Field Tests

Locations/Conditions

During the long-term test period, I've had the opportunity to test the Coolibar Women's Sun Hat during more outdoor adventures. They included a 4-day wilderness canoe trip to the Fox and Manistique Rivers in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In addition, the canoe trip included some off-trail bush hiking. Besides the wilderness river systems, I have extensively worn the sun hat locally while day hiking on hilly and rocky trails. All testing conditions were at low elevation or low altitude 600 ft (183 m) to 1100 ft (335 m) with mostly cool conditions and mid-to-high range humidity (50-95 percent).


Wilderness Canoe Trip --
Fox and Manistique Rivers, Seney, Michigan
Temps: High 61 F (16 C), Low  34 F (1 C)
Mostly Sunny, Cloudy, Mid-High Humidity (60-95 percent)
 

The Coolibar Women's Sun Hat was the only sun hat that I brought and wore on this canoe trip. I did bring a fleece hat as I was concerned about the cool conditions, but I ended up wearing the sun hat during the entirety of the first three days of the trip due to sunny conditions.The last day of the trip felt more like winter was quickly approaching, so the sun hat was stowed in case the weather changed. However, it didn't change and the trip ended with slightly above freezing temps (32 F/0 C). The Fox River System is a rather narrow and congested type river with several sections of maze-like spreads. There were many occasions on the first day of the trip where we had to bushwhack and portage around piles of logs in the river. During the next few days there were still many obstacles to maneuver around but actual portaging wasn't required. However, low-hanging tree branches were a common problem and because I was the bow paddler, I was in the predicament of losing my sun hat several times. The tree branches would sometimes deflect off of my paddle and sun hat but other times it would push the sun hat right off my head. In addition, I wore the sun hat with the brim down to protect me from both the wind and sun but it was actually an obstacle to my vision and hindered quick decisions on the river. I had to keep re-adjusting it so that I could see better. The Fox River flows into the Manistique River that was wider and less obstructed, so thankfully the sun hat didn't continue to be knocked off of my head.

Day Hiking --
Temps: High 70 F (21 C ), Low 30 F (-1 C)
Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Windy, Mid-High Humidity (60-95 percent)

I have worn the Coolibar Sun Hat on numerous occasions while day hiking. Areas included Mount Marquette, Marquette Mt (yes, it is different), Sugarloaf Mt, Hogback Mt Trails, Buschell Lake, Harlow Lake Trail, North Country Trail, Little Presque Isle Trail and more. Although many of these trails are called "mountain trails" they are all at very low elevation. However, many of the trails climb several hundred feet in a short distance and are extremely rocky. I wore the sun hat during these treks as the areas include a lot of open rock outcroppings, and summits that are in the direct sun. The sun hat worked well for these types of day hikes. When It was windy I had to adjust the elastic drawcord to make sure that the hat stayed seated on my head. As I mentioned in my field report, the lack of a chin strap on the hat is more than a bit of inconvenience sometimes.

During colder days, I have sometimes worn the hood of a shell jacket over my sun hat or the hood of a light fleece hoody underneath it. However, that is about all it can accommodate as the circumference of my head surpasses the estimated hat size as I mentioned in the initial report. The height of the crown of the hat by itself would have been large enough to enclose a thick hat underneath, but the circumference is too small. Although many men's sun hats come in several sizes, for some reason women's hats are often in the "one size fits all" category. I checked the Coolibar website and they do offer three out of sixteen women's hats in two sizes. They are the Trail Hat, Reversible Bucket Hat and the Straw Beach Hat. However, the Coolibar Women's Sun Hat is not one of them.

Overall, despite the fact that the sun hat has a few inconvienences, the Coolibar Women's Sun Hat has many good qualities. The flexible brim, the large area of sun coverage that it provides, the lightness of the hat, and its ability to quickly dry when wet are all very nice features for a sun hat. The sun hat has held up nicely. It has been washed numerous times in my washing machine and then air dried on my clothes rack. In the field test period it was also washed in the field and it dried quickly in the sun.

In my estimation, the Coolibar Sun Hat would be an excellent sun hat for most people for everyday life. However, I find its present form to cause me quite a bit of concern when backpacking, canoeing or the like due to the fear of losing it. Many of my trips involve bushwhacking or otherwise dealing with gnarly vegetation. I usually have plenty to worry about getting myself safely through those areas without having the extra burden of worrying about losing the sun hat. Loss of the hat would be a serious problem as I would no longer have the sun protection and I would certainly have to improvise. However, I most likely will use the sun hat again for moderate type activity such as day hiking on trails after the testing period but not without modifying it to include neck cordage.
 
In my initial report, I posed the following questions. I have answered many of them in depth in my field report but I have summarized the answers in red for this report.

Function/Comfort:

-Will the Coolibar Hat stay on during windy weather? Well, sometimes - In my estimation, that's the biggest flaw of the hat as there isn't a security measure to keep it on my head. I have lost it several times but luckily I was able to retrieve it.
-Will the elastic drawcord be easy to adjust if I have to make the hat smaller? Very easy to use.
-Will the treated terry sweatband be comfortable against my forehead or will it be irritating in any way? The terry sweatband is very soft and non-irritating. The only problem that I experienced with it, is that when I tightened the elastic drawcord inside the terry sweatband I was left with a wide mark across my forehead from the sweatband. However, this is only when I had to secure it tightly because of the wind or brush.
-Will the hat breathe adequately so that I will be able to wear it for long periods of time? Yes, except in periods of very high humidity. I have a lot of hair and the combination of hat and hair made me remove the hat a few times. However, I can honestly say that this sun hat feels cooler than others that I own for those types of conditions.
-Can the brim be adjusted or re-bent into another position if it is hindering my travel vision in the forest? Yes.
-Will the hat protect me fully from the sun or will I have to wear sunscreen too? I often wore sunscreen on my face when I was canoeing because of the water reflecting rays back up to my face but for other purposes such as backpacking I didn't need to apply extra sunscreen.
-Will the hat shade the back of my neck adequately or will I have to improvise with a shirt collar or hoodie? For very sunny conditions, I definitely tried to wear a top that had a higher neck to help cover my long neck. It does provide a lot of coverage to the neck area so someone with a shorter neck will certainly have better coverage than I did.
-Will the hat be versatile enough to wear not only while backpacking but also for everyday wear? Conversely, it is probably better for everyday wear than it is for backpacking.

Materials/Durability/Care: 

-Will the materials of the hat hold up to extreme use? Will they fade, discolor, fray or weaken? The hat has held up well. It might look more rumpled than when I received it, but the color of the inside of the brim is only a shade darker than the outside of the brim (the latter having been in the direct sun). There are no signs of deterioration of the fabric.
-Will the hat be easy to care for in the field? Will sweat and dirt stains be easy to wash away? In the field test period, I washed the hat several times during expeditions and it was easily handled.
-How long will the hat take to dry out in the field? - How long will the integrated "sweatband" take to dry? During sunny days the sun hat took about an hour to dry when it was off my head. The terry sweatband took a bit longer but surprisingly dried quicker than I anticipated. Sometimes I wore the hat while it was drying. It seemed to dry very quickly then.
-Can the hat be repeatedly washed or wet down and still function without incident? Yes, it has been washed many times in my washing machine and in the field and it doesn't appear to have harmed it.

 
Pros

• Good everyday hat for sun protection
  
• Comfortable non-irritating fabric
• Very easy to clean and dry
  

Cons

• Lack of neck cordage makes the hat easy to lose in windy conditions as well as with contact with vegetation
  
• Brim of hat can hinder line of sight
  

 

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