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Reviews > Clothing > Hats, Caps and Visors > Tilley Endurables Mash-Up Hat > Test Report by Ray Estrella
Tilley TMH6 Mash-Up Hat
INITIAL REPORT - July 19, 2013 TESTER INFORMATION
I've been backpacking for over 30 years, all over California, Minnesota, and many western states. I hike year-round in all weather, and average 500+ miles (800+ km) per year. I make a point of using lightweight gear, and smaller volume packs. Doubting I can ever be truly ultralight, I try to be as light as I can yet still be comfortable. I start early and hike hard so as to enjoy the afternoons exploring/chilling. I usually take a freestanding tent and enjoy hot evening meals. If not hiking solo I am usually with my brother-in-law Dave or my twin children. The Product
Manufacturer: Tilley Endurables Quick & Dirty, Nitty Gritty The Tilley Endurables Mash-Up hat is a well made hat that I found to be a bit too sweat inducing in warm temps. But it is now my favorite hat for those in-between times like spring and fall. The fit was great, the hat was comfortable and it even protected me from mosquitoes and provided entertainment in camp for my kids. Please read on for the details. Product Description
The Tilley Endurables Mash-Up Hat (hereafter called the Mash-Up or hat) is an interesting case of using recycled materials.
The top consists of a flat one-piece crown. Backing the crown is a very thin piece of white foam which Tilley says is to make the hat float. Just under the crown the top 0.75 in (19 mm) of the side band is made of dark gray polyester mesh. While the mesh has large enough holes to ventilate the hat they are not so large as to allow no-see-ums in, a problem I had with a hat last year (leading to a very bitten up scalp).  Looking inside the hat I find the famous Tilley hidden pocket (which came filled with the 4-page owners manual). This big 4.8 x 3.8 in (122 x 98 mm) pocket covers most of the crown of the Mash-Up and is held closed by hook-and-loop. It has a huge label sewn on it that is pretty much a Tilley marketing spiel in both English and French. A smaller label above the pocket has a space to write a phone number in case of loss or extreme amnesia. "Hello, I have a Tilley hat, who am I…?" Lastly the Mash-Up has a wind-string that is quite different than the draw-cords I am used to. This one goes behind the head and under the chin. It uses a neat sliding knot system to cinch it up. The Mash-Up is machine washable and Tilley says that it won't shrink. Which is good as they also say to, "Wash it frequently or non-removable sweat stains will mar it and possibly rot it. Machine wash on delicate cycle separately or hand wash in cool water." OK… The Mash-Up is insured against loss and guaranteed not to wear out. Well we'll see about that as I plan to get it some use here shortly. This concludes the Initial Report.
Field Data
I have taken the Tilley Mash-Up hat on every backpacking trip and dayhike since I received it. All use was in the state of Minnesota including numerous backpacking trips to the Halstad/Hendrum areas on the Red and the Wild Rice Rivers on my side of the state (west), plus trips to Itasca State Park, Chippewa National Forest and Paul Bunyan State Forest in north-central, for a total of about 23 days. Temps encountered ran from lows of 32 F to highs of 80 F (0 to 27 C) with a lot of rain, some hail and even snow on the last trip with it. I even took it on a late November trip that saw temps drop to 0 F (-18 C). The picture above was taken on the North Country Trail in Itasca State park. The picture below was taken at our camp site on Halverson Lake in Paul Bunyan State Forest.
Observations
I have enjoyed putting the Tilley Endurables Mash-Up hat through its paces this summer and fall. I have to say that the fit was perfect. I really like the abundance of size choices Tilly offers. The hat was comfortable to wear as far as the way it sits.
On the other hand that same material weight made it great for fall when the temps were dropping to freezing. In the picture I am crossing the Wild Rice River after a spat of hail just passed. This trip saw two days of rain/hail and finished with the first snow of the season. The Tilley was perfect for me during this trip. It kept me just warm enough. In the hail and light rain it was protective and my rain coat has a large helmet compatible hood that will go over the back and side brim and crown of the hat for when it got too heavy. I pushed it right to the limit on a late November overnighter to Smoky Hills State Forest that saw temps at 0 F (-18 C) on Saturday, then warm up to 35 F (2 C) the next day! I was fine wearing the Mash-Up while hiking although I needed to use a neck/face gaiter pulled up to keep my ears warm. I had a down balaclava to wear in camp as the Tilley was not warm enough once I stopped exerting myself by hiking. I plan to use the Mash-Up for my late spring and fall hat in the future. I did put the "floating hat" claim to the test. At a campsite in Itasca (I believe) I Frisbee'd the Mash-Up into the lake I was camped on. It floated quite well, although it did start to take water into the brim after a while. It also played sailboat in the wind and took off for the other side of the lake. Well I needed to rinse the trail dirt off anyway.
One thing that should be pointed out about soaking the hat. It takes a long time to dry. In the humid conditions that I have been in for most my trips it would not dry overnight in my tent. Now it may seem obvious that having soaked the Mash-Up in lake water it would need a washing and this is so. As suggested by Tilly I hand washed the hat. I would then stuff the crown with a towel to push it into shape and let it dry on my desk for a couple days. It turns out great doing it this way. I Don't like using bug repellent on my face and always treat my hats with permethrin to repel/kill mosquitoes, ticks and other bugs. I treated the Mash-Up with permethrin when I first got it and did a couple more treatments after I would wash it. It worked great and when I took my kids on the trip to Halverson Lake they would get a kick out of watching a bug spend too much time on the hat and get too overcome to fly away. My daughter would keep checking the hat as we played cards and when one was floundering she would tell us. I would take the hat off and set it on the picnic table where we would watch the sucker stumble around and finally die. Ahh, the things that kids will watch when there is no TV… That's about all I can say about the Mash-Up and this concludes the test of it. I plan to use it for cool temperature trips down the road. My thanks to Tilley Endurables and BackpackGearTest.org for letting me give it a try. I will leave with a picture of the Mash-Up in much colder weather than Tilley expects it to see. That's me, always thinking outside the icebox…
Read more gear reviews by Ray Estrella Reviews > Clothing > Hats, Caps and Visors > Tilley Endurables Mash-Up Hat > Test Report by Ray Estrella | ||||||||||||||||||
It seems the "mash-up" in the name comes from the use of recycled yarns from hemp and organic cotton fabrics. While the majority of the yarns seem to be gray there are many multi-colored threads running though the material too, as may be seen here. As far as texture and thickness the material feels quite like denim to me. 
