of hair on his head found out 6 months ago that he has malignant melanoma, a very agressive skin cancer. While combing his hair he found some blood on his comb and had his head  looked at and a biopsy taken. It seems he has a malignant cancer spot on his scalp. Malignant melenoma is one of the most deadly cancers and is caused by the sun. If caught early you have a good chance of beating it. He had the affected area cut off and now looks like a monk with a bald spot on the top of his head. Worse yet..he has been undergoing chemo and it has spread to his brain and now his lungs. His prognosis is not good. He is now on an experimental chemo treatment.  Hey, this guy is not an outdoorsman like many of us and doesn't spend near the amount of time we paddlers/fisherman do in the sun by a long shot. Hard to believe this guy got this type of cancer.

Bottomline, I would wear sunscreen whenever possible. I should also tell you that my mom died of malignant melenoma at the age of 53. Never even the hospital except to have 6 kids. The doctors say I am at high risk for skin cancer. I had a mole on my side cut off as a preventative measure because it was in the spot my mom's mole changed color and size and ultimately lead to her demise.  I always was the person saying ... it won't be me getting skin cancer. Well, after my buddy got it ... I realized that I need to be more pro-active and will definitely be using more sunscreen on my canoe trips and when going outdoors.  I like the idea of a wide brimmed hat as well.

Sorry to talk about skin cancer in our forum... it's a downer  but I felt the need to "air it out."

Quote:

Sorry to talk about skin cancer in our forum

W_13,

Never apologize for doing a GOOD thing. More people need to think pro-active rather than re-active. It would be better for them personally and society in general.
Losing a loved one to a deadly disease has a way of focusing one's attention on the things that really matter.

I'm a hot head.  Take that any way you like, it's likely true.   :D

The heat kills me.  I drink & sweat so much water in a day you could mine by eyebrows for salt.

I do the wet hat routine.  Protects me from the sun and the evaporation keeps me cool & comfortable.