Milwaukee Tool has come out with a bump cap, and also a universal insert for use with other hats.
A bump cap is essentially safety headwear that is used in work environments where hard hats or helmets are not required, but users still need head protection against bumps, abrasions, and punctures.
It looks like a typical baseball-style hat, but it’s more than that.
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A cautionary note seems appropriate: bump caps are NOT a substitute for hard hats or safety helmets.
On the outside, the Milwaukee bump cap (48-73-1063) features a black mesh design with snap back closure and a hook and loop patch on the front that allows for customization.
Inside, there’s an insert with a breathable fitted shell and foam liner.
Milwaukee says that the fitted shell has ventilation holes that help keep users’ heads cool while working, and a foam liner for top and side protection.
The universal insert (48-73-1062) is a little different from the one that comes with the black mesh bump cap.
For further versatility on the job, the Bump Cap Universal Insert provides professionals with a flexible insert solution, delivering the best top and side protection in the users preferred cap.
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Price: $35 for the complete bump cap (48-73-1063), $15 for the universal insert (48-73-1062) for use with other hats
ETA: March 2025
Compared to Others
I bought this Klein Ergodyne bump cap insert a few years ago. It’s fairly basic, but also very inexpensive at around $6.
The Ergodyne isn’t the cheapest bump cap I own – I bought a Honeywell SC01-H5 for $2 back in 2019.
Milwaukee’s bump cap and universal insert are pricier, but they also look much more comfortable to wear, and definitely more cushioned.
You can get a complete Ergodyne bump cap for around $24, or a plastic cap that looks like a thin batting helmet for around $10.
Discussion
Just based on appearances, the Milwaukee bump cap looks more comfortable, and with the black mesh design they must have paid some attention to style. If you don’t like the Milwaukee logo, you can stick a Velcro patch over it.
The new bump cap and insert are priced higher than others on the market, at least based on the brands and styles I’m familiar with, but they also look the part.
From what I can tell, the bump cap insert and universal insert look to share the same shell, or they’re at least very similar. The foam liner is different, but it could just be that the universal insert has the same foam but without the red stitching edge treatment.
Bump Cap Safety Standard
Related, a anew safety standard for bump caps, ANSI/ISEA 100-2024, was released in January 2025.
According to a post by the ISEA, the new standard:
establishes the minimum performance, testing and labeling criteria for industrial bump caps and bump cap inserts used in the workplace, which are intended to protect wearers against the effects of striking their head against stationary objects and incurring lacerations or other superficial injuries.
The ISEA adds that:
Bump caps are not intended to provide protection from hazards caused by falling or moving objects.
They are designed to reduce the amount of force transmitted to the wearer from worker-generated impacts to objects, but they cannot provide complete head protection from severe impact and penetration.
Again, bump caps are not a substitute for a hard hat or helmet.
Jared
I’ve never tried a bump cap – that’s way more sophisticated than I assumed. Interesting to know there’s a safety standard too!
Lance
Me too! This looks pretty good!
I will add, wearing a ball cap significantly increases the likelihood of bumping your head since the bill blocks your upward view… but if you’re going to wear a ball cap anyway, there you go!
Al
Hey Stuart, how good is you bump cap at defending against screws? I always seem to find all of the self-tappers and drywall screws.
Stuart
Wear a hard hat. “Don’t need to, don’t want to?” Bump cap is better than nothing.
In my opinion experience, they offer some limited protection against minor hazards.
Jason M
I was assembling a steel storage shed and got a good slice on my head. I wouldn’t have worn a hard hat for that job but a bump cap working on garage doors, in attics, etc. makes a lot of sense where your working height is low and a hard hat is cumbersome.
I’d think of a bump cap like cut gloves, still might hurt and even puncture on screws or nails but maybe a trip to the first aid kit instead of ER.
Tim B.
Wow… Today I learned! Didn’t know these were a thing. Definitely going to have to try one of these on… Comfort and good looks with stealthy protection improvements
is never a bad thing!
Andy H
Same. Before I read this article, I had no idea these things existed!
With that said — ironically, the only time I really bump my head is when I’m wearing a hat with a visor. The visor blocks my peripheral vision upward, so I often slam my head when the clearances are low. (I’m Asian, so I have better upward vision than most — a weird but true fact, because Asians typically don’t have a brow ridge above our eyes.)
Hatch
Now I learned 2 things today. Thank you.
Andy H
🤓😁
SuperCoupe
I have used one like the white one shown above in a hot industrial environment and they were very hot, no air flow at all, and sweated a lot more when I had to wear it. The Milwaukee looks like it may allow more air flow but less protection against sharp / hard object.
eddiesky
Could have used this a few months ago..I saw stars when I was helping neighbor load their trailer…being tall…nailed the crossmember! And then his brother, who saw what happened to me, did same thing only a minute later. I think that shell with foam liner would have really worked! (BTW, I hate those buttons on top of caps… they hurt as well!
Saulac
Very popular in aircraft construction and maintenance. As the name suggested it is best to protect against bumping, in low clearance environments. The bill is typically shorter than norm, only about 2 inches. Personally have save my forehead few time.
Mark
Will it protect against roofing nails while working in the attic? That’s the one that gets me occasionally.
Dave
Yeah, that’s what the demonstration was at Pipeline 2024.
Big Richard
I also see they have a new Fuel right angle die grinder – https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M12-FUEL-12V-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-1-4-in-Right-Angle-Die-Grinder-Tool-Only-3485-20/333196643
JR Ramos
Well now that’s an interesting find! I bet someone gets an earful over this. I knew this was coming (unsure if the straight version is also, however) but I was told it wouldn’t be till mid- to late-summer. Interesting to see the specs…not even on Milwaukee’s site anywhere yet.
Looking at the photo even if this is more powerful than the previous, I don’t think I’ll get it, sadly. I’d love more power but this has a really short shaft and a big housing at the base so it’ll make typical cutoff applications and some stone uses harder for me…not sure about that trigger design vs. a paddle, either, but I’d have to try it out. I see they dropped the rpm’s a little…hopefully it can maintain them under load for things like carbide burrs and such, else those might get chattery or chip teeth.
It’s a little irritating the way they will put out a new gen but instead of just improving the important things/complaints they revamp it all into something often verrrry different, and except for impact wrenches and angle grinders they don’t seem to offer the options in a tool type the way Makita and Bosch and others do.
Thanks for sharing that page….wonder how long it will be up for viewing.
Saulac
Really disappointed and don’t get it why a proper 3″ angle cutter is not already a thing yet. Same pinion gear head as the pneumatic, which is dirt cheap. Do electric motor and pneumatic motor different enough so that the ideal of simply replace the pneumatic motor with electric motor would not work?
s
i’m also very conflicted on it. the lights moved to the front likely mean better surface lighting, but a larger overall head, so it will likely fit in even less places than the original.
overall, i’m really happy with the original, and use it a lot, but my main issue is that it’s my most pickiest power tool when it comes to batteries. it’s not great on torque, and any battery under 50% charge, or 2 years of age seems basically useless in it.
i was really hoping they’d copy air tools 90 degree drive method for a little more maneuverability in tight area’s. the large direct-drive motor still means i can’t dump the air tools just yet.
MM
I agree with Saulac and S here, it looks interesting but I’d much rather have a super narrow design where the motor is inline with the handle and it has a 90 degree gearbox. Snap-On has a cordless die grinder like this but it’s very weak in my experience.
If you really need a small but powerful 90 degree die grinder there’s always the option of a serious flex-shaft machine like a Suhner.
Big Richard
JR, Saulac, s, MM, you all make great points and I tend to agree with you. This almost looks more like an impact driver than a right angle die grinder. Even the trigger is more impact/drill style. The amount of motor body that is forward of the handle is a bit of downgrade from the current gen, where the housing is more or less in line with the handle and has a longer shaft.
With M12 having the battery in the handle, if they were to make it more like a typical pneumatic die grinder with an inline motor and 90 degree gear box, it would end up being too long perhaps? A brand with a slide battery could do it, but then you have that bulk at the base.
Sky
Wow, so the Milwuakee Cap version has stitched foam/leather, and the base just insert comes with worse construction. So I gotta buy their shitty hat to get a good long term product.
JR Ramos
Looks like a great option. Probably hot as blazes if it isn’t cool temperatures to work in, where maybe a hard shell bump cap or hard hat will be more comfortable, but it seems great for a lot of scenarios (including visitors and engineers and students on sites…).
JoshtheFurnaceGuy
I have considered one a time or two. Coal miners around here used to build their basements at 5′, and that’s earned me plenty of knots over the last couple decades.
Robert
New to me also. In what environments does OSHA allow these versus hard hats?
Stuart
Where hard hats and helmets are not required? I see bump caps as a “better than your bare head” type of product. If head protection is required, you need a hard hat or helmet based on the environment. Where head protection is not required, you could wear a bump cap.
Bill
I have done odd jobs in my attic from time to time. Because it is not a normal thing for me, I have lost count of the times, when not meaning to, I have bumped my head against a rafter. I love the idea of this bump cap and will definitely be looking into it further.
Eliot Truelove
I have the Ergodyne Skullerz 8945(x) which is more similar to the Milwaukee than the white one you posted, and it’s a game changer.
I bought it last March so have worn it for a year and will not do construction work without it anymore.
In the summer it can get a bit hot if working outside. It has less foam than that Milwaukee, so I could only imagine that would make the Milwaukees even hotter.
You also can get a 2-pack of them for nearly the same price as one of the Milwaukee inserts.
Although I wouldn’t get it (because I’ve bought multiple 2-packs to put inside all my hats), I’m glad Milwaukee is at least popularizing the idea of these in a world where people think safety is the opposite of manliness. Nobody even knows it’s in the hat, so it’s not wimpy to have it in there.
Nate
I’ve used the simpler non-padded one for a few years and it’s saved me quite a lot of scrapes and pokes. I’m tall and clumsy and I wish I’d known about these much earlier!
The padding would be nice. It looks like it doesn’t add a ton of bulk, but even a little bit of squish room would really help reduce the impact of a solid bonk on a low beam or whatever. I might have to try one of these.
Nate
Are the inserts washable? I can imagine that pad getting pretty funky.
Walt Bordett
My indoor demolition hardhat story. In 1980 my wife and I demo’d our kitchen to the studs and joists. We were wearing brand new hard hats. I stood up on a stepladder and jammed my hard hatted head into a nail sticking out of the sub-floor. Hard enough for the hat to stick to the nail, but the nail did not completely penetrate the hard hat. Made me a believer. Best $4.00 I ever spent. I am not sure if a bump cap would have performed as well.
This blog has a lot of comments based on extensive first-hand experience as opposed to some sources that are all “I just unboxed this and I like the color so I am giving it five stars”