American Hat Company Wide Brim Felt Fedora review

• Brim 3″ Crown 4″
• 1 1/2″ Width cloth hatband with tack stitching
• Lightweight Firm Felt
• Flat Brim | Shapeable with Steam
• Adjustable Sizing Strap Behind Sweatband Liner for Perfect Fit Hidden Behind Sweatband
• Removable sweatband liner, soft and comfortable
• Package includes standard size sweatband liner plus a half- and full-size sweatband size reducer (free) to achieve a perfect fit. A $15 value!
• Imported

Once you get past the style aspect, the hat’s functionality is the next concern. My hat must protect my head from rain, wind, snow, sleet and extreme sun and heat. The hat should have a broad brim to shade or shelter your ears, eyes, nose and neck.

Here’s how the Bondi hat worked out for me:

I have a square German head and need an XL size. That makes it hard for me to find the correct sized hat in some styles. Most baseball caps are sized for the average-sized head so they they are right on the verge of being too small for me. The Bondi was a little large for me, but that wasn’t a problem. More on that later.

Style: You’ll wear a hat that looks good on you. You won’t wear one that doesn’t. That was the case at my daughter’s graduation. One of my cowboy hats wouldn’t have been appropriate in that situation, so I didn’t take one along to the ceremony.

There is nothing like a hat to affect your public persona. A guy with a shaved head and tattoos might draw concerned glances in a crowd, especially if he is carrying a small bag that includes long-bladed knives. If he’s wearing a chef’s hat: problem resolved.  Want to fit in with the crowd at a baseball or football game? Wear a team-logo baseball cap. And everybody wears a cowboy hat at a rodeo, horse show or western-themed event.

Material: The Bondi is made of lightweight firm felt. The hat is stiff and definitely not a crusher. Wadding it up in the bottom of a pack will probably ruin it. I wouldn’t voluntarily wear the Bondi in the rain or nasty weather, but I always seem to be outside when the bottom falls out of the clouds. The hat will offer a lot of protection, but the great flat brim may start to look ratty.

Brim: The flat brim style has been around forever. (Servicemembers: Flashbacks to boot camp?) The brim of a hat is critical and it should shade your whole head, protecting your nose, face, neck and ears. America’s favorite hat, the baseball cap, fails miserably in that category. The floppy brims of some bucket hats may be OK, but I don’t like them. A fold in the brim becomes a gully for rain runoff and an area that doesn’t provide shade.

The Bondi comes with a flat brim I like very much. It can be re-shaped with steam to whatever form you like. Or go to your local Western store that sells hats and boots. Somebody there can probably shape your hat. Right now, though, the flat brims are right in style.

Lainey Wilson and Lukas Nelson favor the flat brim fedora-style hats. 

Crown: Some of my wool hats have four-inch crowns, and they are fine since the idea is to hold in heat. But a hat designed for hot weather should have a taller brim to provide a buffer from the sun’s heat and the top of your head. The Bondi’s four-inch crown is about right for a hat of this style.

Material: The Bondi is made of lightweight firm felt. That means the hat will be stiff. This hat is not a crusher, and folding or wadding it up in the bottom of a pack will probably ruin it. The hat will offer a lot of protection in rainy weather, but the great flat brim may start to look ratty.

Sweatband liner: The Bondi features a super comfortable removable sweatband liner that attaches securely with velcro tabs sewn-in to the hat. Easily swap the liner for a half or full-size reducing sweatband (included with purchase) to achieve your perfect fit.

I inserted one in the front of my Bondi, and now my hat fits me perfectly.

Q: Can wearing a hat make you go bald?

A: This is a tough question to answer, according to the Cleveland Clinic because the topic has not been well-studied. Two studies of male and female identical twins did find a link between wearing hats and increased hair loss for the men, but not the women. In another study, wearing hard hats or military head wear had no effect on hair loss.

However, it’s possible that wearing hats that are very tight — or very hot — could decrease blood flow to hair follicles, stressing them and causing them to fall out. The hair loss would be temporary at first, but it could progress to permanent hair loss.

In my case, that is a moot point – it was settled long ago by my DNA,  genetics and age. The men in my family – solid, square-headed, Germanic-types for the most part – tend to go bald. My hair has been thinning hair on top for a long time, so I view a hat as necessary protection.

I really like this Bondi Mens Wide Brim Felt Fedora, and I wear mine a lot. Order your Bondi here (with a 13% discount!)

The Men’s Hats collection at American Hat Makers features a wide array of styles including cowboy hats, fedoras, and sun hats. Each hat is crafted with quality materials for both fashion and function. Ideal for diverse preferences and occasions, this collection offers the perfect blend of style and practicality.