International- Your body loses a significant portion of its heat through your head, so keep yourself warm this winter with a great winter hat.
- If you're looking for the best of the best, shop for a winter hat at Columbia Sportswear.
- Columbia's gear is designed for mountaineers, skiers, and polar explorers, so it will keep you warm as you walk the dog, shovel the drive, or climb an ice tower in the Himalayas.
For years, a commonly propagated misconception held that the human body loses between 40% to 50% of its heat through the head. This surprisingly high figure was recently proven inaccurate for a simple reason: The original researchers, conducting tests for the United States military, had come up with that percentage by testing soldiers who were out in cold weather with most of their heads and necks exposed, while the rest of their bodies were clothed. With the clarity of hindsight, it's obvious that the exposed part of your body will lose more heat than the rest. That said, we still lose about 10% of our body heat through our heads, so putting on a warm hat is a great way to stay warm in the winter.
But where to find the best winter hat? That comes down to the classic form or function debate. If you're headed out on an expedition that will have you trekking across a glacier, then style is out the window because you need high-performance cold weather apparel. Don't shop at J.Crew for a hat that's essentially a piece of survival gear, but if you need a hat that will look great with your cashmere sweater and high-rise jeans, J.Crew has you covered.
When it comes to buying winter hats for children, you should balance performance with looks. It's all fine and good for your kids to look charming, but they need to stay safe and warm, too. And the activities during which they'll be wearing their hats should factor in as well.
The winter hat makers we're featuring offer hats in myriad styles, so once you've narrowed down the type of winter cap you need, you should be able to find several fine options from each brand.
Here are the best places to buy winter hats:
- Best winter hats overall: Columbia Sportswear
- Best winter hats for kids: The North Face
- Best stylish winter hats: J.Crew
- Best winter hats for sports fans: New Era at Macy's
- Best low-cost winter hats: Amazon
Updated on 12/20/2019 by Jen Gushue: Updated prices, links, and formatting.
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