Jack Wolfskin “Texapore Mesh Hat” sun/rain hat
Owner Review by André Corterier

Personal Biographical Information:

Name: André Corterier
Gender: m
Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight: 78 kg (172 lb)
Cranial Circumference: 60 cm (23.5 in) (I don’t know my hat size)
Email: andreDOTcorterierATfreenetDOTde
Home: Bonn, Germany
Date: 2004-07-01

 

Backpacking Background:

I began backpacking in my late teens using Europe’s „InterRail“-System – weight wasn’t much of a concern, as we were on trains a lot. I traveled (and hiked) in France, Italy, Spain and Morocco, usually for about three weeks at a time, moving from campsites (often without a tent) to youth hostels etc.

I recently rediscovered backpacking (as in: hiking) and have started out slowly – single-day 15 mile (24 km) jaunts by myself or even shorter hikes (pushing a stroller uphill through the woods). I am looking forward to more extended bicycle trips as well as longer hikes. My memories of camping are from the time I was a kid and all the camping gear was simple, old-style stuff with a lot of inconveniences modern gear promises to have taken care of. I intend to find out all about it.

I use my bicycle a lot (to work and back, as well as on the weekends) so when I evaluate gear, especially clothing, I tend to look at how it performs in this regard, as well.

 

Item: Texapore Mesh Hat (Size L)
Inside circumference at hat band: 58 cm (23 in) ? (Difficult to measure – it’s floppy)
Year of manufacture: 2004
Year of purchase: 2004
Manufacturer: Jack Wolfskin
URL: http://www.wolfskin.de/
MSRP: 39.95 EUR
Listed Weight: 75 g (2.65 oz) Size M (no weight listed for size L)
Measured Weight: 80 g (2.83 oz) Size L
Color: stone (gray)

Product Description/First Impression:

You may want to look at the pictures provided by the manufacturer (link above). This is a hat, the rim of which can be turned up at the sides. The sides then attach to the main body of the hat by a patch of hook-and-loop type fastener. I think turning the rim up makes it look good – a little like a “cowboy” hat. However, it is thus – in my view – robbed of part of its function: It won’t protect the sides of the face from either sun or rain this way. With the rim down, I think it doesn’t look good on me – but I’ll admit that’s a point of perspective, I’m just suggesting you look in the mirror before you buy it. I did – I bought it anyway, because I felt its usefulness would outweigh any fashion concerns. There is a band of elasticized fabric (either CoolMax or covered by it) running around the inside perimeter, to which attaches a CoolMax mesh on the inside of the hat. The hat has a drawstring with a toggle for adjustment purposes hanging from it, which allows me to cinch it tight underneath my jaw so the wind won’t tear it off my head. It is made of Texapore Taslan 2L, which is a breathable/waterproof membrane/textile combo. This is supposed to make the hat waterproof, which would make it good rain protection (in fact, the manufacturer lists it as a ‘rain hat’). It is available in light gray (called ‘stone’ by the manufacturer) and olive green. I chose the lighter (gray) color for better sun reflection. The hat seems to gather enough firmness from its material – I can detect no stiffening material in it. I was a little doubtful at first how it would hold up. However, it springs back into a useful form even after being rolled up sideways and squished down into the side of my pack. My daughter (not quite three years old) commented: “Nice hat”, when she first saw it (she’s recently discovered compliments and while I have the impression that the compliments she gives are sincere, her taste in fashion is not something to judge the mainstream by).

 

Field Use:

Short hikes in flat to moderately hilly terrain, low altitude, lots of sun and some rain. Temperatures ranged between 20 and 30 C (high 60s to mid 80s F). The item is still pretty new as far as gear acquisitions go, but as summer has hit its stride around here, it’s seen a good bit of use both on trail and off.

Fit: The first thing I noticed in actual use is that I didn’t like the placement of the drawstring attachment points (where the string attaches to the hat). It is exactly in the center of the hat, which puts it right over my ears. A finger’s width in either direction would be better, so that the string would run past my ear either behind or in front, but this way it’s right over my ears which is a little uncomfortable when cinched tight. This may just be *my* ears. I have not had the kind of wind in which I needed to cinch it tight for any lengthy amount of time for a while, so it hadn’t been an issue – I just put the drawstring inside the hat (so it rested on my head). I did not notice it there at all. I have recently found the solution, however: All I need to do is turn the hat by a cm (half an in) or so, so that the string runs behind my ear on one side and in front of it on the other. I’m not sure if this looks funny, but it certainly solves the problem for me. One reason for not having needed it much likely is the fit of the hat. It fits my head like a glove, as the saying goes – although that’s really an insult to the hat. What I should say is that it fits really well (I do not possess any gloves that fit my head remotely as well). That being said, now that I’ve had some actual breezes around here, I can say that the drawstring is an absolute necessity once it gets windy. The hat’s circumference, while somewhat elastic, is not adjustable, so care needs be taken with fitting. Mine fits me without stretching the elasticity (which is nice when it is hot), but has room to accommodate a bandana (tried that) or balaclava (extrapolated) underneath (with a little stretching). I attribute the apparent discrepancy between the hat’s inside circumference and my head’s outer circumference to bad measuring on my part: The thing won’t hold still for it. I normally wear size L clothing, which usually fits me, but do not normally wear hats so I cannot say how the sizing compares to others. There is a bit of a seam – I think, I can’t see it when it’s on – which rubs against my forehead when I put it on, but fiddling around with it a little after putting it on takes care of that.

Sun protection: It works. With the rim down, it keeps my face (including ears, the weak point of my previously used ball cap) and neck in the shade. This is not to say that I’ll never get a sunburn (which one can get in the shade, as well), but it seems that the days of the icky sunblocker with which I used to cover the parts of my head which were covered by hair when I was younger are history. About time, too. However, the hat isn’t a sombrero so it won’t keep all of my body from the neck up in shade unless the sun is very high up. I’ve noticed that if the sun is off to a side, I tend to adjust the way I wear the hat a little, so it sits at a jaunty angle. This works well, down to about a 30 degree angle off horizontal, which keeps my ears and even my neck in shade down to a standard T-shirt collar as long as the sun is above about a 45 degree angle. If the sun is further down, I don’t mind a bit of exposure though that may change if I get to travel in southern deserts or high altitudes. I don’t, for now – sniff. If the sun is behind me, keeping the entire neck covered takes a more extreme angle, but tilting the hat way up isn’t a problem and so this works, also – provided I wear my usual daypack. With a really tall expedition size backpack, I cannot usefully wear the hat at all – once I’ve snugged the load close with the load lifters, the rear rim of the hat touches the pack which results in a very bothersome interference when moving my head relative to the pack (which, when hiking, is effectively all the time). With a pack’s top at ear level or just below (my expedition pack half filled and the lid cinched down as far as it will go), it works – though only as long as I do not look up. When I do, the rear rim sits up on the pack, and as I move my head further back it is pushed over my eyes (while the front of it pushes my glasses down to the tip of my nose). This ticks me off. So I can wear this hat only with small to medium packs (which is still most of the time – in the future, hopefully all the time). I then encounter this problem only when looking up an incline while walking hunched forward. It has just occurred to me that as long as I don’t mind the look and the wind is such that I do not need the drawstring, the possibility exists to turn the hat exactly sideways and to turn up the side of the rim which is now the rear. This would keep it out of the way of the pack, which likely provides enough shade for my neck as it is. Of course, wind removes this possibility – the drawstring would run down the center of my face and couldn’t be fastened to anything.

Bicycling: while the hat fits well enough not to have needed strapping down while cycling with it to the bakery shop at low speed once, it’s not a helmet so I advise against its use. Use a helmet. I do. (Except that once.)

Heat: It hasn’t been super hot around here yet (at least not while I was outside with the hat). On the hottest day (just over 30 C – high 80s F) I tied a wet T-shirt around my head underneath the hat and this worked beautifully (from a functional point of view, I won’t argue aesthetics). I won’t say it wasn’t hot, but I felt none of the heat buildup underneath the hat which I had feared (and would still expect from, say, a black hat – though mirror shades might then help to still feel “cool”). When working out in a warm environment, I haven’t had sweat run down my forehead and the hat never felt as though it was “swimming”. I assume this is due to the wicking action of the CoolMax mesh lining. This does not contact my head everywhere, however, so my head was still wet with sweat when I took off the hat.

Rain: Another really cool feature of this hat is that it’s waterproof. We’ve had a day with alternating (hot) sun and rain showers (there are generally a few days like that around here in April). Well – the hat is rain protection, also! I had considered buying a fiberglass umbrella after a) having to concede Jardine’s point that walking with a hood cinched tight around the head is not enjoyable and b) finding that the hood of my jacket (Review at http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Rain%20Gear/Jackets%20and%20Pants/Jack%20Wolfskin%20Iceland%20Men%20Jacket/Owner%20Review%20by%20Andre%20Corterier/) fails to keep rain off my glasses when facing into even a light wind. The hat solves these problems nicely. I still feel very much “outside” when wearing it in the rain, but whatever rain falls on my head slides off the outside perimeter far enough away from me that it does not enter my collar. Some water pools in the shallow formed by the slightly upturned rim at first, but the weight of the water soon makes the rim droop a little so this stops. Rain slanted by the wind prompts the same reaction as angled sun (see above). I can walk around in the rain with my glasses on and hands free. So cool. In a strong wind (storm), however, I expect this will not work.

Durability: I’ve mentioned that this is a fairly recent acquisition (not yet half a year old). I’ve taken it lots of places with me, however, usually stuffing it into packs (even my daypack which I wear to work) and dragging it out a lot (if only to show it off). I notice no wear except that it looks a bit wrinkled now. I am not sure yet if that detracts from its look or adds character (I’ll settle for both). I just checked it under the faucet and it still appears waterproof. However, I see no durability issues coming, either – when worn, it experiences no chafing. Impacting spiky branches etc. with any amount of force only has the effect of removing the hat from my head, so I cannot see it being damaged that way, either (certainly hasn’t happened so far). Plus, this means that my scalp is spared the scratch – another nice “durability” feature. When I roll it up to stuff it, only a small amount of the lower side of the rim faces out so chafing shouldn’t be a problem there, either. It hasn’t been dirtied at all yet so I have seen no need to wash it (it says wash on low heat on the inside), I’ve just rinsed out the inside with the mesh. Dried really quickly.

 

Summary:

I like it. It’s lightweight, looks good, offers sun and rain protection. I would choose different gear if I were expecting lots of either, but for my usual haunts, where extremes of either are generally absent (and can easily be waited out when they do occur), it does both in a small package. It has definitely become a standard gear item now. I was thinking of moving the drawstring or cutting it off, but now that I’ve seen its necessity and how to deal with it, I’m happy with it.

Pros: Light. Cheap (for the protection it offers). Sun AND rain protection.

Cons: Less useful with a large pack and on steep inclines. Unfortunate drawstring and seam placement.