I usually wear a light weight cotton hat. One I can spray insect repellant on and can be easily washed.

so basically.. your asking all the men if they are bald??? ... pshaw on that ... how dare you .. .lol

ken

Am I? Not quite following Ken...unless hats are only worn by hairless men in the US (certainly not the case in the UK).

Nothing wrong with bald (not in my book).

Hey, DH is bald - and looks d*mn good!!

I wear a baseball cap if I'm exercising (mostly for the visor), and if I'm gardening for any length of time in the sun, I wear a wide-brimmed hat that has a "tail" -- what the heck do you call that thing -- it looks like this one. I mostly wear it because I really hate sunscreen and only put it on if I have to, and this butt-ugly thing keeps the sun off my neck, face, and chest so I wear it. I don't wear hats for the cold -- I use earmuffs, and pull up the hood on my coat if it's windy.

While knowing the benefits of wearing a hat and trying several over the years I do not wear a hat. I like the idea of a hat but can't keep one on my head.

I wear baseball hats. The brim keeps the sun out of my eyes and seems to foil the bugs and rain to some degree. I have a wide selection in all colors, some with sequins. In winter I wear knitted (some I made using pet hair and acrylic yarn), or fur-lined trapper hats. Warmth is key when the mercury starts to drop!

I don't like the idea of sweating and then putting that same item back on my head again. I do need a hat as I am starting to freckle as I get older. I just need to find something that can handle a lot of washing.

I do wear large oversized sunglasses which is a step in the right direction. I used to just squint

I sailed aboard a Maine windjammer for 30+ years and always wore a hat when out on the water. Experienced sailors (i.e., mostly crew members) advised me the sun was intense out on the open water because there's no shade. I even sailed twice in the Sail Boston tall ships events, sailing from Camden, Maine south to Boston and back again. In the garden, surrounded by GREEN + a few shade trees, I don't bother with a hat. I don't work out in the garden during the hottest hours of the day when the sun is the strongest but plan my chores for when the sun is lower in the sky early or late in the day. Aboard a 92 ft. schooner with 30 other people for 10 days, appearance fell pretty low on everyone's priority list. We simply did what seemed sensible.

Over the years I've transitioned from baseball caps with logos to knitted or crocheted caps in colorful yarns.

Congrats on your new straw hat...the 'Ultimate Gardening Hat'... I'm beyond working in the garden beds these days due to age but have zero regrets for the time I spent in them over the years.

Yes, I wear a hat! I don't think it looks too cool, but the sun really ages the skin, so I wear sunscreen and a hat. Helps block the sun from my eyes, too, so I don't have to wear sunglasses.

Yes, all the time when I'm gardening. I wear a baseball cap from the Chicago Botanic Garden. I think I have around 3 or 4 of them with their logo on the front. That along with sunglasses and sunscreen are a must.

I wear hats on walks and hikes to keep sun out of my eyes but hats get in the way when I garden. Feel like I have blinders on and I knock them off all the time. I avoid gardening between 10-4 to avoid UV.

Yes, almost always when gardening or walking and in the winter. They prevent skin cancer and frost bite, depending on the season, and help keep plant matter and bugs out of my hair. I have gone through a series of straw hats with enormous brims that start as suitable for polite company but become garden hats as they age, a couple of hats similar to the one that mxk3 posted which are highly unattractive but stay on better when it's windy since they chin straps, and a whole series of knit, felt, and fleece ones for winter. I also have a few baseball caps to keep in the car or wear under my bug net during black fly season. Being outside during the day without a hat and sunglasses is uncomfortable since I have light eyes and skin with little melanin, so I sunburn painfully in under an hour.

Glad to see hat-wearing not going out of style. Baseball caps are not anywhere in my wardrobe though (nor are jeans or shorts - shudder) since my main reason for hat wearing is to keep the sun off the back of my neck. My almost permanent posture, for half the year, is bent at the knees, grubbing about with a weeding implement...and even the feeble British sun is enough to make me feel a bit sick and dizzy after several hours on the back of my head...and if wearing a baseball cap is not really done, wearing one backwards is surely criminal...if you are over 10 years old. I also find that a wide brimmed hat (with chinstrap) is truly excellent for bulldozing through the thickets of huge roses - there is nothing which puts me off gardening more than being spiked with a vicious thorn in the top of my head (the rest of me is scarred and numb).

Ah, done a bit of sailing in my time...and agree - hats are the business...and best of all, I find, is one of those yellow sou'westers which stops water cascading down the back of your collar.

I absolutely wear a hat when outside!

Even before I was follicly challenged I wore hats to keep the sun off my head and neck. I wear a wide brimmed cotton hat that I will often dampen with water that draws out additional heat as the sun evaporates it.

NHBabs, bug net! That is what I need for sure!

sun stroke if you let the sun beat down on a shiny head ... in my experience anyway ...

ken

I use a visor with a spiral elastic on the back. Lightweight and cool but still shades the eyes.

I have a gigantic head, and have a very hard time finding hat brims that fit. On top of that, hats look ridiculous on my head. So, while I wish I had a go-to hat to garden in, I have never found one that works for me.

I love that comment, Kirstin: I wouldn't exactly say that I have a pin-head. But I'm not going to try to one-up you!

I'm not an efficient person and therefore have (and still do) often end up gardening through the heat of the day. With UV radiation in mind, I cover up to garden, with long sleeves and long pants (also cuts down on some of the sunscreen application). Find the heat is really good for the arthritis.

I find a heavier hat (tight weave) is just too uncomfortable (with too much sweating), so wear a wide-brimmed straw hat.

I do wear sunglasses and also have come to realize how important having drinking water available is. Have proven to myself that relying on coffee and beer for rehydration just doesn't work.

I should but I don't. Never got into the habit.

I always wear a hat when gardening. I have black hair and it gets uncomfortably hot if I don't wear a hat...the one I wear is rather decrepit...a faded denim bucket style hat, even though I have a couple of brand new back-ups somewhere in the house.

I always wear the full regalia when gardening: wide brim straw hat, big sunglasses, long sleeves, long pants, gloves, socks and garden clogs. Protects the skin, eyes and my hair coloring from the sun. Plus also helps avoid injury and accidental contact with poison ivy. Of course in the colder months I use heavier gloves and don more clothing including weather proof boots.

I doubt I could garden (or face the world) without a decent hat.

Agreed. A hat is one of the most important pieces of my wardrobe, and will often be one of the last pieces I fuss over to make myself look as 'together' as I always do :-) I have a wide selection of headgear for every single occasion. Love baseball caps for more general purpose - where the sun absolutely needs to be kept out of one's eyes. But have learned: if you really adore a certain cap, don't wear it ad nauseum unless you have several of them - as perspiration salt will do a real number on caps, staining them beyond the point of return.

Oh dear, I am an outlier as I never wear hats. I think one reason I've never really wanted to is my curly hair makes for impossibly ugly hat hair. I'd have to wash my hair to be presentable after taking off a hat. But even so, I doubt I'd wear s hat. I just don't think I'd want to bother with one, I don't do sunscreen or sunglasses either.

Gardening in the fast lane.

Echolane, just hope that UV radiation doesn't like you.

Me too :-). I'm an oldie, having grown up when there was little to no emphasis on the dangers of UV radiation and I guess I just never developed a habit of protecting my skin. Luckily, my medium complexion tans fairly easily, so long as I don't overdo my early in the season exposure, so I guess that's another reason I've defaulted to continued living in the fast lane.

Hats are good. In the winter (here in North Dakota, we take winter seriously), I maintain that there's nothing fashionable about frostbite, so I have an assortment of hats, scarves, hoods, and mittens. There's nothing fashionable about sunburn (or skin cancer) either, so hats are a must in the summer too.

It depends. I almost never wear a hat in the winter, however I will earmuffs -- sometimes in conjunction with the hood of a hooded sweatshirt (which I would think skirts the grey area of the "hat zone".) ;-) In the summer, if just out and about, I don't wear a hat ... just gets too hot and sweaty. When gardening at my folks' place or my sister's, I try to garden in the morning or evening and to work in whatever areas are most shaded whenever possible so as to avoid baking in the sun. I do have a hat up at my folks' place that does have the back cloth/flap (anyone know what the proper term for that is?) which hangs down covering the back of the neck. I try to remember to wear it on the occasions I'm there and tending their garden beds.

Sunscreen is a definite "yes" to applying if I'm going to be outside for a long time.

Now sunglasses, as someone brought up earlier, those I wear whenever I'm outside -- rain, snow, overcast, or shine. If I don't, I can count on squinting the entire time.

Even though I'm darned tired of the dermatologist cutting and burning stuff off me, I really hate to wear a hat. Anything on my head tends to give me a headache and makes me too hot.

I do have a cute foldable straw-like cloche. I wore it to a garden tour last week. However, I couldn't work in the yard in it.

I guess I am known for wearing a hat! A few days ago I went to a meeting where one of the participants expressed surprise that I wasn't wearing a hat - I told her that I purposely did not wear one that day as I wanted to throw people off :-)

Tilley LTM6 whenever I'm in the mid-day sun.

I wear a visor since I found out that cataracts are caused by the sun and I'm starting to get one in my right eye. Gotta get new sunglasses that allow me to see the ground better.

I also learned from experience that floral hats and the color yellow attract bees and other insects. I wear glittery visors and glittery t shirts that seem to keep the bugs away (except for the gnats).

Can't wear hats because they are too hot for me but a bug net with a visor under it to keep it off my face are often needed for those horrible daytime mosquitoes. What we do in order to garden!

Yes! Baseball cap for a quick trip into the garden, wide-brimmed straw hat for longer work periods. My pale skin gets splotchy in the sun so I really wear one + lots of sunscreen everywhere in the summer. I am always on the lookout for plain baseball caps (not with a sports logo) and cute non-crushable straw hats. I love to garden in a light rain with a hooded raincoat too. :-)

I often wear a hat with a wide brim: it's a lot faster than putting sunscreen on face & neck!

Count me in with the huge head crowd. I generally avoid hats for this reason, although I have several that are stretchy for winter, as I do find it makes a huge difference in staying warm when standing around outside. I have also started wearing a big straw one for gardening, just to avoid scalp and back-of-neck burn.

I love straw hats, I get sun rash easy, so I always wear a straw hat under the sun.

I love fur hats too, it's pretty cold here during the winter months, always have a fur hat on going out in the snow.

Well pleased to see that hats in general (and straw hats in particular) are not going out of style any day soon. I have adorned my 'Ultimate Gardening Hat' (feel I have to give it it's full title...with capitals) with some silk anemones...although it will be manky and battered before the end of the year, no doubt.