Rhawn( Ron) Fischer and I are contemplating a survival skills school. Our logo will be "We teach you the Rhawn Way" to help instill confidence in our students. We dislike both the Rambo mercenary and Grizzly Adams personas. I think the hat, tie and tweed look of Mallory will be our dresscode ;O)

Hey Don (and all) thanks for so much great advice. OK the deal w/ balaclavas is they may get you into a bad situation if you happen to have a firearm with you. AFAIK, it is illegal for you to have a firearm and a balaclava at the same time to use to conceal your identity for something illegal you are going to do (whatever that means, maybe it's a sentence enhancement law). In any case, because I live 2 miles from Hollywood, people associate balaclavas with bank robbers. While practical in a survival sense, I think I'd rule it out socially...(if that makes sense.)<br><br>I like outdoors gear that doesn't make me stick out too much. The commie tanker hats are kinda cool Are there civilian versions out there? I should get a greatcoat with it, too, but they're so [censored] heavy.

For lawyering work, I wear a hat only when going to my own office in rainy weather (at any other destination, it tends to be in the way), or at outdoor site inspections (when I wear what I would for outdoor casual activities). For other outdoor activities, weather & circumstances dictate choice of headwear. In hot weather a straw cowboy hat is shady & cool. In cooler weather, a full brim felt or canvas hat helps protect from the sun & rain. I prefer the felt scouter's hat with the full brim when outdoors. We also like chin straps when possible. I suppose I should also note that I have become somewhat folicly challenged. :-)<br><br>A ball cap ( & eye protection) is helpful when picking fruit from trees since it tends to keep branches out of the face without being knocked off by other branches. It is particularly compatible with a parka to keep sunlight/rain/ whatever off the face while wearing the hood over the head. It is also compatible with ear muff hearing protectors when shooting where it keeps both the elements & ejecta out of the face. :-)<br><br>My family just went to a large theme park. We memorized the dress of each member including the color of our ball caps to make sure we would not become lost from each other. I needn't have worried. Only about 5% of the patrons wore any headgear at all. Even then, wearing headgear ran in families. So our 4 blue caps all stayed in the same herd. :-)<br><br>Past experience indicated that 1 of the shows at the theme park would be noisy. So we all took our earplugs. A wise precaution. The whole park had become so noisy, that both my youngest son & I donned our earplugs 1/2 houjr into the park, & continued wearing them all day. Even my wife & older son wore them through the many extra-loud activities. Nearly all of the excessive noise was amplified; not natural. I suppose it was done out of a misguided intent to enhance excitement. And of course, we saw no one else using any form of hearing protection or complaining about the noise level (artificially amplified). Anyone been to a live music performance in the last 20-30 years? We are becoming a nation of the deaf. :-(( I am beginning to think that shooting with suitable hearing protection is often one of our quieter activities.<br><br>We are also a family of watch cap & parka wearers. By the way Tom, an orange watch cap stays permanently in my inside left pocket of my parka. :-)) I suspect the hunting-camping gene is linked to the watch cap wearing gene.<br><br>Dress among lawyers may be dichotomous. A minority are quite dapper. The vast majority tend to be some variation of a dressy comfortably casual. I tend to be at the far end of the very comfortably casual. :-) And other than in court, this sole practicioner can be very casual.

I guess I didn't understand the intent of your original question- I thought you kicked off the whole "hat" thing because you were anticipating a more challenging climate than SoCal. Now I have no idea what you're going for.<br><br>Ok, so I probably wouldn't wear a balaclava on Rodeo Drive either. Still, it's a helluva lot more likely that I'd wear a balaclava there (at least rolled into watchcap configuration) than I'd be carrying a firearm... and if I were carrying a firearm there, I'd have a LOT more on my mind than my hat.<br><br>If you're not facing weather more challenging than Hollywood's, it's not a survival issue. I still wouldn't consider wearing a Sovietski fur cap in Southern California any more than I'd wear Bermuda shorts in Antarctica, but if you want the thing, by all means buy it. It may put you solidly in heatstroke territory, but for all I know you may also be at the leading edge of raver fashion... or something.<br>

A balaklava is not a ski mask. Although it can be pulled up over the mouth, as usually worn, the full face is exposed and identity is not compromised. I rarely bother with mine in an urban environment - it prefers the deep woods and the high seas.

Buy the balaclava. You can roll it up to watch cap configuration for daily wear. There are several sources for the ALaskan Troopers hat as I prefer to call them; Cabellas, L.L. Bean etc.

OK I will probably get the Balaclava. I thought they only showed your eyes and nose.<br><br>Presumed Lost, why the presumption I go to rave parties?

A ski mask is a balaclava with the face covered except for eyes and mouth. Presumed Lost was only funnin' with you about the rave parties ;O) Actually, I did ride into one out in the desert. It was fun dancing until this girl borrowed my chemlights and photon ll. Do you have any idea how hard it is finding a horse in the dark, guided by a mere lifeboat match?

No offense intended, Skunkabilly- just trying to envision the circumstances in L.A. where a "commie tanker hat (complete with red star)" would be "kinda cool ", as you say. I think that lets out most of the Fourtune 500 corporate headquarters, elite country clubs, VFW meetings, or government jobs requiring a clearance...<br>

Much to my wife's chagrin, I usually where a baseball style cap. (Lately I have been wearing one with Owasippe Staff Association loge on it becasue I'm proud of what that organization stands for.) BTW, I wear it with the visor forward becasue it shields my eyes from the sun and my glasses from the light drizzle. I also like it in a heavy rain or the cold when I wear a hood. The bill on the visor helps push the side edges of the hood aside when looking right or left. Without it, my head swivels inside the hood, which limits my field of vision. And that can be a dangerous thing as I race across State Street to catch my bus! :-)<br><br>I have noticed more and more fellow commuters wearing caps these days, along with more relaxed casual dress. In fact, a business man in a drak blue suit really stands out like a sore thumb these days. I know some jobs or positions require such dress, but I'm glad I don't have to don that style anymore.