Best Straw Hats for Sun Protection

A stated UPF 50+ rating, a wide braided brim, and a wind lanyard, for less than most of the hats here — the Sloggers is the value play in this group, and it doesn't look like one. The braid is tight and even, the shape is a proper sun hat rather than a bucket, and the brim shades your face and neck without swallowing your head.

We think it's the best buy here if you want a number on the label. The elastic band inside holds it steady, the lanyard lets you drop the hat onto your back when you need both hands, and it keeps its shape when it gets splashed, which is more than most braided hats manage after a morning at the pool.

The trade is heat. The crown is closed rather than vented, so on a still, hot afternoon the warmth builds; on a breezy beach or in dry heat you won't notice. And because the braid is soft, it collapses into a bag and comes back out looking like a hat, which is more than you can say for most hats at this end of the range.

If a sun hat is workwear for you — a dock, a boat, a long afternoon in the garden — the Bosky is the one to look at. The brim is wide and holds a firm line instead of drooping, the crown is light, and the whole hat is built to be worn for hours rather than photographed for a minute.

The detail that earns it a place is inside: a cloth elastic band that works as a sweatband as well as a fit adjuster, which is the difference between a hat you keep on and one you're forever taking off to wipe your forehead. It's rated UPF 50, and it's light enough that you forget it's there until you step back into the shade.

It's the least fussy hat in this group. No trim to snag, no shape to protect, nothing that needs a second thought when you toss it in the back of the truck — and fuss, more than sun, is what stops most people wearing a hat at all.

Eight ounces, and a package a shade over 22 inches across: the Voyager is the biggest hat here by a wide margin, and that's the whole argument for it. The brim runs shoulder to shoulder, so your ears, your neck, and the tops of your arms stay out of the sun in a way the packable hats here don't manage.

The weave is a double-woven hard shell, which means the brim stays flat and firm instead of curling — a real advantage in wind, and a real disadvantage if you hoped to fold it into a bag. There are vents in the crown to let heat out, and at this size you want them.

The shape suits a working day: a gardener's hat, a fisherman's hat, the kind of thing that shades the back of your neck while you're bent over a bed or standing at a rail. It's not the hat for a city weekend — too big to wear in a crowd, too stiff to fold — but it doesn't pretend to be.

We keep it for the yard and the water, where the sun comes at you from the side and a smaller brim leaves your neck exposed. For the money, it's the most shade in this set.

The lifeguard silhouette earns its keep: a stiff rush-straw brim that holds its line, a fabric band, and a chin strap with an actual clasp instead of a sliding toggle. Of the hats here, this is the one that looks most like it belongs on a beach — and least like it's trying to.

The black underside of the brim is the detail we appreciated most. It kills the glare bouncing off water and pale sand, which is the difference between squinting all afternoon and actually seeing what's in front of you. The stiff brim does the rest: it doesn't fold down over your eyes when you look up, and it doesn't need adjusting every ten minutes.

The clasp matters more than it sounds. A wide brim catches wind like a sail, and a strap you have to knot is a strap you stop using. This one clips and stays clipped, and the hat stays put when the wind picks up on open water.

We rate it the best of these for open sand and open water, where glare is half the battle. It rides on your head rather than in your bag — the rush straw is stiff and doesn't fold — so it's a hat for a beach house, not a backpack.

This is the hat you wear when the sun hat is also the outfit. The fine braid is tight and even, the boater shape holds a firm line instead of drooping, and the whole thing reads as a hat you chose rather than one you grabbed at the airport. We think it's the best-looking hat in this group, and the one that wouldn't look out of place at a long lunch.

The structure that makes it look good also makes it work. A firm brim doesn't collapse into your eyes when you look down, the tight weave shades your face and neck, and it's rated UPF 50+. There are different ways to take it in, so it sits properly on your head rather than perching.

What you're paying for is the finish, and it's the priciest hat here. The braid, the band, and the shape all look a step above the cheaper weaves, and it's the one in this group you can wear to dinner without changing. If you want something to fold into a backpack, the FURTALK does that job for less.

The Ponyflo is built around two things most sun hats ignore: long hair and a bigger head. The ponytail opening sits where a high pony actually falls, the back adjusts with a strap, and the brim is wide without the weight that usually comes with it.

We think it's the best answer here for anyone who has given up on sun hats because they flatten a ponytail or perch on a larger head. It's rated UPF 50, it covers the tops of your ears, and it's light enough that you forget you're wearing it — the three things people actually mean when they say a sun hat works.

It's the sportiest hat here by a distance: it looks right with hiking clothes and a little odd with a sundress. It also costs more than most of the hats in this group. If sun protection that works with your hair is the priority, that's the trade; if you want the vacation look, the Pineapple&Star is the better buy.

Take the top pick, drop the price, and you land close to the Naivlizer: a wide brim, a roll-up weave, UPF 50 on the label, and a bow at the back where the FURTALK has a plain band. If the packable idea is what you want and the budget is tight, this is the hat.

What you give up shows in the details. The brim is genuinely floppy — the floppiest here — so it moves in a breeze and needs a hand when you turn into one. The weave is softer, which is why it rolls so small, and it feels like the cheaper hat it is next to the Sloggers at the same money.

We like it as a second hat: the one that lives in the car or the beach bag and doesn't need looking after. It shades properly, it packs to nothing, and it looks better than it costs. For a first hat, or for a long trip where it'll get sat on, spend a little more.