By: Blonde Two
Have you ever noticed that, just as Easter is a time for bonnets, Christmas is a time for hats. There are Santa hats, paper hats, hats made out of tea towels, elf hats, bobble hats, ear flap hats, woolly hats – in fact, at this time of year, the hat list is almost endless.
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear that I have a selection of hats to suit different Dartmoor occasions. Like some strange kind of mobile walking equipment hoarder, I carry all of them in my rucksack. It makes sense to me, Dartmoor is a strange place, who knows when the weather might suddenly swap from heatwave to big freeze?
I was given a new Dartmoor hat this year and I have a feeling that it could replace 90% of the hats currently residing in my rucksack. Let me explain;
1. A hat should keep you warm – new hat has three layers, micro fleece for cosy breathability next to the head and knitted on the outer layer (see number three for middle layer).
2. A hat should cover your ears all of the time and not ride up – new hat has a special band around it at ear level.
3. A hat should keep you dry – new hat is a SealSkinz one (no actual seals were harmed) and has a very clever middle layer which is waterproof and windproof. It is also breathable so that if you forget to dry your Blonde hair (there are days when doing this seems a bit laughable), all moisture will soon be drawn away and added to the elements.
4. A hat should shield your glasses from the rain – glasses wearing on Dartmoor is a relatively new one to me and causes no end of problems. Blonde One has already developed a good system to deal with this and wears a baseball cap – new hat has a peak which may well do the trick.
New hat (Belgian Cycling Cap to give it its correct name) sounds miraculous doesn’t it? This winter can (and will) be cold, wet, windy, icy and snowy but my Blonde head will be warm (even in bed). There is only one problem – I can’t put new hat on without those around issuing over-loud guffaws of laughter. I can usually “do” hats with aplomb but this one has defeated me and looks at worst ridiculous and at best comedic. As there are few mirrors on Dartmoor and as I really don’t mind being laughed at, I intend to wear new hat as much as possible. Look out for me, I will be the one with glowing cheeks, a wry grin and a very warm head!
I had been eyeing a lovely orange sealskinz hat as a present for me. Then we decided to pool all of our presents into a new dslr camera so no orange hat! Hoping to find one in the sales.
Hope both blondes had a super Christmas. Maybe one day I’ll bump into you on Dartmoor and snap you in your snazzy hat with my funky new camera!!!
Sealskinz socks are the best – my pair are stolen from a friend, having worn them for 5 days straight, he wasn’t that bothered about having them back – result!
Oh, come, B2. Away from the ski slopes where there is a good chance of losing one’s ear tips and where I protected my ears (very chic; very close to my head) with the sort of hat worn by Peruvian nose-flute blowers, a hat’s for style. To hell with all that thermal pragmatism. Tis true that if you’re short the range shortens almost to nothing; poor VR tends to look like a mushroom in any headgear. But I am 6 ft 1½ in, ugly but pleasingly gaunt, and I know German. I can declaim:
Ene Feste Burg is unser Gott
Ein gute Wehr und Waffen
Er hilft uns Frei aus alle Not…
I’m not about to be bothered by a bit of rain – if anything wet hair transforms me into Der fliegende Höllander. But I need to make an impact. I was a great admirer of the German chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, and he is my guide in hatmanship. For style with a dash of proto-efficiency I recomment the Rhine barge captain’s cap and to hell with the elements. I refer you to RR in another life (as BB in fact) with this link:
http://bbworkswell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/bb-en-route-to-trier.html
I would like to point out at this point that Dartmoor is littered with the ear tips of those who foolishly considered the ski slopes to be more auricularly dangerous than our fair bogland. I love German but have little – ‘Mein Hut hat drie Ecken’ is a personal favourite although I am saddened that none of my hats quite fit that bill.
This comment was intended to accompany your most recent (December 29 2013) post, something about home. I am denied entry. Opinions, attititudes and tone of voice all inimical to the aims of Two Blondes Walking – I shouldn’t be a bit surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time. I will retreat and fry other fish.
The pleasures of dynamic propinquity. En route to Dartmoor you sort of pass by, albeit some twenty-five miles distant. I can’t exhort you to go with God, rather with the spirit of the bog myrtle.
More thrilling still when I arise at 6.25 am all is dark outside my atelier window. As I work, mainly on the novel, the signs of dawn slowly paste themselves as a strip of light over the Malverns. It must be a shared view; in and around here, the Malverns are an inescapable horizon. Even if you are itching to be away
On visits to symphony hall at Birmingham the chartered bus turns off the M5 at the second Worcester exit and trundles off on the Hereford road, through Leigh Sinton and Yarkhill. Somewhere to the left is the restless emigrant.
I understand. For all my teasing the Malverns are simply the Home Counties writ slightly larger, a more extended Box Hill. I am or was wedded to to the wilder backgrounds, the Lake District when I used to rock-climb a bit, the Alps and the Dolomites when I ski-ed. Compelling if dangerous hills. Having been trained to repair radio equipment during my RAF national service I took off from New Delhi en route to Singapore and on my left the extreme horizon consisted of the Himalayas, or possibly their foothills. I guess you’d have quivered as I did.
Isn’t it curious how high ground is both a source of fear (more or less controlled) and of peace. Good to know that Nirvana for you is only a car drive away.
“Dynamic propinquity” has completely defeated me.
Having climbed the Beacon this morning in stunning frost and sunshine, the love for this steep sided ridge has returned somewhat. The Malverns are, though, eminently tameable and Dartmoor requests more from those who dare to try … maybe it is the challenge seeker in me that has expressed a preference.
Close by but moving (ie, geographically not emotionally).
Think I’ll stick to my Tesco Cloche. Snug, quick-drying, can be worn with a head-torch (or not), scrubbles up into a little ball nicely, fits under a hood, and above all, WAS CHEAP !!!!
Cheap is always good – we find a fair number of hats and gloves out on the moors. We always look for the chilly looking owners but rarely find them. Wearability with a head torch is a must for any hat – having a peak means that you have to consider the angles more carefully.