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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Always Carry a Warm Hat

More Articles Related to Clothing

I always carry a warm wool hat when I go very far into the outdoors. Even in the summer. Why? Because ounce for ounce a warm hat is worth more in it's ability to keep you warm than any other piece of outdoor clothing you can have.

A good warm hat is an important component of your survival gear collection.

Merely by chucking a small wool hat into your pack, you increase your comfort zone for cooler weather by at least twenty degrees. Should you have to spend a night in the wilderness, a warm hat covering your head will go far toward staying comfortably warm and maybe even staying alive.

Why is a Hat Important?

About 30 percent of your body heat can be lost through your bare head. If this seems like an extraordinarily high number given that your head is a relatively small part of your body, consider this: At any given time about 15 percent of your blood volume is in your head. Since the head area is very exposed, this warm blood can easily and quickly be lost to the surrounding environment.

Wool Hats are and excellent choice for survival
Wool Hats

But there is more to wearing a warm hat than merely the overall conservation of precious body heat in a survival situation. As you are probably aware, your brain is located beneath that thick skull of yours, and is the most important organ in your body. Your brain is the main control center of everything that you are. The brain controls your ability to think. Your ability to act. And, your ability to maintain temperature within the bounds necessary for life.

Your Brain Needs Warm Blood

It is critical to make sure your brain is getting the warm blood it needs, or else your body will shut down! Of all the organs in your body, the brain requires the most blood. And your brain needs this blood to be the right temperature. If your blood temperature drops even a few degrees your brain will be stressed and symptoms of hypothermia will set in. Often a person under the influence of hypothermia will not even know it.

A Fleece Hat is a good survival item too
Fleece Hats

Even outside of cold-weather environments, hypothermia is an ever present danger. Symptoms of hypothermia include confusion and weakness – not good at any time and especially not good in a survival situation where you need to keep your wits about you and your physical condition as high as possible.

Warm Hats Save on Calories

Calories are often the currency of life in a survival situation. Going without head cover in cool weather is like burning money and sending the heat up the chimney. Simply by wearing a warm hat you prevent a tremendous amount of heat from escaping your body. Your overall blood temperature will more easily be maintained and your body will burn fewer calories in order to stay warm. These saved calories can then be used for things like thinking, moving, or stored up for later use.

What Kind of Hat?

Beaver Hats - the warmest hats in the world
Beaver Hats

You want to avoid hats that are not warm even when wet. Cottom baseball caps, for example, are cold and clammy when wet from rain or persperation.

I prefer wool when it comes to warm hats. Wool is warm even when wet, which is an important condsideration when your environment tends to be wet with rain, snow, or sweat. The natural oils in wool tend to add a bit of water repellancy, though in a downpour wool will soak through.

A good warm hat should fit down low enough to cover your ears and lower forehead. I prefer a medium weight wool hat, an all around choice that should be good for temperatures down to about zero degrees F but is not too hot when active at temperatues below freezing. If it could be colder than this, I always include a coat with a hood and take a warmer hat with me, or perhaps even two hats for use as a layering system.

Wool hats are an excellent choice, but warm hats suitable for use in the outdoors can be made from synthetic and natural materials hats besides wool. Fleece is a common type of modern hat. Polypropylene is an excellent material that is warm and stays dry even when exposed to wetness. A thin polyproplyene liner is a good addition to your hat as it will help wick away moisture.

Various species of animal fur have been used for centuries in making warm hats. For example, beaver hats are considered by some to be the warmest hats in the world.

Always Bring a Warm Hat

Your warm hat is an integral component of your outdoor clothing. Bottom line: always bring a hat when traveling in the great outdoors, no matter what time of the year. Pound for pound, ounce for ounce, your warm hat is your most efficient piece of survival clothing for staying warm and staying alive.


Original at: http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/always-carry-a-warm-hat/

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