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Reviews > Clothing > Hats > Ibex Scull Cap > Robert Patterson > Long Term ReportIbex Scull Cap - Long Term Report:
Product description: The hat is made of a very nice, light-blue Climawool Lite® with a smooth outer and a slightly brushed inner. From the outside the hat looks like any other softshell fabric, but on the inside the slightly brushed fabric (very similar to Schoeller Dryskin's brushed inner), is in fact a thin layer of Merino wool, woven into the shell. The headband is lined with a thin, but tightly woven layer of Merino (non-itch) wool for warmth on the inside and Climawool Lite on the outside, and it can be worn either down or rolled up for ventilation. Constructed out of a single headband with four, roughly triangular sections of fabric forming the top of the hat, all of the seams in the hat are sewn flat, and the workmanship is excellent. The hat also has an embroidered Ibex logo over the forehead. As the hat is designed to stretch a bit, it may be worthwhile to order the medium unless ones head is in excess of 65 cm (25.6 in) in circumference, as the size Large headband measures 58 cm (22.8 in) in circumference and fitted fairly loosely on my 65 cm (or 25.6 in) head; the hat covers my ears when worn normally. The hat also bears hang tags detailing the advantages of Climawool Lite. For a more complete description please see my Initial Report. Test Conditions: In the six months that I've had the Scull Cap I've used it both as a normal everyday cap around town, as well as under more hi-tech clothing while biking, climbing, canoeing, jogging and hiking. In the past four months most of my testing has been from the stern of a canoe as I worked as a tripping guide in Algonquin Park (Ontario, Canada) this summer, amassing over 50 trip days. Temperatures have ranged from a little below freezing, to the high 30's (in Celsius) (which translates into a bit over 86 Fahrenheit), and the weather has ranged from light hail/snow, to truly miserable multi-day rainstorms, and some of the nicest days that I can remember. My take on the hat: In the past four months I have used the Scull Cap on an almost daily basis while canoe tripping, have encountered no durability issues and have continued to be impressed with the ways in which the Scull Cap has filled a niche among my toukes. For a more detailed look at the hats performance please see my Field Report. Warmth-wise I've found that the Scull Cap is comparable to headwear made out of Scholer Dryskin or maybe a little cooler then a 100 weight Powerstretch cap. The midweight wool (think about the thickness of a midweight poly-pro layer) lined earband is noticeably warmer then the rest of the hat, and the cap is comfortable for aerobic activity in coolish spring weather and a wonderful addition for spring to fall camping. One of the nicest features of the cap is that the Climawool Lite fabric seems to block about 85 percent of the wind but also allows uninterrupted hearing, unlike many fleece laminates. This is really nice as when biking I can hear traffic coming up on me from behind, and the fact that the hat is not completely windproof and merely cuts the wind means that it helps prevent me from overheating while still keeping me comfortable. As for the Climawool Lite's ability to resist rain, I've found the hat's water resistance to be OK but not outstanding and the hat to be a nice piece of gear for intermittent light to medium rain. Any heavier and I'm looking for an umbrella or a hood. Its also worth noting that it was easy to beef up the hats water resistance once it wore out by washing it with some Nikiwax. In my experience the wool lining has been fairly absorbent and I have had no issues with sweat trickling into my eyes from underneath the cap. The hat did not seam to acquire any smell during the test despite only seeing the inside of a washing machine once during the test - not bad for six months regular use. I've found the headband of the hat to fit fairly tight but not uncomfortably so on my head, coming low almost to my eyebrows, with a high volume and boxy crown. This has seemed somewhat uncomfortable and funny looking on me, so I've started rolling the hem of the hat up a bit with great success (it looks something like a Watchcap), although this does expose parts of my ears. The hat works really well under both a cycling helmet and a climbing helmet (Petzl Elios), nicely cutting the wind while still allowing for hearing (a huge improvement over Windstopper type hats in my opinion) and is not so warm that I quickly overheat when working. Overall I'd have to say that Ibex has a great product with their Scull Cap, which lives up to all expectations, but that they could improve its somewhat boxy fit a little. Things I like:
Things I dislike:
While I really like how the hat performs, I'd like to see some modifications made to its fit. First, I'd like to see Ibex add a headwear sizing chart to their website, and secondly I'd like to see them bring the fit of the Scull Cap to be more in line with a beanie. Specifically I'd like to see Ibex lower the volume of crown and use six or eight panel construction in place of four, to give the crown a more natural and less boxy look. But really these comments are just for me, and for someone else the cap may fit and look wonderful, Ibex really does have a great product here.
Backpacking Background: I'm an avid backpacker, and have hiked through most of Canada. Because of a number of factors I tend to use heavy to mid-weight gear but am looking at moving towards lightweight backpacking. Thus far, I've always used tents, and heavyweight backpacks. I also am an avid white-water paddler, long distance canoeist, and in the winter ski downhill, cross-country (skate and classic), climb (rock and ice), and snowshoe. Read more reviews of Ibex gear Read more gear reviews by Robert Patterson Reviews > Clothing > Hats > Ibex Scull Cap > Robert Patterson > Long Term Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||