OK! I understand we re going to look dorky if we dress for Safari but these questions are important because we want to dress right. Which are the best. The wide brimmed tie under your chin safari hats or the baseball type cap that has bug repellent in it with a flip down cloth that co0vers your neck? Betty

Hi Betty, If you have a pony tail to hold down the baseball type hat, it might be OK, otherwise it'll blow off in the car unless pretty tight. Actually the wide brim hats are more recommended since they cover one's ears. Having said that, I go in winter time and I wear only a visor.

We usually take the wide brimmed ones with pull ties under the chin which we use only when we're racing along at speed in the jeep!

The wide brimmed work best for us in keeping sun out of eyes and off ears, face, neck...

A Tilley Hat
http://www.tilley.com/detail.asp?cat...p;productNo=T3
or -
http://www.tilley.com/hat_thumbnail....mp;hat_catId=7
regards - tom

I love my Tilley! One of my fellow travelers found a knock-off "Tilly Explorer" in the Jo'burg airport. It was cheap, but did the job.

Check out Outdoor Research. They have a great hat called the Helios Sun Hat that's not 'safariesque'...

I have both hats you describe with the wide brimmed being a Tilley. I slightly prefer the second type you mentioned. I don't think mine has embedded bug spray in it, though. I think this second type of hat offers slightly more sun protection.

Since hats are so small and light, I usually take both. That way I can see which adds the least amount of dork factor to my particular ensemble for the day. Plus if anything were to happen to one hat, I'd have another, and a hat is crucial.

Tilley hats look great - pity the nearest supplier is in Singapore!

However, this brings me to an awful truth that I had to face last December. My wife and I wore identical hats and when I looked at the photos I finally got it - it's not the hats that look dorky...it's the people inside them.

isn't that the truth kimburu! i was so dorky in my hat i couldn't post any pics of me!

And then there's my darling husband who never wears a hat under any circumstances whatsoever -- but when he saw, in the camp shop, a cowboy-style hat made of bufflo hide, he had to have it. He put it on, and suddenly I found myself married to Michael Douglas, Indiana Jones, and Bror Blixen all at once. Wow!

We love out Tilley's, too! Esp. as I am fair-skinned and burn like a lobster in no time!

From what I understand Tilley's don't fold down which would mean you'd have to take them as yet more hand luggage... and I don't know about you but I don't like wearing a hat on the journey itself.

The ones we have are similar to one called "Unisex Duck Key Hat" on this site: www.millets.co.uk - in the search box at the top enter "hat" and it's at the top of the results list.

I just got this one because my last one made me look so dorky I ended up not wearing it:

http://www.rei.com/product/48002096.htm

But since both my friends bought it too, I have a feeling I won't be wearing this one much either.

Leely, that's very much like mine! The link I've provided is similar too. I like it in green - mine is beige.

I do take my orange summer hat too sometimes!

Kavey, too funny; I bought the tangerine one. I'm too khaki to wear khaki.

Leely,
Matching hats?

That one's very similar to mine as well except mine has a mesh top.

Kavey,
We travel with a hat box because Mark won't wear a canvas hat. It's a lockable, checkable lightweight hardshell case but takes up 1.5 kg of our luggage allowance

Patty,
Yes, matching hats. We went to REI together to get DEET and other goodies and all liked the same one! I don't mind looking like an idiot on safari, but it does make me cringe when I look at the photos later.

So what kind of hat does Mark take? Is he another Indy Jones type?

I take 3 hats: a baseball hat to wear under a jacket with hood, a plain khaki hat with wide brim and chin tie and lastly a plain khaki with brim and dark netting. This last is fabulous for Botswana and the Okavango Delta and all the tiny insects.

Do you think this hat will attract bugs? I hope it doesn't scream tourist.

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/page/...ween-hats/1340

No that's perfect Sherry. It would kep the insects away from your face and concentrated around the head. Might have problems with the monkeys though.

I wonder if Betty has an answer to her question yet.

Leely... I think Mark is more Big John Wayne than Indy Jones ;-)