Gunfighter

yellowdog762 · Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 46

Wool or well made poly watch caps are a very under rated piece of gear. They are inexpensive, light weight and they don’t take up much room.

If you carry one in your pack you’ll be good to go if the weather takes a dive and many caps will keep your head somewhat dry even in a rain storm if you don’t have other head covering. Some high dollar watch caps even have Gore-Tex in them. The membrane will protect you from rain AND wind. Most caps will also breathe and keep you from sweating too much.

Many experienced outdoorsmen know that the key to keeping your hands and feet warm is to keep your head warm. If you have decent warm weather clothing but poor head gear you may experience as much as 90% of your heat loss from your head.

Depending on the situation, a brightly colored cap may be a life saver. Although I favor dark caps most of the time, traveling on public land during hunting season, bird hunting with a group (or D. Chaney) or a rescue situation are times when a bright cap might be preferred.

I have used my cap as a make shift basket when picking wild blueberries and no one else seemed to want me to share for some reason.

In cold temperatures you can sleep quite warm in an average sleeping bag or a couple of blankets if you also wear a watch cap. I prefer plain caps without logos or emblems so they don’t poke me while I sleep. That is also one reason you see a lot of old timey pictures of people sleeping in funny hats.

Off topic: A clean set of full length top and bottom poly underwear adds a serious warmth factor and little weight or bulk to your travel pack. I generally carry two sets of poly underwear at a minimum. I keep one pair to wear while I sleep and I wear the other pair during the day. After a couple of days, depending on the "stink" factor, I wear the sleep set during the day. I wash the first pair in the morning and then hang them up to dry during the day. Even if it is a little damp that evening you can put them on and your body heat will dry them out pretty fast. If they are still very damp I’d wear them in camp for a while until they were pretty dry so my sleeping bag didn’t get too wet. Damp poly underwear will feel really gross at first.