Manufacturer: Outdoor Research
                       2203 1st Avenue South
                       888-4-ORGEAR (Within the U.S. and Canada)
                       206-467-8197 (Outside the U.S. and Canada)
                       Fax number: 206-467-0374
                       Email: info@orgear.com

Year of Manufacture: 2004 (?)
MSRP: $33.00 (USD)
URL: http://www.orgear.com/
Listed weight: not available
Weight as delivered: 9 1/8 ounces (262 g)

May and June could not have been more different in the Southern California region. The beginning of May saw temperatures soar into the 100s (38 °C), then drop to the low 70s (21°C). June brought our infamous "June Gloom" - cool, overcast mornings and warm, breezy afternoons, with temperatures ranging from 60 - 85 °F (15 - 29°C).

I have had the opportunity to wear the Sahara Sombrero® quite often. I used the hat almost daily as I worked in the garden or when I took my 22-month old daughter to the park. The Sahara Sombrero® joined me on a couple of hikes in addition to three field trips for my Oceanography and General Geology classes at California State University, Los Angeles. Nearly two months of use has not adversely affected the condition of the hat. All of the stitches are still secure, the fabric has not abraded, nor has the hat suffered when washed in our washing machine. Below are some of my observations regarding the Sahara Sombrero®.

General Use - The Sahara Sombrero® is quite comfortable to wear and does a good job in keeping the sun out of your eyes. The floppy nature of the brim I found to be a bit annoying. The brim of the hat has a bit of a wave in it as opposed to lying flat. Thus, my eyes were shaded when I was looking in one direction, but, when I turned my head, I would often get an eyeful of sun until I pushed the brim down. I attribute this to two things: 1) the fact that I fold the hat to store it in my car and 2) that the brim is not stiff enough. This creates a catch-22 situation: if you make the brim stiffer, it won't be as flexible or lightweight, but the brim will retain it's original shape.

Hiking with the Yakima GrassHopper Child Carrier - I previously tested the GrassHopper for BackpackGearTest, and my daughter and I continue to use it occasionally. I wore the Sahara Sombrero® while hiking with my daughter in the GrassHopper in the San Gabriel Mountains and in Vasquez Rocks County Park. This was not one of my better ideas. While the hat performed well, the large brim in the back made and excellent toy for my daughter. She loved to push it up, then down, then side to side, then pull it towards her, then she finally tried to pull it off my head. The chin strap held the hat firmly in place, but I was nearly strangled by her actions. Result: The Sahara Sombrero® does not go with us when my daughter is in the GrassHopper!

Field Trips - In May and June I took my students out on three field trips: 1) a 4 hour oceanographic cruise in the waters of the San Pedro shelf (outside the Los Angeles Breakwater); 2) a four hour trip to Cabrillo Beach and Marine Aquarium in San Pedro; and 3) an eight hour trip through the San Gabriel Mountains to Palmdale, then Vasquez County Park in Agua Dulce before heading home. The Sahara Sombrero® held up well in a variety of conditions.

• Oceanographic Cruise (May 16th, 2004) - The day of our cruise brought clear skies and warm temperatures (about 80 °F / 27 °C), but also breezy conditions. We start out in the Los Angeles Harbor, then make our way out to San Pedro Canyon at the edge of the San Pedro Shelf (approximately 4.8 miles or 7.7 kilometers offshore), then loop back around to the docks. Wind speeds were estimated at 10 - 15 mph (16 - 24 kph) and the waters were quite choppy. Whenever I have a hat with a chin strap, I routinely wear it with the chin strap tightened. The Sahara Sombrero® stayed securely on my head despite being buffeted by strong wind gusts. This is a good thing, as the boat will stop for a person overboard, but not their stuff!
  
  
• San Gabriel Mountains Field Trip (May 23rd, 2004) - This field trip begins with a tour through the San Gabriel Mountains to view the various igneous and metamorphic rock complexes that comprise the mountains, followed by a trip to Palmdale to see the San Andreas Fault Zone, and ending at the tilted sedimentary rocks of Vasquez County Park. The day started out very cool (60°F / 15 °C) and overcast with some drizzle as we hit the 4000 foot (1200 meter) elevation range. While the Sahara Sombrero® is not a rain hat, it did to a nice job of keeping the drizzle out of my eyes and my head dry. Mind you, this was a drizzle; I'm reasonably sure that the Sahara Sombrero® will not function well in real rain.
  
  When we descended out of the mountains and into the Palmdale/Mojave Desert area, we were greeted with strong wind gusts (my estimation: around 20+ mph / 32 kph). Again, the Sahara Sombrero® with the chin strap tightened stayed securely on my head. At one point, however, there was an exceptionally strong gust which lifted up the brim of the hat and very nearly ripped it off of my head.
  
  
• Beach Trip (June 6th, 2004) - Cabrillo Beach is the only natural sand beach in Los Angeles County. No sand is trucked in to re-nourish the beach, no bulldozers flatten out the beach for the throngs of people to lie out on, nada. Plus, it's tucked away in a place that not many people visit - near the docks. This makes it a great place to take students to study beach processes. Temperatures were pleasant, about 80 °F / 27 °C, and there was a light breeze. Here the Sahara Sombrero® functioned as a sun hat, shading my eyes from the sun and keeping me cool. Typically when wearing a hat on a warm or hot day you get "hat head" - hair that is damp with perspiration, flat against your head, and slightly messed up. I found that this was not the case with the Sahara Sombrero®. While my hair did get a bit flattened it did not even come close to approaching the "hat head" syndrome. Granted, it was not that warm of a day, so perhaps higher temperatures might yield different results.

In my Initial report, I posed several questions. Below are my comments regarding them.

1. Comfort
   • Q: Will the longer back brim cause a problem while used in conjunction with a backpack, daypack, or child carrier?
     A: Yes, it was a problem, but stemmed from my daughter's desire to play with the hat.
     
     
   • Q: Will the hat keep me cool when needed, or will my head sweat a lot?
     A: Thus far, I have not had a sweaty head while wearing the hat, but the temperatures have been fairly mild. This may change as summer progresses.
     
     
   • Q: Los Angeles typically has low humidity in the summer, but Florida is the exact opposite.  Will the hat keep me cool in the hot, humid environs of Florida?
     A: The trip to Florida will take place in July
     
     
   • Q: Is the chin strap comfortable?  Does it adjust easily?  Will it stay adjusted, or will my hat fly off in the wind?
     A: Thus far the chin strap has done it's job - kept the hat on my head during windy conditions. The next step will be to see how well it holds up in the long term.
     
     
2. Durability
   • Q: How well will the hat handle being stored in my daypack? Can the hat be rolled or folded so that it can be easily stored?
     A: The Sahara Sombrero® folds up into a surprisingly compact bundle. It can be rolled or folded as desired. The only problem I have encountered has been that the Sahara Sombrero® tends to retain the folded/rolled position slightly when unpacked.
     
     
   • Q: How easy is it to clean?  Machine washable?
     A: So far, so good!
     
     
3. SolarLite fabric
   • Q: The Sahara Sombrero's® SolarLite fabric is supposed to provide a UPF of 50 - the highest.  Does it?  Or will I burn?
     A: I have not been able to adequately test this feature yet.
     
     
   • Q: In addition the SolarLite fabric is supposed to be light, durable, and fast drying.  Is it?
     A: Yes, the hat is very light. As it hasn't really gotten wet yet, I can't comment on the fast drying feature as yet. I should be able to test this feature adequately while in Florida - where I will be in the thunderstorm capitol of the U.S. during the height of thunderstorm season!

So far I have no complaints about the Sahara Sombrero®. It is very light weight and comfortable.

I will continue to wear the Sahara Sombrero® in and around town, on trails in the local mountains and along local beaches, in addition to my trip to Tampa, Florida in July. I may possibly go to the Colorado River, Portland, Oregon and southwestern Washington later this summer, too, which will allow for additional testing opportunities. Also, we have one tentative 2-3 day backpacking trip planned for the Sierras in the fall.

Trails in the Southern California mountains are fairly well maintained, and range in difficulty from moderate to very difficult. The trail surface along the coast varies between concrete, sand, or dirt. Weather in Southern California varies greatly with location and season. In general, temperatures can get into the upper 90's (35+ °C) in the summer and continue through the fall. July temperatures in Tampa, Florida average 83 °F (28 °C).

As a professional geologist, I spend a good deal of time hiking in the sun.  I currently use a REI Sombrero Hat which does a good job, but the hat's dark color makes it hot to wear in the summer.  With English, German and Irish ancestry, I fry when I even think about the sun, so sun protection of all kinds is a must for me.  Thus, I will be taking a risk and will NOT be wearing sunscreen on my face during testing. To date this has not been a problem, as it has not been hot enough yet. I will be watching this closely as summer progresses.