Hat Recommendation

[Multipurpose]

I hope this is the right forum for this, apologize if it isn't. I was out hiking today here in Northern California (which incidentally has about the same Mediterranean climate as the El Camino) The temperature was 95 F which is about 35 C for the Euros. I was wearing my favorite hat, the Outdoor Research Sun Bucket. It looks a little dorky but it makes up in function for what it lacks in looks. It has a small brim, but it is angled downward for maximum coverage. The problem with wide brimmed hats is that the wind gets under the brim and tries to lift the hat off your head. This hat is very wind resistant and it has a neck strap to prevent it flying off your head in any case. It also has a cinch cord to pull it tight on your head if need be, but I rarely use it. My head measures 7 3/4 and the large fits me perfectly. It has a tall crown which is good because it means the top of the hat does not contact your head which creates an insulating air space for cooling. If the top of the hat contacts your head heat transfer occurs and makes your head hot. The hat is a quick dry nylon/poly mix. I have been using it for several years now and am very happy with it as my main hiking hat. Oh yes it is very easy to fold up and put it in your pocket so it is always available. Try doing that with a cowboy hat! hat.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I8UOO2/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[annakappa]

Sorry to correct you Multipurpose, but if you are referring to El Camino being the Camino Francés, the climate is definitely not Mediterranean! I think it's a concept that many people have, thinking that Spain is just Mediterranean. Far from it!

 

[Multipurpose]

Sorry to correct you Multipurpose, but if you are referring to El Camino being the Camino Francés, the climate is definitely not Mediterranean! I think it's a concept that many people have, thinking that Spain is just Mediterranean. Far from it!

I understand that in a country as big as Spain there are different climate zones, but it is my understanding that most of the Camino Frances, with the exception of the mountains, is in what is considered a Mediterranean climate zone by meteorologists. I'll bet you didn't know that Sacramento California, where I live, is officially considered a Mediterranean climate zone by meteorologists also. C'mon fess up! Buen Camino!

 

[trecile]

I understand that in a country as big as Spain there are different climate zones, but it is my understanding that most of the Camino Frances, with the exception of the mountains, is in what is considered a Mediterranean climate zone by meteorologists. I'll bet you didn't know that Sacramento California, where I live, is officially considered a Mediterranean climate zone by meteorologists also. C'mon fess up! Buen Camino!

I live north of you in Southern Oregon, and when I drive to California I like to stop in Redding and walk across the Sundial bridge. On the other side of the bridge is the McConnell Arboretum & Botanical Gardens with several Mediterranean climate gardens representing plants from the Mediterranean Basin, South Africa, Chile, southern and western Australia, and California west of the Sierra Nevada.

 

[Waka]

I don't think the hat looks dorky, any hat is better than no hat at all.

 

[onwayhome]

Looks like a great hat. Mediterranean or not most of the routes to Santiago can involve a lot of time out in the sun and some kind of hat with a brim makes the experience a lot more comfortable.

 

[dougfitz]

I understand that in a country as big as Spain there are different climate zones, but it is my understanding that most of the Camino Frances, with the exception of the mountains, is in what is considered a Mediterranean climate zone by meteorologists

@annakappa is correct, and you appear to have been misinformed. The Koppen classification for the climate for most of northern Spain through which the Camino Frances passes is temperate oceanic, with a band classified temperate mediterranean in the west of the country. There are also small areas of cool temperate and alpine climate zones at the start of the Camino Frances (source: Wikipedia).

Edit: some people might classify the meseta as warm temperate steppe, but certainly not mediterranean. In addition, one article I have read identifies a Galician variant of the temperate oceanic classification for an area that appears to include Santiago and extends to the coast around Finisterre.

 

[annakappa]

@annakappa is correct, and you appear to have been misinformed. The Koppen classification for the climate for most of northern Spain through which the Camino Frances passes is temperate oceanic, with a band classified temperate mediterranean in the west of the country. There are also small areas of cool temperate and alpine climate zones at the start of the Camino Frances (source: Wikipedia).

Thanks Dougfitz!

 

[Seabird]

I wore the exact same hat and loved it. The brim was just the right size to keep my poncho hood in place instead of in my eyes. Also washed up quite nicely when I got back.

 

[Kanga]

I agree with @annakappa and @dougfitz - and also that the Camino Frances crosses three mountain ranges, at one point going up to an altitude of 1,515 metres (nearly 5000 feet), and of the rest a large part is on the high meseta which has an average altitude of 660 metres (2000 feet). Most of the CF runs around latitude 42 degrees - so further north than Chicago. Don't expect a mediterranean climate.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The problem with wide brimmed hats is that the wind gets under the brim and tries to lift the hat off your head.

The Tilley hat has a chin strap! I have OR hats, and they are good, too. A baseball cap has the advantage of holding one's poncho in place. My Tilley hat in the Australian hat shape does that fairly well. Save a bit of money and go with what you already own. Shirley MacLaine was the "hat lady." She may have changed hats a few times in 1994.