Coolibar Trail Hat
Long Term Report – November 21, 2006
Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Head Size: 21 ¾ inches/ 55 cm
Email address: c4jc "at" hotmail "dot" com
City, State, Country: Snoqualmie, WA, U. S.
Backpacking Background:
I have been camping and backpacking for about 18 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the BSA and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I am generally a lightweight hiker, but will carry extras to keep me comfortable. I have recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest and spend most of my time hiking and backpacking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, but I can be found exploring the other wild areas of Washington!
Product Information:
Manufacturer: Coolibar
Model: Trail Hat
Color: Tan, Moss (received)
| Size: |
S/M |
L/XL |
XXL |
|
21.125”-22.75” |
22.125”-24” |
25” |
|
54 cm – 58 cm |
56 cm – 61 cm |
64 cm |
Year of Manufacture: 2006
URL:www.coolibar.com
Listed weight: none listed
Measured weight: 4.1 oz (116 g)
Fabric Content: Brushed Cotton
MSRP: $29.95 US
Country of Manufacture: China
Product Description:
The Coolibar Trail hat is a wide brimmed cotton hat designed to shade the face and neck from the sun. For more information please see my initial and field reports.
Summary:
The hat has performed well over the past four months. It has done a good job protecting my face and neck from the sun, rain and snow that I have encountered on the trail. It continues to maintain its shape and shows no signs of wear. In warm temperatures, I find the hat to be a little warmer than I would like, but it is only a minor annoyance. |
 |
Field Conditions:
Since my field report, I wore the Coolibar Trail Hat on a 3 day backpacking trip to the Goat Rocks Wilderness and on a day hike in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Elevation ranged from 4100’ to 8201’ (1250 m to 2500 m), temperatures ranged from 70 F to freezing (21 C to 0 C). On the weekend trip to the Goat Rocks, I started out with sunny skies, but experienced rain, sleet, and snow before the weekend was over. I love fall weather in the Pacific Northwest!
Long Term Results:
The Trail Hat has continued to be very comfortable during my hiking adventures. I was fortunate enough to be able to test the hat’s effectiveness in the rain and snow. The hat brim did a good job of shielding my face from the rain and snow as it fell, but it is a cotton hat and did not shed the precipitation, but rather soaked it up. Fortunately, I encountered the weather while hiking out to my truck so it was not a big deal, but if I was going to be out for additional days I would have had a very wet hat!
The hat proved to be durable. I had no issues with any seams, buttons, or fabric, even with the extensive off trail hiking of my Goat Rocks Wilderness trip.
Overall this has been a good hat. I would classify it as more of a summer hat since it lacks any water resistant qualities, but it did keep precipitation off of my face when encountered.
Improvements:
Some ventilation holes in the top of the hat would be a nice addition.
Test Plan:
I evaluated the Coolibar Trail Hat on the following characteristics over the test period. My answers are in blue.
Comfort:
How well does the hat fit? It fits very well.
Is the hat sized according to Coolibar’s sizing chart? Yes.
How does the brushed cotton fabric of the hat feel against my head? Very comfortable.
How comfortable is the hat to wear in the heat? It is ok. The hat lacks ventilation so it tends to trap heat.
Does the headband effectively keep sweat out of my eyes? Yes.
Does the hat effectively keep the sun out of my eyes? Yes.
Does the hat effectively keep the rain out of my eyes? Yes.
Does the cotton fabric of the hat retain smells? Not so far.
How quickly will the hat dry if it gets wet? Depends. While hiking in a low humidity/dry environment like Yosemite it dried pretty well. When the hat got wet from the snow and rain in the Cascades it did not dry until I brought it inside when I got home.
Durability:
How well does the fabric stand up to normal use? Good.
Is the fabric waterproof? The hat is not waterproof.
How will the brim snaps stand up to normal abuse? They held up fine.
Does the brim permanently deform if it is stuffed into my backpack? No, it actually retains it shape well.
Thanks to Coolibar and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to participate in this test.
Read more reviews of Coolibar gear
Read more gear reviews by Jason Boyle
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