Training sure is different in a lot of places in row2k-reader-land these days, but whether you are able to get out in a single, are rowing a pod double, or maybe live in a place that can do team boats safely, one thing is still true: it is hot out there, and that brings us to this week's topic: Head Gear Hacks.

Sure, sure, we all know about sunscreen and sun shirts and the early morning can still be, well, tolerable, but rowing will always be a sport that happens, at some point, in the heat of the day. Maybe it a mid afternoon-row, maybe it is a high noon, heat-full-on race time at Master Nationals or Club Nats ­or maybe it is one of those August days where you just launched from that spot that usually seems a bit hotter than the surface of the sun, Henley Island.

Whatever the case, you need a hat, for sure, and we've seen it all over the years, but here are some tips we've seen out there on the regatta beat that could keep you just a bit cooler­ even if they may not look so, you know, cool.

First off, that hat needs to stay on and that can be an issue when you are blazing down the course fast enough to set records. Enter the Clark Dean Visor Clip Hack: no way that lid is going to get lost. He's probably a bit too busy training up for those new and improved Tokyo dates to weigh in here, but we bet there is a good story behind inventiveness of this caliber­ though where one finds a binder clip in the boathouse would definitely be our first question. Did he pack it in from Sarasota? If so, that is some spot-on planning ahead.

Secondly, the hat can't get in the way of the sweating you are planning to do, and while there are plenty of wicked wicking hats out there, nothing wicks better than, you got it, nothing. That's where Henrik Rummel's somewhat savage alterations to his team-issued cap breaks things open. Sure, he could have worn a visor like Dean all brim, no cover, right, Clark? ­ but when you gotta go with what they give you, this is a clever bit of repurposing: the Rummel Rip-out Hack, if you will.

(Henrik wrote us after this article posted to social media: "fake news, this hat was purchased in 2009! Time, salt and the washer did this, not me! It would probably still be going strong if it weren't for abra.cadabra1 putting her foot down and making me throw it out")

Is it just a coincidence that both these Hatter Hackers went to that school up in Cambridge? Probably, but it does make you wonder what kind of hacking power lurks amongst the ghosts at Newell. (After all, there was once a head-kerchief cover boy who trod those same boards). They've clearly taking rowing millinery to new levels. Once upon a time, we used to think that dunking your lid in the water each time you stopped to spin or grab water ­then slapping that hat-ful off water over your head for a cooling splash ­ was a neat trick, but these smaht guys have made that look a bit low-brow, even if it pretty effective…and hat-modification-free.

Do you have a hat hack that hasn't made it into a row2k gallery yet? Share your tips--and hacks--in the comments below.

Have a great rowing hack to suggest for future inclusion here? Send it to us!