The Differences Between Snapback, Trucker, Dad and Flexfit Caps

There’s a good chance you’re looking for more ways to set your t-shirt business apart from your competitors. A great start is by adding personalized or customized caps to your product lineup. Before you dive in, you should know that there are several different types of caps — they include snapback hats, trucker caps, dad hats and Flexfit caps.

Don’t worry! We’ve got a primer on what you need to know about these hat styles before you add them to your decorated-apparel business. 

Let’s start with the basic difference between a hat and a cap. For the most part, “hat” is an overarching term referring to just about any type of head-topper with a shaped crown (the dome portion that covers your head) and a brim (that goes around most, if not all, of the hat). This product category includes a plethora of different styles, from the fedora to the baseball cap, to beanies and floppy beach hats. 

A cap, on the other hand, has a shaped crown that fits to your head and a visor, which comes out of the front to shield your eyes.

Around since the 1890s, baseball caps obviously take their name because they were first worn by baseball players to keep the sun out of their eyes while practicing or playing on the field. Now, of course, they’ve been part of everyday culture and casual fashion for years and years. 

People love these caps for their style and usefulness, in protecting from the sun and other weather conditions. Businesses and organizations also use baseball caps for promotions and as part of their employee or volunteer uniforms. 

However, not all caps are necessarily “baseball” caps, since there are variations in the number of panels, closure and brim. There are several different types of caps. For an extra bit of trivia, these caps also usually feature a “squatchee” — a button on the top of the hat, which is mainly decorative.  

Let’s take a look at four specific types of caps you might want to stock in your shop: snapback hats, trucker hats, dad caps and Flexfit caps.

Snapback Hats: Trendy, sporty snapback caps became popular in the ’80s and ’90s with rappers, hip-hop artists and dancers. This structured five- or six-panel baseball cap has a flat, wide brim and an adjustable strap with a handy snap closure at the back, which makes the fit adjustable for more people. The strap is made of plastic with little “pegs” that pop into holes on the other side of the strap to close the hat to provide a custom fit for the wearer. 

Like the snapback hat, there’s also a “strapback cap,” which offers adjustable sizing. Rather than two plastic pieces, the cap closes with two strips of fabric lined with velcro. 

This versatile hat style is still popular with celebrities, tattoo artists and streetwear lifestyle brands. The statement-making snapback’s front panel is hard, pre-shaped and sits at almost a 90° angle, making it ideal for larger or more colorful designs that you want to be very visible.

Two to Try: Your clients will love the Big Accessories Adult Structured Twill 6-Panel Snapback Cap and Yupoong Classic Premium Snapback Cap.

Trucker Caps: Another type of baseball-style hat is the trucker cap. This hat style, with a huge celebrity fan following, first became popular in the 1970s when they were printed with agricultural supply company logos. These hats, also called mesh caps, were originally given out to farmers and truck drivers as popular promotional items.

This hat style has a flat brim like a snapback hat, but the hat is split into two sections. The front part is made of foam or cotton twill, so that it’s taller than a regular baseball cap — giving you a lot more head room and real estate for an imprint like embroidery or a digital heat transfer. The back, however, is made of plastic mesh, which makes a trucker cap much more breathable than other hat styles. 

Like the snapback hat, a trucker cap also has an adjustable plastic snap closure, which makes it one-size-fits-all style — great for promotional campaigns, event giveaways, summer camps or outdoor corporate events. This style, which comes in both low- and high-profile versions, is also ideal for street-style brands, and looks great paired with a t-shirt, moto jacket and sneakers. 

Two to Try: Check out the Big Accessories 6-Panel Structured Trucker Cap and the Classics Recycled Mesh Retro Trucker Cap.

Dad Caps: This casual five- or six-panel (depending on the manufacturer) cap has an unstructured crown, and has a pre-curved brim to protect you from the sun. Usually made of washed canvas or cotton, this low-profile cap offers a relaxed fit to the wearer, as it has a softer front panel that’s angled backwards. This style is one size fits all, since it has an adjustable metallic or velcro strap closure in the back. Dad caps offer a classic, vintage look, perfect for an everyday hat.

Two to Try: Dad it up in the Yupoong Classic Ecowash Dad Cap or the Flexfit Cotton Twill Dad Cap. 

Flexfit Caps: Another very popular choice for embroidered hats to include in your t-shirt shop is the Flexfit cap, which is all about specialized technology for comfort and fit. Flexfit caps use a patented polyurethane spandex woven into the sweatband and throughout the entire hat crown.

This means that the cap band is flexible enough to adjust to the wearer’s head. The crown of the hat is made from the same Flexfit material, so it conforms to the wearer’s head better than other cap styles and offers a more comfortable fit. This popular hat style is a great one to have on hand for custom embroidery decoration.

Two to Try: Check out the Flexfit Adult VEIL Flexfit Cap and the Team 365 by Flexfit Adult Pro-Formance Contrast Eyelets Cap.

The great news about caps is they do double-duty for your t-shirt shop: You can sell them as decorated retail items to sell as one-offs for consumers, and also to businesses to use for uniform items and giveaway items.

Here are five reasons people buy hats from your t-shirt shop:

Brand Awareness & Exposure: A quality cap with a logo, event name or message gets seen every time the recipient wears the hat out. In fact, the average cap gets seen 3,400 times during its lifetime, which is amazing ROI for anyone’s marketing buck. 

Style, Function & One Size Fits All: Everyone can use a quality, fashion-forward hat they can wear as a fashion-forward and functional accessory that protects from the elements. It’s easy to choose a hat style or two to outfit a group of people, since they’re one size fits all and usually adjustable.

Affordable and Amazingly on Brand: Caps are budget-friendly, so all your clients need to do is select a style and color from your lineup that matches their brand or event. 

Connection: Caps help people build a personal connection and loyalty to a brand — whether they’re an employee, client, prospect, fan, member or event attendee. That’s why choosing a high-quality style that appeals to the audience, whether it’s fraternity members, bachelorette party-goers or fans of a local sports team.

There are lots of ways to personalize and customize a hat. To make the distinction, personalizing a hat means adding individual names or initials to the cap. Customizing means putting the same logo, mascot or message on the cap.

Flat embroidery: This is one of the most classic and tried-and-true methods for decorating caps. Stitching creates an upscale look and feel — and the decoration lasts the test of time, continuing to look crisp and clean. It’s good to know that embroidery decoration can have some limitations with the space on a hat, like intricate details, small text or gradients. If that’s the case, try a digital heat transfer instead.

Puff embroidery: Also known as 3-D embroidery, puff adds a unique element to a hat front design, adding depth and height to lettering, certain elements of the design or the entire artwork, such as a large letter or a monogram.

Digital heat transfers: A heat transfer is an optimal and economical way to put a durable, full-color image with fine or small details on the front of a five-panel cap.

Placement: Of course, the front-center is the optimal placement for a logo or mascot on a hat, so it gets noticed the easiest. However, some people like to offset the decoration on the front for a more retail look. You can also upsell with multiple placement options, such as a small graphic on the side or even a website address or a phone number on the back of the cap.

Regardless of what style of cap you decide to go with, it is important to move into stocking hats as part of your print shop. Whether you look for a hat, cap, or one of the specific styles mentioned, they’re all steadily popular. Hats are a fashionable accessory that never really goes out of style and will be a great seller year after year.

With our affordable collection of stylish snapback caps, trucker hats, dad caps and Flexfit hats in different colors, fabrics and fits, you can add a lot of personality to your wardrobe or the pieces you’re decorating to sell. Shop Threadsy’s cap styles for men, women and youth. They’re great for decorating with graphic or text-based designs and wearing everywhere. After all, your new cap is your blank canvas for your creativity and self-expression!