Five tips to make your baseball cap better survival headgear

So you love your baseball or trucker hat, but it’s not really a good choice for survival headgear.

Here is how that cap can be improved.

by Leon Pantenburg

When it comes to sun and rain protection, that beloved baseball or trucker cap is a bad choice. For overall practical usefulness, I’d rate the headgear a C- or possibly a D.

But that puts me firmly in a minuscule minority. You may not want to give up that old reliable ball cap and intend to keep wearing it.

The baseball-style cap is America’s national headgear, according to Esquire magazine, and the ball cap accounts for more than 80% of hat sales in the United States. Check it out – in any crowd (except maybe at the rodeo) baseball caps will outnumber other hat styles at least  (I’m guessing) 10-to-1.

According to Esquire: “The baseball cap is America’s greatest contribution to headwear.”

People from all walks of life wear them, and the caps range in price from free giveaways to very expensive collector items. The caps can become high fashion accessories with rhinestones and glitter or elaborate decoration. In 2007, Babe Ruth’s cap sold for $328,000 – at the time, the most ever paid for a baseball cap. Since then, the iconic caps have soared in value and popularity.

In 1980, the movie “Urban Cowboy” caused everyone to wear cowboy hats. But in 1981, that craze just stopped. A variation of the cowboy hat is the fedora, IMHO, a wool fedora is the best overall survival headgear.

But baseball caps show no signs of waning popularity. One reason, again IMHO, is that the hat can become a mini-billboard for advertising and/or political and philosophical slogans.

Another popular design feature is the sizing. Many have an adjustable plastic head size band. Others can be adjusted with two velcro strips on the back of the head or with an adjustable strap with a metal slider. Snapbacks are always one-size-fits-all hats, with two plastic strips at the back of the hat.

 

But for the prepper/survivalist type, there are intrinsic problems with the baseball cap design:

Little sun protection: Except for the face directly under the brim, when the sun is directly overhead, the hat offer little sun protection. It may protect that bald spot on top, but the sides of the face, ears, and neck are completely exposed. See best sun hat.

Not much glare protection: In the late afternoon or early mornings, the sun may hit you in the side of the face. The baseball cap may be of no protective value and it won’t shade your eyes.

Minimal rain protection: Wear a ball cap while you hike, hunt or recreate in the rain. You’ll soon hate the water running down your neck or along the sides of your face and soaking your collar.

Hard to find sizes: Most ball caps are one-size fits all, designed for the average-sized head. Square-headed guys of Germanic extract, like me, my brother Mike Pantenburg and most of my male cousins, need XL sizes.  My hiking partner, John Nerness, and father-in-law, the late Jimmy Pickens, both have/had small heads. They also have a hard time getting fitted.

None of us do well with the standard ball cap sizes.

A good thing is that a ball cap is perfect for the shooting range, where hearing protection should be worn.

Here are five things you can do to make your baseball cap better survival headgear:

Don’t wear it backwards: Or sideways. Ever. This negates what little shade the hat can provide.

Use a bandana to shade neck and ears: Tuck a bandana under the hat brim, so the edges cover your neck and ears.  This is not a new concept. The cloth cover that shades the back and sides of the neck is called a couvre képi (French) or a havelock (English). You may look like a member of the French Foreign Legion, but you hopefully won’t sunburn. Or you could leave that favorite baseball cap at home in favor of a designated sun/baseball hat.

For more survival information, check out Leon’s book “Bushcraft Basics.”

Wear it under a hood: Many long-sleeved sun shirts include a hood, and the hood can be worn under or over a hat. I see this a lot when I get to guide with Quapaw Canoe Company on the Lower Mississippi River. We’re in the sun from sunrise to sunset, and the sun shirts are vital pieces of equipment.

Get a high mesh crown: Ventilation helps promote air movement which helps evaporate moisture, which cools your head. Save the low-crowned Babe Ruth hat for the baseball game. (Incidentally, the Babe often put a cabbage leaf under his hat to help keep his head cool! I didn’t make this up!)

Look for longer brims: The longer the brim, the more shade. Some of the salt water fishing hats have really extreme brims.

Your survival headgear deserves a lot of consideration, and the ball cap may have a place in it. And if it gets really hot, just put a cabbage leaf underneath it!

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