Top Features To Look For When Shopping For a Safari Hat
- Wide brim: Choose a safari hat with a 365-degree wide brim. This provides all-round protection for the face, neck, and ears without interfering with your vision.
- High UV protection rating: The UPF rating is the sun protection rating for clothing. Choose a hat that offers UPF50+ sun protection, which is the highest rating a garment can have. Make sure that this has been independently tested.
- Color: Get a safari hat in a safari-friendly color. As your hat will be the highest point on walks and will often be visible over grass and bush and on the back of game viewers, your choice of hat color will be especially important for game drives and walking safaris. Neutral shades of brown, khaki, and olive green are best.
- Packable: Hats in packable styles are useful during every leg of your trip. Different degrees of packable safari hats exist, but the most packable canvas styles are easy to manipulate back into shape. When you arrive at your safari destination, it is really handy to tuck your hat into your daypack so you can quickly unpack it whenever you need it. The only thing to remember is that your hat should be flat-packed with the brim flat, and make sure nothing else in your luggage will crush or damage your hat.
- Lightweight: The lighter the better when it comes to packing for safari. The best safari hats balance UPF50+ protection with lightweight construction.
- Adjustable fit: While the fit of your hat comes down to preference, having the choice to tighten or loosen the fit of your safari hat helps you to adapt to conditions on safari. Features like an internal adjustable drawstring ensures your hat always sits comfortably on your head - and stay put in windy and active safari conditions.
- Removable chin strap: It can get windy on safari - especially on the back of open game viewers or on boating activities. Whenever a breeze blows in, a chin strap is one way to keep your safari hat secure - and stops you from having to fish it out of rivers with crocodiles or from the top of thorn trees. Our hats come with removable chin straps, giving you the freedom to choose.
- Ventilation: If you're worried about the heat on safari, look for safari hats that include features for ventilation. From full mesh panels to eyelets for airflow, these design features are there to help during the heat of the day.
Safari Hats FAQs
What kind of hat do you wear on safari?
Pick a safari hat with a 360-degree wide brim for all-round sun protection, with built-in, high-factor UPF. A light and packable hat is a good choice - especially for fly-in safaris or if you want to tuck your hat into your daypack for activities. We’ve also created classic safari hats with style-your-hat features that are perfect for every outdoor adventure.
What is the best safari hat?
The best safari hat has a 360-degree wide brim and provides a high UPF sun protection rating to help you prevent sunburn during safari activities. Depending on your needs, look for lightweight and packable styles. The option of a chin strap is a useful style addition for whenever the wind picks up or when you’re on the move on the back of open game-viewers.
What is the point of a safari hat?
It can get very hot on safari and you will be out in the elements, exploring the bush and looking for wildlife. A safari hat is an essential part of any sun protection strategy - one of the ways to prevent the pain and redness of sunburn.
How many hats should I pack for my safari?
Pack one safari hat per person for essential sun protection in hot African safari conditions. We do know of fellow safari-goers who prefer to take more than one hat with them on safari, but often that is simply as they like the styling of more than one of our safari hats.
What features to look for in a safari hat?
The best safari hats have a 365-degree wide brim to protect the face and neck. Look for hats with a high UPF sun protection factor. Ensure the features of your safari hat are a match for your requirements. For example, features like a chin strap are useful for being on the back of open game viewers or for windy conditions while you are out in the bush. Foldable styles are useful for walking safaris or tucking your hat into your daypack for activities.
What type of safari hats should I avoid?
Choose a safari hat that doesn’t impede your vision during game viewing - floppy wide brims and peak caps are not the best choice when it comes to this. As with all safari clothing, pick a hat in neutral colors like khaki and olive green - and avoid white, black, and bright colors. Also avoid hats with a camouflage design. Baseball caps and peak caps also do not provide sun protection on the neck, which is worth keeping in mind as you will often be out in the hot African sun (and can still get sunburnt in overcast conditions).
Can I look stylish in a safari hat?
Safari hats in classic designs always look stylish in Africa. In timeless designs, our range of safari hats are a stylish accent to any safari outfit for men and women - and help to prevent hot, red sunburn on the face and neck.