When did hats with chinstraps stop being worn?

[Mirage]

My mum and I were discussing this the other day.When I was little,in the 70's,we all wore velvet caps with a black plastic chinstraps.I don't know why and when they stopped being worn,but I never see them now.Just like string girths,I don't know when they stopped being worn,but I still had one in 1979.

I am old.

[Lucyinthepie]

No you're not. I always wore hats with a bit of knicker elastic stitched at the sides and pulled under my chin.

[orienteerer]

In 1970's I wore a velvet hat for showing which had knicker elastic.......which was tucked backwards under my hair net. I did have a proper "skull cap" for cross country/eventing. I remember string girths.

[mareish]

Ahhh, memories!
I too had the "knicker elastic" then the chin cup hats!
I think it was the early 90's when it all changed ( only guessing, somewhere after there). I have been trained to fit hats & I asked why the design had been been changed & it is all down to the fact that our chins move!
By fastening under the chin next to the throat there is less chance of the strap moving so much as on the actual chin in a fall therefore giving the hat more security. Design improvements are often devised after analysis of jockey falls so are based on extremes, this gives all riders as much protection as possible.
That can only be a good thing - I know someone who came a cropper in a brand new hat in the late eighties, it saved her life but if the same accident happened now I think she would have been spared a disabled life.
Oh & string girths - we have it so easy now, washable & comfortable materials. String was hard to keep clean & pinched if you weren't really meticulous.

[LordOfTheFlies]

I had the strap with the sliding buckle to tighten ,then parents bought me the chin-protector . You know the harness thing over the hat and the 'cricket box' for your chin.
But AFAIK it was to protect your chin and teeth rather than hold your hat on.
My instructor said if your hat was the right fit it would stay on without a chinstrap.But why would you take any chances?

My bugbear is seeing people swinging their hat by the knicker elastic strap. Aaaarrgghh!

[ALotToTakeIn]

They stopped using chin straps as if you were unlucky in a fall straight onto your chin they could go straight through to your teeth- happened to a woman at a yard I used to be on and she had a lot of stiches inside and out to effectively reattach her lower lip.
I have a string girth now but it is mohair or something else that seemed steep when I got it but it stays super soft and dries really quickly - I love it.

[marialuisa]

string girths still popular in south-east Germany..

[Mirage]

That is really interesting about chin straps.They were hard plastic though so can just imagine the damage that they could do if banged into your face.

I can iumagine that string girths would have got quite stretched eventually too.

[Booboostoo]

Stubben do a lovely string girth, some horses prefer how they feel. They don't stretch at all!

I think that chin straps were proven to cause more damage than protect so they were dropped from the requirements for the kite mark. Hats do still have to have a three point fastening though and you should not rely on a hat fitting well enough to your head not to fall off without any kind of strap.

Hard peaks are now out at least for eventing as they were proven to cause more harm than good.

[MummyDoIt]

What has always puzzled me is the fact that horse-riding helmets and cycle helmets are designed to do the same job but look so completely different. How does that work?

[Booboostoo]

I'm no expert so correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think riding and cycle helmets are designed to do the same job at all. The ways one falls off a horse can be completely different from how one falls of a bicycle so they are subject to different specifications.

Having said that some more modern desing riding hats look quite similar to cycling helmets:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160505069628

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160505043474

[MummyDoIt]

I guess there must be differences otherwise there wouldn't be different designs. I suppose you fall from a greater height on a horse. Maybe riding helmets are also designed to withstand a hoof in the head?

[CluckyKate]

Chincup were more 80's I think. Back in the 70's my hat was bought 2nd hand in the local thrift shop and padded with newspaper to make it fit - happy days, eh

[AlpinePony]

I was going to say, got my chincup in '85.

String girths are great, if well cared for and well-fitted. Perhaps not always the case in the 70s/80s and with "shabby" riding schools.

kate Yes, similar hat issues this end. First hat of my very own (second hand of course) bounced off the ground with my head inside first time out, so hard that it ripped the velvet off. Never any mention of a replacement, simply UHU'd the velvet back down!

[Booboostoo]

MummyDoIt here's an article on riding vs bicycle hats:

asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/amea/feb96nws.htm#bike

some of the arguments are country specific re insurance, but the general points about the greater covereage and protection offered by the riding helmets still hold.

I would imagine the height, speed and force with which one falls from a horse is different from the bicycle fall. It may not be more dangerous as such (compared to being hit by a car while cycling) but it may result in entirely different falls. Riding hats have to withstand blows to the head from kicks and rears, also the weight of the horse sometimes falls on the rider's head in a fall. Riding hats come in a huge range of sizes and shapes and seem to fit better than cycling hats which are perched on top of the head.

[MummyDoIt]

That's interesting, Booboo. Thanks for the link! I've always felt that riding helmets were safer than cycle helmets and wondered why cyclists didn't adopt the same style. I certainly feel more protected in a riding helmet. I suppose a motor cycle helmet would be a bit over the top?

[CluckyKate]

In the 70's I didn't wear a cycle helmet - unheard of!!! Still feels wrong to me even if it is the right thing to do. Didn't wear seatbelts either

[Booboostoo]

MummyDoIt I've been tempted by motorcyle helmets as well, especially right after one of the beasties has clobbered me in the head and broken my hat! Have you come across the PROtector hat? I don't have one (price is ) but they claim it's extra safe (plus who could resist the diamond version???):

www.parkgateequestrian.co.uk/page1.htm