Name: Jennifer Joy
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4" (1.63 m)
Weight: 150 lb (68 kg)
Email address: jjoy AT io DOT com
Location: Austin, Texas
Date: October 5, 2004

Backpacking Background

I have been camping and hiking since I was a small child. I used to not be very weight conscious, but I am actively working to move towards lightweight backpacking and plan to replace much of my gear in an effort to help an extreme tendency for tendonitis. My backpacking trips tend to be over a weekend or day hikes within a multi-day kayaking trip. Multi-week hiking is a long-term goal. I could be considered a beginner backpacker but an experienced camper.

Product Information

Manufacturer: Outdoor Research (OR)
Year of manufacture: 2004
Website: www.orgear.com
Listed weight: Not listed

Weight as tested: 2.4 oz (68 g)
Each component:
Hat: 0.9 oz (26 g)
Skirt: 1.5 oz (42 g)
Style number: 80900
MSRP: $37.00 US
Warranty: Lifetime for defects in materials or construction

Material: Predominately SolarLite, a 70-denier Supplex nylon

Color: Bone, a light tan with black trim

My hat size: 7 1/4 (head circumference of 22.75 inches / 58 cm)

Hat size received: Large

Notes on fit:

According to the OR fitting chart my head is at the very top end of the medium range or midway in the large sizing. I was glad I received the large as it seems to fit quite well.

Length of skirt: Approximately 12 inches / 30 cm, slightly shorter in the back

Bill length: 2.75 inches / 7 cm

Product Description

The Outdoor Research (OR) Sahara Cap can be most simply described as a ball cap with an attached skirt. The hat features a close-fitting five-panel design that fits snugly to the head. The two side panels are made of black mesh. The skirt is removable and has two drawstrings attached to either side which end in a toggle. The hat is made of sun protective nylon fabric called SolarLite. For a much more extensive description and pictures of the hat please see my Initial Report.

Field Test -- Final Impressions

General Information:

My Field Report covers many experiences with my hat and might be worth a read for more details on specific trips and more extensive information on my opinion of some of the hat's characteristics. This report covers the whole six month test cycle and includes continued observations from the last four months of testing since the Field Report was produced. I've worn the hat approximately 40 times over the test period, with about 15 days spent hiking, 5 days spent kayaking and 20 days of daily use for a variety of activities. The temperatures have ranged from a low of 60 F (16 C) to 98 F (37 C).

Initially I liked the hat because it felt so light and cool on my head. I found the skirt not to be the most attractive accessory I've ever worn, but when I'm out in the sun for 3 to 4 hours it proved its worth. It took me some practice to get good at putting the hat on with the skirt. It was inevitably a two-handed affair. The skirt can be irritating in the wind, flapping in my face and against my ears and generally reminding me of a bad fly at a picnic. That being said, I found that I mostly ended up using the hat without the skirt. The problem with that is that I lost the skirt twice and have had to search around like crazy to find it. (Note: I do tend to lose anything that's not stapled to my forehead.)

While the hat is not waterproof it was nice to have in the rain. It did not get appreciably heavier and the brim worked well to keep some of the water out of my eyes. The light nylon fabric dries quickly and would be mostly dry in under an hour.

Long Term Use:

Despite the light color, a sandy shade of beige, my hat has held up great. I machine washed it once and it came through with flying colors. The soft, terry cloth-like liner for the forehead was brilliantly done in black which hides a lot of potential dirt and has kept the sweat out of my eyes. The hat looks as new despite being repeatedly squashed into bags, but it would look better had the seam tape at the rear not been mis-sewn from the beginning.

Conclusions

The convertible nature of the Sahara Cap makes it an excellent hiking accessory for me. The hat is so light and comfortable I hardly notice it on my head. If I'm going to be out in the baking sun, the simple, snap on skirt works well to keep the sun off of me and was far more effective than any remedy I had used before, such as a bandana tucked under my hat. It is stylish and nice enough to wear about town as a plain cap and I have found it to be one of my favorites.

Likes:

Small packing and lightweight
Comfortable
Being able to remove the skirt and have just a hat

Concerns:

A manufacturer defect in the back of the cap trim seems like it should not have passed quality control
The skirt can blow around some in the wind

A final note

Thank you to BackpackGearTest and Outdoor Research for the opportunity to test the Sahara Cap.

Read more reviews of Outdoor Research gear
Read more gear reviews by Jennifer Joy

Long Term Report