Construction Hard Hat

Brim for the sun. Shell for what falls on it.

Ten in the morning and the sun is coming at you off the ground as well as out of the sky. A short-peak hard hat covers your forehead and nothing else — your ears burn, the back of your neck burns, and every time you look up at the load the glare comes straight in under the peak.

That hat is also the only thing between your skull and whatever comes off the deck above you. The failure is rarely the shell breaking. It is the hat being uncomfortable enough that it lives in the ute — and then a dropped shifter from two levels up is a trip to the medical centre, an incident report, an investigation and lost time.

This one is a full brim. The brim runs the whole way round, so it shades your ears and the back of your neck as well as your face, and it sheds rain off the outside edge instead of down your collar. The shell carries a marking moulded inside it that reads ANSI Z89.1 Type I, Class C. We can find no CE mark on it anywhere.

The shell is HDPE — the resin code is stamped into the moulding inside the brim — and the whole thing comes in at about 600 g. The harness adjusts from 52 to 63 cm (520 to 630 mm) on a ratchet dial at the back of your head, so you set it once and nudge it with one hand when the day heats up. It ships as a set with 50 waterproof stickers, which is how a crib room full of identical hats stops being a problem.

What It Does

• Shade all the way round: ears and the back of your neck covered from pre-start to knock-off, not just your forehead. On a long summer swing that is the difference between a burnt neck every roster and none.
• Rain off your collar: water runs off the outside edge of the brim instead of down the back of your shirt, which matters a lot more on a wet night shift than it sounds sitting in the office.
• Glare cut when you look up: spotting a load, watching a crane or checking a level above you, there is brim between your eyes and the sky from every angle.
• Adjusts on your head: the ratchet dial sits at the back of the harness and turns with one hand, so you can back it off when you are hot and wind it in when it is blowing.
• Not only for site: farmers on a tractor, arborists under a canopy and anyone clearing scrub get the same two things out of it — shade the whole way round and a shell over the top.

Key Features

• Full brim: shade and rain run-off the whole way round, rather than a front peak only.
• Ratchet dial fit: a knurled wheel at the back of the harness, adjustable while the hat is on your head.
• Graduated headband: the band is marked with its size range, so you can set it straight back to your number after someone else has borrowed it.
• 52 to 63 cm (520 to 630 mm) range: one hat covers the range, so there are no fitted sizes to pick between.
• 4-point harness: fabric suspension with a padded brow band against your forehead.
• Elastic chinstrap: included, with a moulded chin cup, for wind and for working bent over.
• About 600 g: light enough that you are not counting the hours until you can take it off.
• Side accessory slots: moulded slots on both sides of the shell. The supplier does not state a slot size or what fits them.
• 50 waterproof stickers: in the box with every hat, so yours is identifiable from across the yard.
• Five colours: black with a carbon-fibre look finish, plus white, yellow, red and blue.

Limits

The honest limits

• Adjustable, not sized: it winds from 52 to 63 cm (520 to 630 mm) and that is the whole story — there are no fitted sizes and no size chart to work through. If your head measures outside that range, this is not your hat.
• One serious knock and it is done: a hard hat is single-impact gear. Take a real hit and the shell has done its job — replace it, do not keep wearing it. Same call if you find a crack, a deep gouge, or the plastic has gone chalky and dull.
• Stickers can hide damage: they are cosmetic, and a shell plastered end to end is a shell you cannot inspect. Leave yourself bare plastic to look at, and check under the stickers now and then rather than only over the top of them.
• Not electrical PPE: the shell is marked Class C, and Class C means conductive — no electrical protection at all. Nothing about this hat will protect you from live conductors. If your work puts you near live electrical, wear a hat sold and rated for that job.
• Not a climbing helmet: the shell is marked Type I, which covers a knock on the crown and nothing else — no side-impact rating, and no fall or retention rating. Do not wear it up a rope, up a tower or anywhere a fall is the hazard — that work needs a helmet built and rated for it.
• Not a riding helmet: not for a motorbike, a quad, a pushbike or a horse. Those are all different helmets for different impacts, and a work hard hat is none of them.
• The carbon look is a finish: the black option carries a carbon-fibre pattern on the outside of the shell. The shell underneath is HDPE. It is not carbon fibre, and it is not stronger than the plain colours.
• No stated service life: the supplier states no replacement interval, no expiry period and no date-of-manufacture marking. If your site runs a replacement schedule, write your own in-service date inside the brim the day it arrives.

Q & A

Questions people actually ask

Will it fit me?
It adjusts from 52 to 63 cm (520 to 630 mm) on the ratchet dial, so there is nothing to choose at checkout except the colour. Run a tape around your head just above your ears and eyebrows — if that number lands between 52 and 63 cm (520 to 630 mm), it fits.

Will it do as my site hat?
Every site sets its own PPE requirements and they are not all the same. Every specification we have is on this page — check it against what your site actually asks for, and if you are not sure, put it past your safety adviser or supervisor before you rely on it for work.

Is a full brim actually better than a short peak?
For sun and rain, yes, and it is not close — the shade goes all the way round instead of just out the front. The trade-off is real though: a full brim is a bigger hat. In tight spaces, in a cab, or worn under a face shield it will get in the way more than a short-peak will. Pick the one that suits the work you actually do.

Can I fit earmuffs or a face shield to it?
There are moulded slots on both sides of the shell, which is where accessories normally mount. The supplier does not state a slot size or list what fits, so we are not going to guess one. If attaching your existing muffs is the reason you are buying, check the slot spacing on your muffs first.

How many stickers do you get, and what are they?
50 waterproof stickers with every hat. They are an assorted novelty and safety-slogan mix chosen by the supplier rather than by us, and a fair few of them carry American motifs. Treat them as a bonus in the box, not the reason to buy.

When should I replace it?
Straight after any real impact, no argument. Also if you find cracks, deep gouges, or the shell has gone chalky, faded and brittle. No service life is stated by the supplier, so mark your own in-service date inside the brim and go by your site's replacement schedule.

How long is delivery?
Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand, unconditionally — no minimum spend, no surcharges. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you place the order, and give it up to 3 weeks to be safe. That clock starts at your order date, not the day it leaves the warehouse. Regional and remote addresses, allow a bit longer again.

Specs

Technical Specifications