On the first of June I put up the new Lair porch’s structure. Having tired of getting hit in the head with things, I followed through on something that had been on my mind lately and borrowed a hard hat from Landlady’s barn. It was returned…not entirely undamaged.
This got me to thinking maybe I needed a hard hat or helmet of my own. I’m out in the boondocks alone, sometimes working with heavy things, and the older I get the smarter it seems to take steps to avoid easily-avoidable injury. Thorough Joel wants to go full hockey helmet, but Sensible Joel says I’d never use the thing.
While surfing what’s available I came upon a concept I had actually thought of but didn’t know was available – a bump cap. It’s just a plastic skullcap that fits under a baseball cap. Even if that might not be a complete replacement for a hardhat, it sounded like it might be the solution to my chronic “hit your head on a branch while watching the ground at your feet” problem. Plus it was really cheap, so I decided to try one and it came today.
As advertised, it’s just a plastic skullcap that fits under a baseball cap. It has some very thin padding at the crown.
Didn’t exactly come with instructions, but it looks as though you’re supposed to put it inside the hatband – which does just barely fit.
And there you go. I did wear this around for an hour this morning, when it was humid but not very hot. Early impression: It’s sweaty but not otherwise uncomfortable. Stays on my head fine. I’m going to try it with a bandanna lining.
That is actually pretty cool. Ski/snowboarding helmets would probably afford more protection but certainly won’t fit under a cap.
And one could also add some pieces of upholstery foam inside the plastic cap to provide some additional protection, if one wanted to do so. Of course, the cost is overwhelming:
https://www.joann.com/chair-pad-foam-1in/2164366.html
but sometimes that’s the way things go.
I used to bump into overhead stuff and drive the button on the top center of gimee ballcaps a quarter of an inch into my skull.
I stopped wearing them.
For workwear I have a wide-brimmed cloth hat from Costco. For semi-casual I wear a boonie hat.
I used to wear a hardhat as an employment requirement. I actually liked it due to its preventing head trauma on many an occassion. The only problem besides falling off and not a wide enough brim for sun protection was that if you ran into a low overhang it would wrench your neck.
The bump cap looks like a good solution except in hot weather.
That looks very cool, I may even have to try one. Definitely add some extra padding to it otherwise the force of an impact will still find it’s way to your noggin.
What I’m wondering is why they didn’t drill some holes for ventilation?