Sunday Afternoons Adventure Hat
I’ve had this hat for years, and it served me well on the PCT, on the JMT, and on numerous weekend trips in Henry Coe Park. It breathes surprisingly well, keeps sun off my head (with this hat, I only use sunscreen on my head when I’m walking on snow), and doesn’t block my peripheral vision. It hand-washes easily, and dries quickly.
People say the “cape” on the back looks silly. It does. But, people with hats that don’t have a silly cape (e.g. baseball caps, cowboy hats, etc.) tend to end up stuffing a bandanna into the back of their hat, effectively adding an aftermarket silly cape.
From the store, it comes with 2 features that I found useless, and removed. First, it has velcro pads that allow you to stick the cape onto the back of your head, exposing your neck. This lets your neck get sunburned. Worse, when you have a tail wind, the cape often gets blown onto the velcro, leaving you unaware that your neck will burn. I removed both velcro pads with a seam ripper.
Second, it has an adjustable clip and strap that are meant to tighten the hat onto your head. I found that it fit fine without the strap. Further, the clip doesn’t hold on to the strap very well. I cut the strap and clip off.
The only wear on mine, after many miles, is a frayed chin strap, where a rodent chewed on it at night. The frayed chin strap has held fast in very high winds where I saw other people’s chin straps break.
The main downside is that it blocks out more sound than it looks like it would. This can be trouble when people talk to you, because they won’t speak loudly enough, since it doesn’t look like you’d have trouble hearing them. You also miss out of some of the noise of your environment (bird songs, wind, scared squirrels, etc.)
Notes:
– This hand-washes well, though it can take some practice. Soap up your hands, and scrub the brim between them, like you were washing your hands with the brim between them. The rest of the hat is just loose fabric, and will wash like any other fabric, but pay particular attention to the sweat pad on the inside, and the little pattern on the outside (they seem to hold dirt more). Squeeze out what water you can (without bending the brim too much), and hang it by the chin strap to drip dry. A lot of water will drip out, but it will dry pretty quickly.
Pros:
– Excellent coverage from the sun.
– Good visibility, despite the excellent coverage.
– Good breathability.
– Durable.
– Washes well.
Cons:
– Interferes with hearing more than some other hats (e.g. baseball caps).
– Comes with a couple useless features that you may want to remove (the velcro pads cause more problems than they solve, and the tightening strap was unnecessary and insecure).
Verdict:
4.5 Stars — Almost perfect.
