Why Hat Brims Are Wrong - The Short Solution
Big Brim, Big Problems
Playing beach volleyball, you've likely accumulated a closet-filling amount of trucker hats. We love them as much as you, however, when actually playing the sport there are a couple issues.
First, if you wear a normal hat forward, the brim gets in the way of your visibility. 90% of volleyball happens above eye level, so why would you put something that blocks that field of view? Second, if you turn the hat backwards, the long brim can hit the back of your neck when you look upward, which now restricts an important movement ... unless you're always looking down at shots falling right in front of you (don't be that player).
Of course this isn't meant to throw shade at hats. They are important to avoid burns and to help keep sweat out our our eyes. We personally can't play without one.
When thinking through a solution to keep the sun off our faces during the brightest hours without limiting visibility or movement, we always thought a shorter brim might work, but it wasn’t until we had a conversation with one of the top twenty beach volleyball teams in the world that we realized this is a global issue. Sam Pedlow (check him out), who has 12 top 10 finishes on the FIVB tour in the last 2 years, told us that he is, “constantly looking for hats with a shorter beak.” If a professional who is tracking towards playing in the Olympics and has a big unnamed apparel sponsor can’t find a hat for playing then how can the thousands of others who hit the sand every weekend survive?
Above is a hat we designed with Sam, who has been instrumental in providing feedback over the past year as we’ve worked on the ideal brim construction. Too short and it accomplishes nothing, too long and your brim is getting caught in the net like a tuna. Luckily, we found the perfect balance. We also added big hole mesh designed to keep you dome cooler while getting after it in the sand. Study coming shortly to prove that claim.
We've been testing the new short brim trucker for months and it is addicting. If the hat were a volleyball shot it would be a wrist away cutty with pace from off the net hit over a giant block that has the defender crossed up and eating sand.
Ball Brim Trucker Features:
- Short brim optimized for visibility, while also blocking the sun during the brightest times of day.
- Big hole mesh designed to let your head breath when things heat up
- Classic bright/ neon trucker hat foam front panel inspired by the California aesthetic
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