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MG MGA - What do you wear

What do folically challenged 'A' drivers wear on their heads.
Baseball cap is too young, especially those made with the peaks on the back. (Where do you buy those?)
Flat caps too Northern. (Sorry Steve Gyles, and any other Northerners)
Beanie hats make you look like overpaid sports stars.
Stetsons, trilbys etc blow off in the wind and flying helmets make you look like Biggles.
Those with corks on get in the way.
What do you wear?
Nigel Munford

Honesty, I've tried nearly all of your suggestions and find the good old baseball cap works the best.

skip... still raining in california
skip

I'm with Skip, a good basball cap that is sized for your head, not one of the adjustable cheepies. I think I paid $25 for mine and have had it for years. Use a staple gun if it won't stay on.
John H


Hi Nigel. A Hat? Are you kidding?

Let it fly in the breeze
And get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas
A Must for driving MG's
A nest for birds
There ain't no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder
Of my...

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair


Cheers! GLenn

Glenn

Come on.....

I thought for sure you english guys would be whereing a british driving cap.
Tysen

The baseball cap helps tremendously in the evening hours where you can use the brim as a sun visor. Wasn't that the original reason for the baseball cap design?

I would add that a clip at the rear of the cap to the shirt collar helps at speed. LBCarCo sells them if you can't make one for yourself. Nothing like running down the back highways and passing a semi going in the opposite direction. Makes for a fast action to catch the hat as it starts to lift-off.

Chuck
Chuck Schaefer

Careful there Nigel. Just because I live up north does not make me a northerner. Born and bred in North London (Cockfosters - end of the Piccadilly Underground line)! I can also lay claim to Scotland (twice), Wales, East of England (Norfolk) and Germany.

I'm with Glenn. I like the wind through my hair. Just occasionally in mid winter I put a hat on to save on body heat loss. Tried them all and do not like any type in particular - look like a prat!

New style of poetry Glenn. Are you taking lessons? Snow gone yet?

Steve
Steve Gyles

oh I get it that's a flat cap.
Tysen

I am wearing greekfishermans cap when drivng MG
Kapreodanu

A leather Princeton Cap. Stays on nice and the short bill keeps your eyeballs from shaking too hard to see the road.
Phil
The Other MG Brother - Phil White

Hi Steve G. That bit of "poetry" was "borrowd" (stolen from) the musical "hair." Snow is gone but alas, I need to re install my floorboards, tranny tunnel and seats before I can drive her again! Cheers! GLenn
Glenn

A hooded sweatshirt is the nuts, especially when it's cooler out. Keeps the wind off the back of your neck.
I have an old-fashioned welding cap. The short brim doesn't shade quite as well, but it doesn't catch the wind and blow off. And, it's not a baseball cap, which everybody wears.
John Vallely

It's a flat cap for me, have to keep the sun off the scalp because of skin cancer. It's the only one I can keep in place, although I lost it once in the wind. Wish there was something better, but haven't found anything yet.
Bill Young

A Smile
R J Brown

I saw a guy driving a TD wearing a fedora, thought that looked so cool.

Not quite the same in an MGA but I tried it and liked it. My local hat store sewed a leather string on for me that goes around the chin, stays on even at 80 on the freeway. Doesn't look dorky (so I am told) since it is inconspicuous.

I wore a baseball hat for years but I hate that sensation of it slowly rising off your head once you pass 50mph.
Jim P

There's a big choice of suitable hats here:-

http://tinyurl.com/ef23q

When I wear a cap it's usually a Kelso Shooting Cap but when it's raining hard I wear a Wax Cap.

Nigel Steward


Nigel,

I got the Yank version of the wax cloth driving cap from http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/mens/mens_hats/86124.aspx. Definitely a winter chapeau, though. Looks great with my fifty mission leather bomber jacket, rainproof, and doesn't come off at highway speed.

Cheers,
Frank
Frank Nocera

Thought I'd add to this! I like a flat cap but a baseball hat is a good sun visor. A good crash hat (not a full face helmet please!) with a peak on it feels good, but then you look like a boy racer and attract some fellows in uniforms and wearing guns.
But, I run my MGA with the hardtop on all thetime (I really wanted a coupe); so, no problem.
Fraser Cooper

The best headwear is worn by a guy in our local MGA club - a motorcycle pudding bowl helmet painted to match the gun mettalic grey of his car.

Or should it be high heels, suspenders and a bra?


dominic clancy


I tried the bra, but it didn't keep the sun off (maybe I needed a bigger cup) and I couldn't get it to stay on my head. And Dominic, as long as you are at it, don't forget the fishnet stockings and bustier.
Frank Nocera

10 years ago in December 1996 I did the LEJOG (Lands End to John O'Groats) in my old MGTC. It was a 1000ish mile rally in 3 days and nights. I wore a Chinese military style hat with fold down fur lined ear pieces. Brilliant. Might not have looked good but certainly kept the frost bite off the ears.

Going back to Nigel's opener (but disregarding the northerner bit), during the winter period I wear my sheepskin coat over my work suit, silk scarf to avoid neck chafing, RAF aircrew kid skin leather gloves and occasionally, yes just occasionally, a FLAT CAP! arghhhh.....

Steve
Steve Gyles

Nigel

What I used for MANY years with my YT as a cap that looked like Frank's wax cloth driving cap but made from fabric. The sides were a knitted material that was normally folded up to give the "correct" profile that could be pulled down to cover the ears in cold weather. Being somewhat elastic the sides held the cap on quite well, never had it come loose in many 1000s of miles in the YT. Finally wore a hole clear through the top a few years ago. Never have found a replacement that I liked.

FWIW

Larry
Larry Hallanger

Nigel,
I too, have a perfect head! I don't mind the wind; it's the sun that bothers me. I have tried all types of hats, and they all blow off. Since I ride a Harley, I have an assortment of do-rags I wear under my helmet to keep my head from itching and the helmet from getting wet from perspiration. I decided to try wearing them in the car and have never had a do-rag blow off while driving with the top down. Try it, you might like!
If you can't locate one in Herefordshire, let me know and I will ship you one that has the “good old H-D” logo.

BTW, several shops sell what are known as novelty motorcycle helmets (because they provide no measure of safety) but they look cool, are very light and some have visors. They are also very cheap!
Cleve

I always have a baseball cap in the car for the visor. Never tried a leather one, but they should stay on better.
Tom

Nigel

It has to be the local MG club's baseball hat, pulled right down hard and adjusted tight with them cool reflecting shades. It's the only way I can drive into that low sun at the end of the day.

The old posing cloth cap for those 'period' occasions, just doesn't have a peak big enough, but it is an option.

Pete
Pete Tipping

A roof!! ( like most coupe owners ) I like Dominic's idea, Is this a reference to Monty Python?
Terry Drinkwater

Usually I wear a baseball cap but for long runs on a sunny day, its a Tilley. http://www.tilley.com/
Prent

At 6'2" my bald head is right in the wind zone. Under 40mph I can wear a baseball cap. Over 40mph I really have to wear it backwards to have any hope it will not blow off. I can get away with a flat cap pulled down tight at all speeds, but it sure doesn't help with the sun. I also have learned the hard way that magnetic clip on sunglasses are just as likely to follow my baseball cap over the trunk at 50mph. By the way, what is a Princeton Cap? Alex
Alex Mullin

A number of comments.

First, I normally wear a "baseball" style cap which is marginal at highway speeds. It tends to fly off at the speeds we drive. (Posted speed is 65 MPH or 55 MPH. Actual speed is up to 90 MPH to prevent being run over by an idiot in an SUV or pickup truck.)

Steve. I once owned a "Chi-Com" hat which my older daughter stole. It was standard issue for those of us up in Alaska above the Arctic Circle. Like the earlier "flying helmet", it held on well. Do not know where the flying helmets my father had during WW II went (I wore then when young), but they were not there when he died. The tan, cotton one, would be excellent for long distance driving in our heat.

Jim P. An excellent idea if I can find someone in my area to provide the chin strap. Here in Arizona, the problem is the shading of the eyes, the protection of the back of the neck and the protection of the tops of the ears. Our sun is HOT and sunburn/cancer is a big problem. That is the reason for "cowboy hats" when one is travelling. However, this does not work well with an MG. Your idea may be the best yet.

Nigel. What is a "shooting cap"? Is this similar to the "deer stalker's hat" as worn by one S. Holmes?

My experience is that a baseball style hat, which rides low in the back, is best in our "winter season" while a straw hat, with a chin strap, protects the back of the neck, the ears, and offers some shade in front, for the summers.

But, the "Fedora" may, when properly equipped, be better than any of those previously described.

Les
Les Bengtson

re: I would add that a clip at the rear of the cap to the shirt collar helps at speed.
*****

We refer to those as "hat brakes".

I learned of them when I was still down-hill skiing...(still have one on my ski hat)...and my wife uses one on her MG hat.

rick
rick ingram

Lee
I went to a hat shop (not many left these days) and they sewed the strap to the inner sweatband of my (soft felt, foldable/crushable) fedora. It is actually the same thing that they use on some cowboy hats...a thick leather string held with a small wooden knob that slides up and down to tighten. I'm sure you could find something similar at a leather shop or crafts store. My hat shop is in Burbank CA and they had plenty of western hats, so maybe you can find a similar place in AZ.

I have lost four or five baseball hats over the years to the wind. Otherwise you have to keep one hand on the wheel, and one holding on to your hat, not very safe on the freeway.
Jim P

Congrats to Terry for spotting the Monty Python reference.

I actually have a range of headwear according to weather and how eccentric I am feeling on a given day:

For cold (icy) days a Russian pilot's sheepskin helmet or alternatively a Russian tank driver's hat with fold down ear flaps. Sheepskin jacket to match

For very sunny days an arab headscarf and a good close fitting pair of sunglasses. (surprising how well this stays on)

For normal days a (cough) Jaguar baseball cap (which I have had for 15 years so this talk of losing them puzzles me)) and jacket according to the weather

For leisurely days (very seldom, as the A brings out the Dick Dastardly in me) a Dick van Dyke straw hat

Female passengers tend to use a headscarf or a close fitting crochet hat or a baseball cap
dominic clancy

Thanks for your input chaps. In particular, Glenn. If I had hair I wouldn't have a problem.
Steve, Cockfosters eh. You must be a Spurs man then. Dominic, I bet you eat Spam.
I actually wear a base ball cap in the summer to avoid sunburn, and a Beanie in the winter to avoid frostbite
Nigel Munford

Nigel

Wash your mouth out. Ar*enal through and through.

Steve
Steve Gyles

That should have said Ar*enal. Shaking so much at the thought of being called a Spurs fan that I hit the wrong key!
Steve Gyles

This website obviously does not like the spelling of my team. Let's try The Gunners.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Or Gooners! Or The Ar*e! or 5th, or out of the CL!
Regards Nigel
Nigel Munford

Les

Here's the shooting cap to which I referred:-

http://tinyurl.com/zejlq

I also have a genuine WWII leather flying helmet, which I have been known to wear from time to time!

Nigel Steward

Prent

Do you use the Tilley Country Cap? It looks a lot like what I had years ago. Does it stay on at speed?



I have noticed that baseball type caps that I have had for a number of years mostly stay on without problems. However, ones that I have acquired more recently will not stay on at speed. It appears to me that the amount of material used is less, resulting in the lower edge fitting a bit higher on the head with a resulting loss of grip.

FWIW

Larry
58 A
49 YT
Larry Hallanger

Larry

I have the T5 hat,it keeps the sun off the back of my neck. It doesn't blow off, it has a cord that ties round the back of your head and under your chin. Lots of sailors use them, I have even heard sky diving tales...and the hat stays on!
Prent

Hi Nigel, I prefer the wind swept look and go bare headed most of the time- not much hair to blow away now!( I did have loads of shoulder length hair when the "Hair" musical was in vogue, but the MGA wasn't very old then either!). I use our West Lancs Club baseball style cap as a sun visor to keep the sun out my eyes as others have also said. I am quite short at 5'8" so my head is mostly out of the slip stream but I do have to keep the peak well down at over 100kph (56 mph). A beany hat is best in winter when it is frosty ( our club has started producing them as well)and don't want icicles in my thinning grey locks. Sounds as though Dominic needs to wear a lumber jack's hat but the Russian tank commander's hat sounds a close match. Cheers cam
Cam Cunningham

I wear a baseball cap but as Larry stated some are made a little different and may not stay on as well. To be honest I have never tired anything else other than a touque in real cold weather but I think I will just to compare. At 5'11 I am probably average and don't have any real issues with cap loss for the most part. When I had the B though I seemed to either sit higher or the windscreen was shorter because I lost a number of hats on the highway. I also found the windwings really helped with side draft when being passed by big trucks.
Kris
Kris Sorensen

The hat debate will sort itself out as you grow older & comfort is more important than turning heads of the female form , so now that i am 60 plus on cold days i throw caution to the wind & snuggle down with my flying hat & enjoy the drive !!!! thats why i went out on such a crap day any way, other times i use the baseball cap & still get admiring looks !! or maybe it is the car
colin daly

So today I was driving into the Florida Keys in my '56, on my way to the NAMGAR event, wearing my baseball cap. This blonde babe pulls up next to me, rolls down the passenger window on her Toyota and blows me a kiss.

Must have been the baseball cap.


Frank Nocera

This thread was discussed between 13/04/2006 and 27/04/2006

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