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Find your Hat
Find your Hat
SunBody Hats – Durable Palm-Leaf Hats Since 1996
Hundreds of thousands of people are wearing our hats: cowboys, cow girls, musicians, re-enactors, fishermen, golfers, boy scouts, football coaches and more.
- ALL OF SunBody Hats' palms (both Mexican and Guatemalan) have been given a rating of UPF 50+.
- Our hats will outlast a straw hat several times over.
- You can reshape them as often as you like, flattening out the brim to shield you from the sun or giving it a nice curve for the Saturday night dance.
How do YOU SunBody?
Tony Daughtery: This is from last year in Nepal.
Tony Daughtery: This is from last year in Nepal. I went on a trek to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, followed by some volunteer work at the schools that Ian Taylor Trekking is building in Kathmandu. In the picture I'm giving my hat to the lead sherpa that led our trip. He was so happy to receive the hat, hugging me, and he told me that the original sherpas in Nepal use to wear cowboy hats. That hat is now floating around in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal up to the Base Camp of Mount Everest. You can see him wearing it and in the last couple of pics as I flew away. I also added a couple of pics with me wearing the hat in the beginning of the trek to Everest before I gave it to him. Date: 2023-06-05
Laura Winkler
Date: 2021-06-26
Sally Années Daile
Harry the Hereford being sun smart in Australia Date: 2023-02-24
Sammie Calamity
Date: 2017-07-25
Roxie Fair
2016 "How Do You SunBody" Photo Contest Wearing the Reata: www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/464_51/reata.cfm Date: 2016-06-30
Susan Docker, Cowboy Dressage World Finals
Cowboy Dressage world finals in November . Rider is Susan Dockter, horse American Boy. Date: 2015-06-02
David Bond
This is probably a 4-1/2" or 5" brim fedora, with a pencil-roll on the brim, and a sharp pinch on the front of the crown. Compare to the Plantation Hat: www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/444/4-brim-plantation-h...
Andrea Hudson
2016 "How Do You SunBody" Photo Contest Date: 2016-07-27-2
Terry in Golden Gus Hat
Hat: Golden Gus (hmggold). www.sunbody.com/index.cfm/product/197/golden-gus.cfm
Sheri Donald
Date: 2018-06-16
Shana Drake
Date: 2022-06-08
Paul Thorne
Date: 2023-04-11
Jesse Pferdmenges
Date: 2023-04-11
Emma McCabe
Emma McCabe - Big Red: Here are some photos I took last year when I walked across the Simpson Desert in Australia. It took us 23 days and 440km to walk along the French line track of the desert. Date: 2022-09-05
Linda Peterson
Date: 2023-04-11
Matt Van Buren
Date: 2018-06-30
Clay Phillips
Date: 2018-06-30
Ron MacDonald
Date: 2018-07-31
Julia Valdez
Date: 2018-08-06
Carie & Scout
Scout In Los Angelos, CA Date: 2017-07-24
Marc Crooks
Date: 2017-07-24
Damon Hickey
Damon Hickey: I Sunbody just about anywhere. I was born and bred in Houston, and Sam Houston has long been a hero of mine. My wife and I just celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary, and Mary asked me whether I'd like a new hat. So I picked the "Sam Houston" Guatemalan palm with a 6-inch brim. Who needs sunglasses? And I added to the hatband the silver Republic of Texas pin I got in high school when I joined the Junior Historians Club. I may live in Ohio now, but Houston is always on my mind, or at least my head! Date: 2017-06-29-2
Lone Star Volunteers with Rolling Thunder
Sunbody has permission from all the Lone Star Volunteers to repost our photos. We all use SunBody hats (Sam Houston style) with our 1830's period correct cannoneer clothing. This is our black powder cannon Rolling Thunder we for Texas History events, reenactments and demonstrations all over Texas. . . The Cannoneers are Mike Wilson, Fred Mead, John Homman, Todd Homman, Art Zepeda, Alan Zepeda and John Meredith . . Sincerely,. Todd Homman. Cut-N-Shoot, TX. A Son of The Republic of Texas. Lone Star Volunteer. U.S. Army Retired/Disabled. Horse Rescuer and Advocate. Homeplate Horse Rescue Ranch - . "Where a horse is always "SAFEEE" at Homeplate" Date: 2017-06-11-8
Lauren
Working Cattle Date: 2015-06-26-20
Patricia Meisisco
Patricia Meisisco: Gato en Gus Date: 2017-06-24-1
Dale Cowan
Date: 2017-06-23
Handcrafted in Guatemala & Houston
We work directly with Guatemalan hatmakers
We know them by name and can ensure that the highest quality standards are met. With thirty years of experience working with the hatmakers in Guatemala and selling their hats in the United States, we know how to make things go right. Unlike the distributor who buys from a middleman, we keep tabs on production throughout the process and prevent problems from developing.
Palm leaves are harvested from young trees
The leaves on young, short trees, such as those in this picture, are easily accessible. From these the unopened palm fronds are cut. When trees grow too tall for harvesting without a latter, they are let to grow.
A boat load of palm leaves
This very young man has just returned from harvesting palm leaves near Hawaii, Guatemala. He goes out at dawn in his canoe, cuts young palm fronds before they've opened up and turned green. He has brought this harvest back to the beach where he will sell it to a palm buyer.
Preparing the palm for sun bleaching
This young man is opening up the palm fronts, removing the out out green portion of the leaf, then fanning them out. They will be placed on the sand to be sun dried and bleached.
Palm market in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala
The dried, sun-bleached palm leaves are bundled up and trucked to the Guatemalan highlands. There it is further bleached and soften with sulfur smoke. Then leaves are then sold to the braiders. This picture was taken in the market in Santa Cruz del Quiche in 1996. Most of the palm leaves are now sold directly to the braiders and not taken to market.
A 7-strand braid
The leaves are split into strands about 1/8 inch wide. Seven strands are then braided by hand into a flat plait about 1/2 inch wide. 150 feet of braid are needed for one 4 inch brim standard palm leaf hat.
Durable
Our palm leaf hats are incredibly durable because they are woven and braided together. They can withstand being stood on, crushed, and trampled.
Martin Batz - Hatmaker, Guatemala
Martin Batz was one of the original hatmakers that SunBody hats worked with in Guatemala. He did not take up hatmaking until he was 50 years old. Sadly, Martin died in December, 2012. Thank you Martin for all the fine hats you made and for many years of friendship.