Riding hat help

[Allnamesaretaken]

Hi. I’m new into riding and I want to get my own hat. The two brands the shop I went to were champion and Charles Owen. I was between size 57 and 58 in one and between 58 and 59 in the other. The lady told me to ask around to see what people would do in this situation. She said all the other places nearby also sold only these two brands and doing a search online for other tack shops is proving fruitless. I’m near aberaeron. Any advice greatly appreciated. TIA

 

[Fiona]

A different style hat made by same manufacturer could fit differently?

Fiona

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

Thank you. I tried all the ones around the £60 mark. The next jump was up to £114 which seemed expensive.

 

[Shay]

Any qualified hat fitter will use spacer material to adjust the fit - basically self adhesive padded strips which are fixed inside the liner to customize the hat fit to the head. I'm slightly surprised this wasn't offered. The basic head shape for the two makes is slightly different with Charles Owen being more round and Champion more oval -the choice will depend on which actually fits your head shape better. Were you actually in a shop with a qualified fitter?

 

[dixie]

Sounds like you need a different fitter. Maybe a dial type hat would be more suitable as you can adjust it to suit.

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

She said about tape but said you can’t put that much in. She seemed to know what she was talking about but really at this point anyone and everyone knows more than me so I couldn’t say how knowledgeable she was. They all felt pretty comfy but she was sticking her fingers in various places and said they didn’t fit.

 

[Shay]

If a qualified fitter states that the hat cannot be made to fit you then it can't. If the hat doesn't fit - don't buy it! You're going to need to find another make or go up a few price points I'm afraid.

Dial type hats are a possibility as the fit can be adjusted - but be careful that it meets current standards. You won't be allowed to ride at the riding school you choose if your had does not have as a minimum PAS015. Sadly there are a lot of discount retailers who do cheap hats which do not meet this standard.

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

No I definitely don’t want to buy one that doesn’t fit. She said she could sell me one but she couldn’t tell me that it fit so I said no. I used to be a motorcyclist and I know how important the helmet is. With them it was said don’t consider buying anything under £100 (nearly 20 years ago), is there a rule of thumb for riding hats would you say? I’m willing to spend more money if I have to, I just didn’t want to do so unnecessarily.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

If you were a biker, are you a Shoei or an Arai fit? You'll know the big difference between the way those fit. - chalk & cheese.
If an Arai, you'd be worth looking at the Gatehouse RXC1 type (but not the H1 or 2) and the Charles own 'Kids Own' range as they seem to fit better than the adult range.

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

Fuzzy Furry thank you!! I’m an Arai. Shoei give me a headache. That makes total sense, I’ll try the Gatehouse as you recommend, now just to find someone selling them I feel sense of relief after the frustration of yesterday.

 

[abbijay]

Fuzzy Furry thank you!! I’m an Arai. Shoei give me a headache. That makes total sense, I’ll try the Gatehouse as you recommend, now just to find someone selling them I feel sense of relief after the frustration of yesterday.

That might jump you up the price range quite a bit! There's very few gatehouse hats under a ton.
Were you just trying on skull caps or peaked caps? I have found they often fit differently within the same brand. For me the Champion junior skull caps fit well but the peaked hats didn't. Whatever hat you get double check it is PAS015, you won't be allowed to use it at a riding school unless it is!

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

Ahh the catch! Just my luck. I didn’t try peaked caps, they didn’t have any of those. The place I went to was a big country store that had a horsey section rather than a specialist place. I can’t find one of those for love nor money around here.

 

[ester]

Honestly it is worth spending a bit more if it fits. I spent a day at Burghley this year trawling the stands for new options as my gatehouse HS1 has started giving me head aches and the newer version doesn't fit at all. I do have a gatehouse air rider which has the dial system which I love (because if I get a headache I make it loser!), and I have a gatehouse velvet which fits fab but I wanted a proper skull cap to go with it.

One of the charles owen reps spent a long time with me discussing the issue and we concluded that it is partly because I am between sizes. Her solution to this was to go for their 'round' fitting instead and add some padding at the back. It seems to work at the moment and I'm interested how well it fits once the padding has stretched a bit.

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

Perhaps I have the same head shape as you because the lady told me one of them was too small at the front and too big at the back! I never thought it would be so complicated as when you go to a riding school they just give you one and away you go.

 

[ester]

That is what happens to me. sometimes they start out ok but I wear the padding down at the front and end up with a gap at the back. I also cannot get a champion anywhere near on my head. I do find the big shows best for trying out options when I can, my last 3 hats have been bought like that.

Fwiw I ended up with charles owen ProII round but also suggest it is worth trying one with a dial system too.

 

[Allnamesaretaken]

Thanks, I’ll find out when and where the next big show is and take my partner’s wallet

 

[ester]

sounds like a plan. I spent a day touring the west country years ago unsuccessfully looking for hats, hence giving in and doing it at shows- which also means you have their own reps available often so they know their range better than most stores will.

Re. the Riding school, we had one brand, one type in a variety of sizes so you had to have the one that best fitted you from that collection to be safe, but it doesn't mean it was necessarily that comfortable.