The best running hats in 2024, tried and tested

If a running hat’s main job were to keep the sun out of your eyes, you could just wear any old baseball cap. But those kinds of caps are often made from heavy materials that don’t allow your head to breathe as you heat up — and trapping heat anywhere on your body is a great way to make your run feel 10 times harder than it should. In addition, a good running hat also protects your head and skin from the sun and other elements. That means it keeps you cooler by wicking away sweat, and keeps you on your A game by preventing sweat from dripping into your eyes.

Thankfully, choosing a running hat doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need to look for styles made from performance materials, with built-in ventilation and adjustable features, so you can dial in the fit so it feels good to you. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry — we did the work for you. We tested the best running hats, logging over 100 miles in the top contenders, to determine whether they could go the distance.

Best running hat: Fractel F-Series Cap

$40 at Fractel

It’s always nice when you put on a piece of gear right out of the box and everything just clicks. The Fractel F-Series “Buttons” Edition Cap did that for us, nailing all the most important things we liked about other hats with no real negatives.

We prefer low-profile running caps, and this one is unstructured but snug, made from polyester — a lightweight, breathable and fast-drying synthetic material. At 1.7 ounces, it felt nearly weightless; while some hats feel tighter and less comfortable the longer a run goes on, we certainly weren’t thinking about this one even 14 miles into our 16-mile-long run, where temperatures ranged between 58 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity hovered around 45%. The adjustable spandex closure wasn’t quite as good as a bungee cord, but it still helped us dial in the fit compared to a traditional hook-and-loop.

On the crown of the hat, each of the four panels utilizes a breathable mesh to dump heat before it builds to a boiling point. And when we did start breaking a sweat, the internal headband absorbed it before it could drop into our eyes. Plus, the brim, front panel and back panel are all outfitted with UPF 50+ sun protection; under the bill, a darker fabric helps reduce glare. (For what it’s worth, this hat also layered really nicely with headphones and running sunglasses; even with all that around our ears, we didn’t experience any added discomfort.)

One thing we really liked: Despite the fact that we did sweat profusely in it (summer running is brutal), this cap barely showed any signs of wear after multiple runs. And if it does start to show sweat, it’s machine-washable, with a pliable brim that smushes down and won’t lose its shape even after a round in the laundry.

Best lightweight running hat: Janji AFO Hyperlight Cap

$38 at Janji

If you’re not generally a hat person, this is the hat for you. Most running hats aren’t heavy, but the Janji AFO Hyperlight Cap weighs in at a whopping 1 ounce — a barely-there sensation that will make you forget you’re wearing anything mere steps into your run.

The brand’s AFO fabric, also found in its shorts and tanks, is a stretchy woven material made from recycled polyester and elastane, which makes it fast-drying, sweat-wicking and extremely breathable. We wore it on an 18-mile-long run in 66°F with 46% humidity — that’s high for Denver! — and it was so comfortable, we basically didn’t think about it. Unlike some others we tested, it dried almost instantly post-run, with nary a sweat stain to show for our effort.

While there’s no real structure to the crown of the hat, which allows it to hug your head without creating any pressure points, the slightly shortened brim has enough stiffness to provide adequate protection against the sun (and it was still large enough to shield our eyes during a surprise rainstorm on a shorter run). Made from a pliable foam, the brim can also be flipped up to open your field of view when you don’t need to squint against the sun, or totally pressed down into a pocket or vest. We especially liked the easily adjustable bungee back strap, which allowed us to customize the fit without breaking our stride.

Best running hat for sun protection: Rnnr Distance Hat

From $36 at Rnnr or $38 at Backcountry

As a brand, Rnnr likes to have fun with its hats: Each style comes in a bunch of bright, all-eyes-on-me colorways. But function doesn’t come at the expense of fashion here; the Distance Hat, which we tested in bright blue and hot pink, uses moisture-managing PolyTech materials to move sweat away from your face and is equipped with UPF 40 fabrics to protect your head from the sun.

We liked how the large mesh panels on the sides allow the hottest parts of your head to breathe, but the top of your head is still covered by a fabric dotted with smaller holes to maximize protection and breathability. We did find it to run a little hot on our hottest runs (when the starting temperature was around 75°F), so this may be best in more moderate conditions or for winter running.

This style gave us trucker hat vibes, even though it lacked that kind of stiff structure; with a flexible brim that can be curved, flipped or left flat, it felt stylish and versatile. We might not race in this one compared to others on the list (although it’s only just over 2 ounces!), but we appreciated the use of protective fabrics, the way the wide forehead panel captured and absorbed sweat to prevent it from rolling into our eyes and the personality that this cap brought to our runs.

Most versatile running hat: Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap

From $27 at Amazon or $40 at Outdoor Research

If protection is the name of the game, Outdoor Research’s Sun Runner Cap delivers on multiple fronts. This 2-in-1 hat comes with a cape that snaps on and off for extra coverage, complete with UPF 50+ protection, and it shields your ears and the back of your neck from the sun.

We put this one to the test on a 22-mile trail run where we spent five hours in the sun (and some rain and clouds), with the temperature ranging from 60°F to 90°F, and we really appreciated the 10.75-inch removable sun flap and the adjustable chin cord. The flap helped block out the intensity of the sun, and then was easy to pull over our head as the clouds came in.

You’d think it would be hot with all that extra material, but that wasn’t the case. Made from 100% Supplex nylon, the Sun Runner Cap is water-resistant, breathable, sweat-wicking and quick-drying; it’s not quite mesh, but the fabric weave is airy enough to let the head breathe, even through thick, dark hair.

The versatility is really what sells this cap, though. Without the cape, you get a traditional baseball cap with a 2.75-inch brim and mesh sides for breathability; add on the cape, and you’ve got all-over protection without trapping any excess heat. Either way, the hat weighs in at 2.8 ounces max, and has an adjustable hook-and-loop strap at the back for customizing the fit so you’ll stay comfortable no matter the conditions.

What to consider when shopping for running hats

Materials

Most hats are made of polyester — a quick-drying, lightweight fabric — or nylon, which has sweat-wicking properties. Some may use higher-tech fabrics to enhance cooling features, UPF materials for added protection against the sun or wool, which has natural antibacterial and anti-odor properties to soak up sweat. The most important thing to think about when it comes to fabric technology is how well a hat wicks sweat — you want the materials to pull sweat away from your head so it can evaporate, which will keep you cool.

Comfort

This is a no-brainer when it comes to any kind of fitness gear. The less comfortable something is, the more likely it’s going to distract you from your workout. With hats, comfort comes down to the proper fit. While some hats are available in different sizes, most use adjustability features to help you fine-tune the fit, whether that’s a hook-and-loop closure, a bungee cord, or sliding adjuster. You should always try a hat on to see how close it sits to your ears; if it’s too low, it can rub and chafe, but if it sits too high, you might be afraid of losing it the whole run.

Protection

Every hat is protective to some degree. But some hats use materials with Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF), which prevents UV radiation from reaching your skin (for example, a UPF 50 fabric blocks 98% of the sun’s rays, significantly reducing your exposure to harmful rays). Keep in mind that many hats use perforation to provide more breathability, but hats with large mesh side panels will let the sun in, which might not be ideal for those with less hair. Hats can also have different length brims: The longer and wider the brim size is, the more shade it offers for the ears, face and neck, but some people might prefer a shorter brim for comfort’s sake.

How we tested

We picked out 12 popular running hats, including ones we already had in our closet, recommendations fellow runners swear by and hats that were well reviewed online. Then, we ran in each hat twice in order to subject ourselves to different conditions (mostly heat, but a little bit of rain and humidity as well). To come up with our top picks, we used the following criteria:

Design

Fit

Other running hats we tested

Ciele GoCap

From $40 at Ciele Athletics

This is probably the most ubiquitous running hat you’ll see on the streets — partly because it’s available in a ton of fun colors, but mostly because it feels great. The brand weaves carbon fibers into their Coolmatic material, which enhances the sweat-wicking and anti-odor properties, as well as breathability and cooling; it also offers UPF +40 protection on the brim, front panel and back panel. We’ve logged countless miles in this cap and always go back to it.

Ciele ALZ Cap

$45 at Ciele Athletics

This style from Ciele is pretty similar to the GoCap, except the brand increased the amount of Coolmatic mesh for more breathability and slimmed down the size for a more low-profile look. That extends to the smaller brim, too, which is easily packable and machine-washable (which is great, because this retained sweat for up to three hours after our long run). Runners with smaller heads might prefer the ALZ Cap, since its reduced size lessens the chance of rubbing around the ears.

On Running Lightweight Cap

From $24 at On Running

This baseball cap-style running hat uses laser ventilation technology — read: tiny holes across the sides — to provide protection without sacrificing breathability. That said, it still showed a ton of sweat after an hour of easy running, especially at the crease and on the forehead. At 2 ounces, it’s not the lightest in the bunch, but it still felt barely there, and the tear-proof woven fabric (made from 100% polyester) and soft sweatband were super comfortable.

On Running Zero Cap

$55 at On Running

We put this cap to the test over 10 tough miles at the track, and appreciated how lightweight and aerodynamic the polyester/spandex blend was. Once we figured out the pull tab at the back for adjustments, the snug fit didn’t budge during our run — even as we hit our fastest paces (and we preferred this type of enclosure to an old-school hook-and-loop). And since we started our workout in the dark to beat the heat, we appreciate how easy it was to flip the brim up.

Outdoor Research Swift Bucket Hat

$42 at Outdoor Research

Bucket hats are very trendy right now, and the right one can provide all the comfort and breathability you need on a run. We liked how flexible the 360° brim was — it was easy to flip up or down when accounting for the angle of the sun, and it was stiff enough to stay up when we wanted it to (instead of flopping back down and obstructing our view). The lightweight mesh allowed the breeze to come through, and the wide, double-layered forehead panel kept sweat out of our eyes. One caveat: This hat isn’t adjustable, so choose your size wisely.

Smartwool Go Far, Feel Good Runner’s Cap

$35 at Smartwool

This was another incredibly lightweight hat — it felt almost as light as the Janji cap, although this one weighs 1.76 ounces. We liked the more traditional baseball cap brim, which provided lots of protection. It did get pretty sweaty over the course of a 7-mile easy run, but the combination of the merino wool’s moisture management and odor-resistance properties combined with the quick dry time of polyester kept this cap from trapping any heat.

Nathan RunCool Hat

$25 at Nathan Sports

We like the idea behind this hat a lot — instead of messily dumping water over our head to cool down, we just stuck ice in the side gussets on the top and let it melt as we ran (of course, it didn’t last long in Denver’s heat, so we’d recommend finding a spot to restock on ice mid-run if you’re wearing this). It’s a little heavier than other styles we tested, and we didn’t love how low the hat came down behind our ears, but the novelty of the ice pockets outweighed that discomfort.

Topo Designs Global Hat

$34 at Topo Designs

We logged multiple long trail days in this hat, mostly due to the wide, straight brim which provided plenty of coverage and the airy mesh that let all the heat we were building climbing mountains easily escape. We could do without the excess fabric at the closure on the back (it got caught in our ponytail holder a few times), but the unstructured crown made it easy to pack in our vest if we wanted to take it off, and we liked the stretch nylon was water-repellent in case of rain.