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Reviews > Clothing > Hats, Caps and Visors > Seirus Quick Draw Hat > Owner Review by Sheila MorrisseySEIRUS QUICK DRAW HATOWNER REVIEW Date: March 18, 2007 TESTER INFORMATION Name: Sheila Morrissey Age: 26 Gender: Female Height: 5’ 8” (1.7 m) Weight: 150 lb (68 kg) Email address: geosheila(at)yahoo(dot)com City, State, Country: Goleta, California, USA Backpacking Background: I've been car camping and day hiking since I was born and I finally started backpacking in 2005. So far, most of my backpacking trips have been weekend trips into the Sierra Nevada and Los Padres National Forest with friends and my dog, Patch. My pack is usually around 25 lb (11 kg), including consumables. I always bring a hat along for cool evenings. PRODUCT INFORMATION Manufacturer: Seirus Innovation Year: 2005 Manufacturer’s Website: http://www.seirus.com Size: Small/Medium Listed Weight: N/A Measured Weight: 2 oz (55 g) MSRP: N/A  Photo from Seirus catalog.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION The Seirus Quick Draw Hat is a black 200-weight polyester performance fleece hat with extended ear flaps and an attached neck and face scarf. There is no liner inside the hat. The scarf is made of slightly thinner fleece material than the rest of the hat and can be comfortably tucked into the hat behind my head, worn around my neck or worn around the neck and pulled up to cover my mouth and nose. FIELD USE CONDITIONS I have used the Seirus Quick Draw Hat on most of my backpacking and car camping trips for the past year. I have worn it at elevations from sea level to 11,000 ft (3300 m), in temperatures ranging from 5 to 55 F (-15 to 13 C) and in clear, misty and heavy snow conditions. I have worn the hat while hiking, cooking, setting up and breaking down camp, skiing and sleeping. FIELD USE RESULTS I purchased the Seirus Quick Draw Hat because I wanted a new hat and was intrigued by the attached scarf on this one. I thought it would at least be an interesting purchase, but it has turned out to be my favorite cold-weather hat. The fit and warmth of the hat vary greatly depending on how I wear the scarf. On cool evenings around the campfire, I tend to keep the scarf tucked into the hat behind my head. Worn this way, the hat tends to ride up and leaves my ears somewhat exposed (see photo). I always wear my hair up while backpacking and my ponytail probably helps to push the hat up. It wasn't until I downloaded some of my pictures that I realized the hat also gets extra lumpy on top of my head when it rides up (see my funny pinhead below). The look of the hat could definitely be improved. I find the lumpiness really ugly and I'm unimpressed by the fit, warmth and look of the hat when I tuck the scarf in.  A cool summer evening at Big Lake McGee, eastern Sierra, California. The scarf wass tucked inside the hat behind my head. My fleece was zipped up under my chin. Worn around my neck, just to my chin, or over my mouth and nose, the scarf is what makes this my favorite cold-weather hat. The hat covers my ears completely and generally me fits better when I use the scarf. The pinhead-effect isn't resolved completely when I wear the scarf, but the diminished lumpiness is balanced out with the ugliness of the chin scarf in the photo below. Oh well, I wear it for the warmth. Though my ears are covered entirely when I use the scarf, I do think the hat could be warmer for my ears, perhaps with tighter-fitting ear flaps.  Snowing pretty hard in winter at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, California. The scarf was around my neck (see it under my chin, behind the pink scarf). The fleece can handle mist and snow and the hat still keeps my head dry. However, the hat can get damp on the outside and freeze in my tent overnight, so I need a second hat to switch off with while it dries. On most of my winter trips, I reserve the Seirus Quick Draw Hat for my sleeping hat. With the scarf around my neck, the hat will actually stay on all night and it amazingly doesn't strangle me! Only on the very coldest nights, less than 10 F (-12 C), do I pull the scarf over my mouth. I can easily breathe through the thin material, but I still won't pull it over my nose for sleeping because I hate the feeling of sleeping with my face covered. I can't remember the scarf ever getting damp from my breath, but I always wake up with it pulled back down to my chin, so it may not actually stay over my mouth for long while I sleep. The Seirus Quick Draw Hat is machine-washable, so I wash it after almost every trip with the rest of my clothing. I aim to dry it on a low setting, but I'm sure it has been through a few hot dryer cycles. The hat has not shrunk, pilled or changed color, and the scarf is still attached securely after probably 20 washes. PROS
The Seirus Quick Draw hat is terribly ugly, but amazingly warm. I love this hat, especially for sleeping in very cold temperatures. Read more gear reviews by Sheila Morrissey Reviews > Clothing > Hats, Caps and Visors > Seirus Quick Draw Hat > Owner Review by Sheila Morrissey | ||||