i have a harry hall elite velvet riding hat, my horse fell the other day which involved me going over her head! i landed face first at which the peak of the hat hit the grass as hard as my face did! my face has a bump but my hat is broken and also i have got a pain in the back of my head from the hat??? dont know how that happened!
i wont be getting another one of those hats!
I have one and think they're great! They fit me perfectly and I can get it as wet as I like if I'm riding in the rain and it still looks good. I think you have to look out for the velvet having creases in on the velvet ones that are about £30 if I'm thinking correctly but if you root through them you generally find a nice one!
I suppose opinion just comes from experience though - I've never hit my head with my HH hat on so unlike ladylisa never had a problem with it! (BTW LL hope you're feeling better soon