Grundens Rain Hats

This style hat is usually called a Sou'wester, and Grundens are the best in the world.  Sou'westers were designed about 200 years ago by fishermen, and this current design is identical.

The Big Diff is the Fabric.  It's basically a yellow slicker hat, but the molecular-chemical compound is Grundens's own, and they've been popping them out this way for 40 or 50 years now, no need to change.

The long tail sheds water so it doesn't run down your neck.  The gutter front directs it away from your face.  The overall shape is aerodynamic so the wind doesn't catch it, and just in case it does, ear flaps connected by a chin strap keep it on your head.  

Although Grundens is a Swedish company, these are made in Portugal, and have been for 30 years, after the Swedish factory burned down.  Plus, a big portion of Grundens's market is Portugese fishermen.  They, not Leif Erikson and definitely not Columbus or even Amerigo Vespucci discovered This Land We Took From the Iroquois, Ojibway, Shoshone, Sioux, Arapaho, Seminole, Chippewa, Cheyanne, Miwok (RBW area guys), and others, which they now use for gaming, which is "soft" for gambling and in its own ways wrecks lives and families; but back to the Portuguese fishermen landing on the coast of Maine way before Columbus missed it altogether.  It happened in the early 1400's on their cod-fishing journeys.  

Cod were big money back then, and they didn't want to spill the beans on their fishing grounds.  Anyway, this is the hat they'd have worn back then if they had the chance.

Sold almost exclusively in marine shops, where customers are serious, tend to be rich, and therefore aren't always looking for the cheapest imaginable price. A flannel-like lining adds a smack of coziness.

I've owned one for 30 years (a Grundens), and this one is better than mine. If you think it looks goofy, by the way, maybe you're right the the suave city cowboy standards of today--but it was designed to do one thing better than any other hat, and the longevity of its design---despite its looks---is testimony to how well it keeps the rain off. (Besides which, I actually LIKE how it looks...)

Sizing: Medium fits to about 6 7/8 to 7 1/8; Large goes to 7 3/8; XL is for bigger than that. If you have big hair, or like hats loose, buy up. The chinstrap will keep it on, anyway.