Safari Hats: A Glimpse In History

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Africa is the region that seems to offer rich collection of culture, resources, places of wonder and scenes of the circle of life. It is more impressive than anyone may ever dream. And as vast as it can get, no one can truly travel the whole of Africa in a month without missing hundreds of sights. One has to live in Africa to be able to see it all.

That being said and other things that can never be mentioned her or elsewhere, it is vital that you would not spoil your African safari adventure by not being comfortable along your journey. This is why, like with most other trips, we have to bring the essentials.

The basics off course are clothes, shoes and the likes. Second to it are the toiletries. The third (and the most important) are the binoculars! After all, what's the sense of going to Africa if you would not be able to witness the dance of life as closer as your advantage may allow?

Well, though we may place this gear at the bottom list, you surely would not want leaving them behind. Well, come to think of it, what more can you do but protect your head and half of your face from the scorching heat of the sun?

Wide brim hats were designed specifically to provide the maximum amount of sun protection without blocking your vision. Your long sleeves and long pants aside, safari hats can complement the functions as contributed by longer safari clothing. These restrict you from freer movement though.

When selecting for a safari hat, please pay attention to the width of the visor. It must atleast be 2 ½ inches wide from the side that is nearest to the circumference of your head.

While we have this strong tendency to correlate safari hats with outback, it is good to note that it is actually a version of the Fedora hat. When in doubt, you may try flipping the back of the brim and you'll make a Fedora. In short, safari hats are just fedoras that have their brims turned down.

Since when did this fashion in safari hats occurred, no one truly knows. One theory suggests that when African safaris became a fad at one time in history, people have started bringing home photos of safari adventures that typically feature turned-down-brims safari hats. Later, manufacturers adopted this type of hat which became the normal fashion for all safari guests.