In Defense Of Flat-Brimmed Hats

If you’re a climber, you’re a total nerd! I mean, it takes a nerd to figure out complex knots, maps to obscure crags and cliffs and puzzles through challenging rock faces. And nerds wear flat-brimmed hats! Why is that you ask? Well, climbers (nerds) make decisions on gear, everything has a purpose. From socks to headgear, there is a design to how we “rack up” for climbing (rack = how you gather your gear and ready for climbing).

And so goes for the flat-brimmed hat… It’s gear, not just style (but that too).

The other day, I got the question: why the up-turned flat-brimmed hat? Easy:

1. Shade: kind of a no-brainer, you need a hat. And have you seen your hair after climbing in a helmet for an hour — just brutal!
2. Up-turned: easy, when you’re hiking to a rock face, you need to look up a lot. There are trees / branches / spiderwebs that get in your way, so an up-turned hat makes for a better experience.
3. Belaying: another easy one… When you’re belaying, again, one needs to look up (or use belay glasses, works in both cases). The up-turned hat allows for easy view of your climber.

Probably a silly post, but felt the need to express the value of an up-turned flat-brimmed hat! Climb on!