How to measure your head for a cap (and what to do with the number)
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Buying a cap online without measuring is a coin toss. Measuring takes two minutes and you only ever have to do it once.
With a soft tape measure
- Put the tape around your head, just above your ears.
- Bring it across the middle of your forehead — about a finger's width above your eyebrows.
- Keep it level all the way around. Check the back is not sliding down your neck.
- Snug, not tight. It should sit where a cap band would sit, not bite in.
- Read the number in centimetres.
Do it twice. If the two numbers differ by more than half a centimetre, the tape moved — go again.
Without a tape measure
Use string, a phone charger cable, or a bootlace.
- Wrap it around your head the same way.
- Pinch where the end meets.
- Hold the pinched length against a ruler or a tape from the shed.
This is accurate to within a few millimetres, which is plenty. Cap sizing is not a precision sport.
The four mistakes that throw the number out
- Measuring over a bun, a topknot or thick tied-back hair. Measure how you would actually wear the cap.
- Sitting the tape too high. Up near the crown gives you a smaller number than the cap will ever see.
- Pulling it tight. You are measuring your head, not compressing it. Tight gives you a cap that leaves a mark.
- Letting the back droop. The tape has to stay level front to back or you are measuring a diagonal.
Reading the number
| Your measurement | Swell Seeker size |
|---|---|
| Up to ~54 cm | Kids |
| ~54–61 cm | Regular |
| ~61–66 cm | 2XL |
These overlap on purpose. It is a snapback with an adjustable closure, so there is real range in each size. If you land on a boundary, size up — a snapback tightens down, it does not stretch out.
One more thing about snapbacks
An adjustable closure hides a lot of sizing sin, which is why so many brands do not publish real numbers. The part that cannot be adjusted is crown depth. If a cap is too shallow for your head it will sit high no matter what you do with the strap. That is worth knowing before you blame the size chart.
Measured and still unsure? Email the number to sean@northswell.co.nz.