Why You Need a Sun Hat

Rayward Apparel

If you have a head, then you need a sun hat. Need more convincing? Continue below as we outline but a few of the many reasons why a sun blocking hat is a must-have any time of year, especially in the summer. Whether it’s helping keep you cool, protecting your face or shielding your ears and neck, don’t even think about starting your next adventure without a sun blocking hat.

Sun Blocking Hats Keep You Cool, Literally

Sun hats actually help you stay cool in hot weather. Think of your sun hat as cool, refreshing shade that you wear! By blocking the sun’s radiation, which would heat your entire body, a sun blocking hat helps your body stay cool. The best options feature lightweight fabrics to allow for airflow, and quick-drying materials to keep your head dry and cool. 

Protect Your Eyes (and Eyelids) with a Sun Hat

Wearing a sun blocking hat helps protect your eyes and eyelids from UV damage. With a nice wide brim (the larger the better), you’ll significantly reduce the amount of direct UV exposure on your eyes. This helps prevent eye damage, as well as decreases your risk of skin cancer around your eyes. We still recommend wearing UV sunglasses, however, to protect against indirect UV rays. For example, those that might reflect off of the water, snow, sand or cement.

Man with bucket hat and camera

Sun Blocking Hats Prevent Wrinkles & Age Spots

Unless your goal is to get wrinkles early, you should wear a sun blocking hat. Used in conjunction with broad spectrum sunscreen, sun hats prevent skin damage and decrease early signs of aging, such as wrinkles. Delay those crow’s feet and keep your skin looking youthful with a wide-brimmed sun hat.

Sun Hats Protect Your Face

Sun blocking hats with a bill or brim help protect vulnerable parts of your face, like your forehead, nose, lips and cheeks. While sunglasses are great for protecting your eyes, they practically paint a bullseye on your nose. Counter that with a sun blocking hat featuring a bill long enough to cast shade on your mouth and nose. Of course, as the sun sinks lower, your hat’s brim offers less protection, so make sure you also wear broad spectrum SPF 30+ sunscreen.

Wide-brimmed Sun Hats Protect Your Ears & Neck

It’s likely that your ears and neck receive more direct UV exposure than any other part of your body. For the most protection, don’t settle for a hat that leaves your neck and ears exposed. Instead, choose a wide-brimmed sun blocking hat that offers 360 degrees of protection. Just remember, the wider the brim, the more UV protection your ears and neck receive.

Even when wearing a sun blocking hat, you still need to wear broad spectrum sunscreen. Sun hats are great at preventing direct UV rays from above. However, they cannot block 100% of the sun’s radiation because UV rays also bounce and reflect off nearby surfaces. Therefore, while a wider brim offers more protection, it cannot entirely protect your face. Make sure you follow all our recommendations to prevent skin cancer, including wearing a sun hat, UPF apparel and broad spectrum sunscreen.

Guess what? Sun blocking hats are now available from Rayward Apparel, so shop the Sun Ops UPF 50+ Bucket Hat now!