Hat fitting-WARNING

Sister and I went to a very well known 'Equestrian Superstore' today to buy sister a new hat (to replace the one she landed on her head in last week! ) When we finally got the attention of an assistant, sister tried on a hat she liked, in the size she normally wears. The assistant measured her head as a size 7 (which is the size she has been for years) The size 7 she tried was too big, the assistant insisted that it was not, when sister pushed the hat from the back it came off! Assistant said that she was using too much force to remove it! WTF, how much force does the woman think is involved with your head hitting the ground when falling off a 16.3 horse at speed?
We left the hat there and went to a local tack shop, where the owner discussed the need for the hat to fit properly, sister bought a 6 7/8th Champion (twice the price of the hat she looked at at big shop!) Owner of local tack shop told us that ONLY champions and Charles Owen hats, of the big brands, are made in England. These brands are the only ones we will buy in the future (I currently have two Charles Owen hats) and will be buying from local tack shop too. The other thing it brought home was that buying hats online is not a good move.
 
Many moons ago while working in a tack shop we were told that Champion and Charles Owen were also the only ones that not only came up to the kite mark but surpassed it. Not only that but they sent round reps to train the staff in how to fit them correctly.(In the case of BP's only Rodney Powell sent reps and showed how to fit correctly) I have only bought these makes for me and Bubs.
 
There is talk that they may make it some sort of law that you can only buy a hat from somewhere where they have proper hat fitters.... I'll wait to see it!

Airowear do BP fitting courses too!

If you google on the internet there has been independent testing on hats my the Injured Jockey Club (sorry I know it's not called that, but I'm really tired and can't think properly, I'm sure you know who I mean!) and you can see which ones came up well.
 
you should never buy a hat that you havent tried on. internet hat sales should be banned. this is the most important PPE you will ever buy. you only get one head. unforetunatly not everyone has the perfect shaped head so you need to try many makes to find the one that fits you best. a good retailer who stocks a variety of makes and are qualified fitters are your best option. they might not be the cheapest BUT what price do you put on your head and your life?.................
and on another thread i think that ALL equestrian magazines should put a blanket ban on pictures of riders not wearing a hat, no matter how good they are! (articles and sale ads etc)
 
I worked in a local tack shop and the Champion rep came and trained me how to fit hats. Have to say that the hats are of excellent quality and when shown a cross section of them, the protection they offer is amazing. Needless to say I only wear Champion hats and currently have a Ventair one. Fits well and very comfortable and no sweaty head!!
 
Re buying a hat over the net, my other concern, apart from fit, is how many times the courier has dropped the hat on the way to your door!
 
yorksg.

nothing to say they havent been dropped by the courier on the way to the shop though either......

My HS1 will prob need replacing next year I shall do so online if its cheaper as my head will remain the same.

I had training by CO several years ago, not that impressed tbh and some of the fitting that went/goes on is dreadful.
 
Hat's come pretty well packed in bulk from wholesalers!! I used to cringe at the hats in Tesco's all chucked over the floor and in no proper packaging whatsoever, and people who clearley had no idea just dumping them on a kid's head because they were cheap.....
I had my hat fitted at the local tack shop - I would highly recommend Oldwick Saddlery to people in west sussex, they took their time and were knowledgable. I came away with a champion ventair in the end - I love it, very cool and comfy, and not alot more expensive than buying over the net.
 
hmm not always in my experience, I think the more you get in bulk prob the better but smaller shops dont order many in one go..... It also requires them to be well cared for in stock rooms... particularly the CO ones that used to just come in bags and hence not terribly stackable.
 
ester, I'm sure you're right about them being dropped in shops too! Interestingly sister bought her last champion hat only a month before she landed on it, it was a 7 that fitted fine, but the next one is a size smaller! So I would still recomend buying a new one. btw both my CO's came in boxes :)
 
It is so vitaly importany to have every new hat fitted by a Qualified Hat Fitter. Ask to see the certificate, it should be on display. If you tilt your head forward, unstrapped, the hat should stay in place. Agree that internet hat sales should be banned.
 
I have bought a hat over the internet but only because I know that Champions fit my head and having had fittings in different shops and always come out with a Champion felt safe to do so.

I was happy that it was packaged well enough that even if the box had been dropped it would have been OK but was interesting was the company I used took the trouble to explain that I needed to be sure it fitted and in the event that it didn't I couldn't return if it didn't fit in case I had dropped it while it was with me.
 
I too have bought hats over the internet as I already had 2 others of the same style/size/make, so new it would fit. Ideally yes I would go and buy hats at a tack shop and get them fitted but there is not one near me that stocks a full Champion range just Charles Owen and I have had a reaction to the head band material they choose to use.
 
The other point about the 'superstore' was that the particular make of hat (which cost about 1/2 the price of the Ventair) had different coloured hats of the same size which fitted differently. The 'very busy' *hat fitter* insisted that the blue 7" which I could move easily fitted because I wanted blue. The black 6 7/8" DID fit IMO but the blue of the same size was too small. What I really wanted the *fitter* to do was to go and see if they had more blue ones of the same size, so that I could try few and hopefully find one that fitted. When I got to the local tack shop, I asked if they stocked that particular make. Owner said 'well we do but the sizing is odd, so I don't stock many'. I laughed and went for a well-fitted Ventair. The month old Ventair had protected my head very well recently when I landed on it on the road. I have to say that I hope not to be paying about £90 every month though!
 
I have bought one hat from the internet but only because I have a very odd shaped head and none of the local tack shops sell Dublin Onyxs. These are to a good standard, possibly not as high a standard as some brands but if the other brands don't fit my mutant head then they aren't going to protect me anyway.

The one thing I do think ought to be banned is selling second hand hats on ebay. Several of my friends have ebay hats and it worries me silly.
 
I have 2 Charles Owen hats both fitted but both different sizes, my CO SJ xp was fitted at a tack shop and they made me put on a hairnet (as i wanted it for showing) and wear the hat in the shop for half an hour whilst browsing around! My CO J3 skull was fitted at a CO stand at Your horse live, I was worried that i had been fitted to a different size but they explained about the different fits of different styles etc.
On the body protector theme I was fitted with a Mountain Horse Body Guard jacket by the people from MH im glad i did as I would have got the wrong size as what i thought was correct was wrong and they too took the time to explain how it should fit etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top