Help me navigate towards a new hat please!

[Glitter's fun]

I don’t think that any retailer will accept a hat back if you buy on line, so unfortunately you can’t bulk buy a few to try out.

I hope that your local store gets in at least two or three different hats for you to try. Hat fit is very individual.

My OH rides a motor bike. He tells me he can buy bike helmets on line & return them. I was very surprised!

 

[Sealine]

I'm not sure if this helps but I have an oval shaped head and wore Christy Beaufort hats for years before I changed to Charles Owen. For the last 15 years I've worn a skull and when I bought a new one a few years ago I bought a Gatehouse as it fitted better than the Charles Owen and didn't feel a bulky.

 

[2ndtimearound]

Thank you for your input, that's very useful.
Do you mind if I ask how many hours' riding a week you do?
Edited: Very roughly, I mean but I'm thinking about the Champion deterioration.

I only ride for a couple of hours a week, most weeks (not having my own horse). I'm not sure if it's the amount of wear or just deterioration over time that those hats suffered from.

 

[Skib]

the hat less safe, or is it considered a good thing

I too ride once or twice a week but regardless of whether or not it is worn, the life of a hat is only about 2 years, max 4 years since date of maufacture. Foam ages and hardens. I reckon with modern hats one could replace the foam round the edge of the hat.

 

[Tarragon]

I went hat shopping at Somerford a year or two ago, happy to spend the money to get a good quality endurance helmet, and came away with a basic skull cap as it was the only one that fitted my head! I basically has a choice of one out of one. I was very disappointed... though did save myself money.

 

[Glitter's fun]

I'm not sure if this helps but I have an oval shaped head and wore Christy Beaufort hats for years before I changed to Charles Owen. For the last 15 years I've worn a skull and when I bought a new one a few years ago I bought a Gatehouse as it fitted better than the Charles Owen and didn't feel a bulky.

That's very helpful, thank you.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Jumping on your thread!
I’m going hat shopping this weekend. Aiming to get a MiPS and hoping for Charles Owen as they generally fit me well but I’ve heard the mips can fit differently - Has anyone found that to be the case? TBH I’m not overly worried on the brand as long as it’s a skull

 

[Mari]

I have 3 uvex hats & love them. Their shape suits the shape of my head & the dial
at the back makes them adjustable whether I have short cropped hair or a bob (I have very thick hair)

 

[MuddyMonster]

Jumping on your thread!
I’m going hat shopping this weekend. Aiming to get a MiPS and hoping for Charles Owen as they generally fit me well but I’ve heard the mips can fit differently - Has anyone found that to be the case? TBH I’m not overly worried on the brand as long as it’s a skull

A different make but my Uvex MIPS seems to fit exactly as my non MIPS Uvex did.

 

[Northern Hare]

Another vote for the MIPS UVEX hats - I think they're great. From my experience, I popped the hat on and tightened the dial before getting on, and then didn't have to make any further adjustments until I loosened it before removing the hat at the end of a ride.

 

[Glitter's fun]

Jumping on your thread!
I’m going hat shopping this weekend. Aiming to get a MiPS and hoping for Charles Owen as they generally fit me well but I’ve heard the mips can fit differently - Has anyone found that to be the case? TBH I’m not overly worried on the brand as long as it’s a skull

Jump away - very welcome !

 

[Skib]

jumping on your thread!
I’m going hat shopping this weekend. Aiming to get a MiPS I’ve heard the mips can fit differently - Has anyone found that to be the case?

Yes, they do fit differently. My mips is a Charles Owen. My OH always wore Charles Owen hats which fitted him but they never previously fitted me.

Before mips I wore Gatehouse HS1. I always felt ridiculous as a total beginner wearing a massive cross country helmet. But times have changed, at least on our yard. Everyone hacks in them. Even the YM has a helmet that looks much like mine.

 

[Glitter's fun]

So, I did some trying on & came away with a Champion . It doesn't have a peak, which I'd have preferred and not sure it would have been my first pick if I'd had a free run at every hat in the bewildering choice I've looked at on-line but it fitted me best out of the ones actually available.
Interestingly I tried two C.O. and both rocked front to back.

Thank you for all the help.

 

[Skib]

It doesn't have a peak, which I'd have preferred

The silk should provide the peak. I seem to remember that a fixed peak may be regarded as a safety hazard. And the peak provided by the silk on my current Charles Owen mips sits far higher up the head. I imagine that is so one can lean forward and lie flat along the neck of the horse when passing under a low branch.