Never get caught outside on a bright day without sunglasses again, thanks to this dual-purpose hat idea!

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The Issue:

A hat is usually sufficient to block the glare of the direct light of the sun, but sometimes this just isn’t enough. For example, if you’re at the beach, on a lake, or in a burning-hot parking lot, there can be enough reflected light to make the outdoors unbearably bright even for a hat-wearer (Figure 1).

Fig. 1: This hat brim blocks the direct light from the sun, but doesn’t help with light that reflects off the ground first.

In these situations, you really want a pair of sunglasses. But what if you didn’t bring any?!

Proposal:

The solution is so obvious: your hat could simply have small “sunglass spots” of dark transparent material on the top: essentially a pair of built-in sunglasses.

Then, if it gets too bright out, you can just flip the hat down 90 degrees and wear it like a hockey mask (Figure 2).

Fig. 2: When the hat is flipped down as shown in part II, the “sunglass spots” (A) match up exactly with the wearer’s eyes.

Additional Potential Features:

An alternative version of this hat could also be used in a COVID / airborne plague / toxic gas situation, where the hat could flip down to become a gas mask.

This style of hat might also benefit from a chin strap, which could double as a “tie it to your head” strap to make it less likely to fall off.

PROS: Makes outdoor activities more appealing, thus potentially increasing national fitness.

CONS: Might get a little sweaty on a hot day. Blocks peripheral vision, which could reduce the wearer’s appreciation of the great outdoors.

Originally published 2026-10-19.