When the people work in their fields, need protection from sun and rain, they have developed various types of headgear for this purpose. Most of these are made by sandwiching a layer of dried leaves between two layers of a bamboo net-like structure. They are usually made in an open-hexagonal weave which creates a strong surface with the minimum use of material. The dried leaves provide the waterproofing.
This is a rain hat which is a wide circular horizontal shade around a small cone (fig. 663). Five bamboo strips are arranged around the apex to form a pentagon. Subsequent strips of bamboo are arranged on the surface of the cone, more or less parallel to the first five to create a semi-regular grid of triangles and hexagons. The strips continue onto the horizontal shade, from where they are extended outwards by additional bamboo strips arranged with overlapping ends. All the strips are interwoven and held in place. Two similar layers of the bamboo net are made, the inner one being a little coarser than the outer. The tip of the outer cone is strengthened by five elements passing over the apex.
Dried palm leaves are radially arranged on the inner net, from the apex outwards. There are three layers of leaves over the cone, while the shade has one layer. The outer net is placed over the leaves, and the three layers are tied with string to a bamboo ring encircling the base of the cone. Two other bamboo rings sandwich the layers of the shade at the point where it is to be bent vertically downwards, to form the rim. The rain cap is strengthened on the inside by four bamboo splints, enclosing the base of the cone tangentially in a square, and extending towards the rim. Four additional shorter splints are added to lie from the centres of the square sides towards the rim (fig.664). After the hat has been strengthened, the edge of the shade is bent downwards to form the short vertical rim which helps to strengthen the shade. The edge of the rim is then sandwiched between two bamboo rings, tied with string. The rain cap is fairly crudely made, but it serves to protect the wearer from sun and rain.
LINAN EURO-CHINA
The safe cap is the traditional hat commonly worn by men. It is shaped like a peaked cap and retains its shape even when not in use. It is formed in two layers, each made from strips of bamboo woven in an open-hexagonal weave.(fig.676)
The body of the hat is a short oval cylinder with a flat top. (fig.693). A narrow horizontal rim extends around the body. The hat is made by coiling lengths of a round cane split. The coiling is begun at the centre of the top surface, where the round cane is shaped into a flat split so that a tight coil can be made. This prevents the formation of a hole at the centre. The first few coils are held in place by large radial stitches made with a thin cane split . The hat is formed by coiling the round cane split and each coil is held to the previous one by close looped stitches made with the thin split. This results in staggered stitches, which form a pattern of inclined lines on the hat. When the length of the coiling cane has to be extended, the end of one piece is overlapped with the beginning of a new piece. The ends are cut in half at an incline so that the thickness of the coil does not increase at that point. This structure results in a fairly rigid and sturdy hat , and no additional strengthening elements are used. 