Helmets / hats for very oval head

[NeedingCoffee]

Advice please - I’ve got an extremely oval head (ie most hats are too tight on the forehead and have space at the sides) and need a new hat. Can anyone with similar head confirmation recommend models to try?
I’m likely to have to order online as nowhere seems to actually stock a range these days. Wondering about one of the adjustable type, if that improves the fit….

Charles Owen are generally very oval and the Kylo ones have the dial.

Samshield

Seconded, I have the deepest head (tiny face 🤷‍♀️) and have a Charles Owen as my everyday hat.

Charles Owen. I find them too narrow,I have a round (and large!) head and a champion fits me best.

I have the Karben Avena hat, which fits my weirdly shaped head.

Thanks all. I have a Charles Owen skull which currently gives me a headache in hot weather so not oval enough. But with the dial fit it just might be enough. I’ll try the other two as well.

I've a big head, oval shaped. Charles Owen give me a head ache too.
I've a KEP which I love. It's incredibly comfortable.

They're a bit pricey but definitely worth it for me.

Go and get your hat fitted by a trained fitter! You can't just guess, it is too important to get wrong. So many people in badly fitted hats sadly.

DD has ended up with a Uvex hat for the same reason. If you’re in the south I do recommend taking a trip to https://www.aivly.co.uk/ near Ringwood. They are super Thorough with their hat fitting service and carry a really wide variety of hats so that they can actually find what works for you.

Sadly no fitter, no matter what the training, can accurately assess the pressure of a hat at specific points on a head and I haven’t yet met one who could add any value to the process. I’ll look forward to being proved wrong in future. But I completely agree that if I could go to try on lots, that would be ideal. Sadly very few shops stock any sort of range these days.

Thanks for the recommendation. About 2 hours from us so not perfect, but if down that way soon I will definitely call in.

What made Aivly good was the range and the insistence that DD keep the hat on for 30 mins before deciding. It ruled out a couple which would have met the fitting process ( it also gave plenty of time to browse all their other lovely stuff… and meant that the hat getting process took literally hours)

Definitely- I have an oval head that also means riding hats pinch painfully at the forehead.

At Badminton they had people making hats one year- Custom
made to fit the buyer’s head.
Patey Hats

But don’t think they made the usual Jockey type helmets.

What irritates me is a silly American man with a channel called “ Think like a horse” on you tube.
He berates helmet wearers constantly -

He has a young following and I think he is grossly irresponsible.

He implies better horsemanship keeps you safe, not a helmet- Which is nonsense.

Ask any neurologist about head injuries- A well fitted helmet 🪖 is basic common sense .

I have the opposite issue! My head is basically rugby ball shaped- think hey Arnold! 🫣 I can often fit several fingers in the front of hats that fit on the temples.

So I can safely say don’t go anywhere near a Charles Owen competitor! It’s the only skull cap that fits me (with padding at the forehead).

I also have a UVEX exxential, the dial sort, which I wear in the summer/everyday hacking. It’s comfortable due to the dial giving a bit more flex as to where you need the room.

I have to drive over to ingatestone (about an hour from me), as no local shops stocked anything anywhere close to the right shape. I have to walk about for at least 30/45 min to see how they feel. I found ingatestone much better than most for their fitting service.

Samshield

If you are in the North west or midlands a trip to Somerford would be worthwhile, their hat fitters spent ages with DH and his awkward shaped head. The only hat other shops had found to fit him was a very expensive Charles Owen one (the one you can customise that CDJ wears) but he only rides occasionally and doesn't compete. Somerford found a couple of less mainstream hat brands to fit him, and he ended up in a John Whitaker hat having previously had a just togs kids one.

For me I find the Champion kids skull cap fits, but other champion hats don't. I have a gatehouse adjustable for when I don't need a skull.

You can't rule out a whole brand based on one model. The Gatehouse HS1 fits differently to the RX model. Often the skull cap fits differently to the hunt cap style and the showjumper style will fit differently again. Try kids styles too as they are a different shape too.

Having said that if you can stretch to it Samsheild are incredibly comfortable.

I have found the best fit for my oval head is Charles Owen Fian.