Backpacking Background:

Field Testing Information

My testing thus far has occurred in various locations around Western New York and Northern Pennsylvania, including four 3-day hikes and numerous day hikes.  The weekend treks all included hiking with my sons' Boy Scout Troop.  The treks included two weekends spent at our local Council camp and two weekends spent hiking in the Allegheny National Forest.  The local camp is located in southern New York.  The terrain consists of rolling hills heavily covered in hardwood forests.   Allegheny National Forest is about 1.5 hours south of here.  It has a number of circuit hikes as well as end-to-end hiking.  The North Country Trail runs from one end of the Forest to the other.  Allegheny National Forest is located in the Allegheny Mountains.  Elevations average around 2000 ft (610 m).  

I am an avid day hiker, and have been hiking 3-days-a-week on average.  Day hikes varied from short day trips of 2 - 5 miles (3 - 8 km) to full day treks of 10 -15 miles (16 - 24 km).  On many of the dayhikes, I carried either a small daypack or lumbar pack. My loads varied from 4 lb (1.8 kg) to 25 lb (11.3 kg).  Most hikes occur in the evening, in all kinds of weather.  I've worn the Nimbus Sombrero on every hike. 

Field Results

This hat rocks!  I really mean that.  It's not perfect, but it's pretty close.

Fit - I love the way this hat fits me.  There are times I want a tight-fitting hat; other times I want a hat that fits loosely.  I can very quickly have both with the Nimbus Sombrero.  The quick adjuster works great.  It is easy to adjust on-the-fly without stopping.  The mesh liner is very comfortable on my head.  The chin strap is functional, but I don't personally care for it.  Not that there's anything wrong with it, because there's not; rather, I tolerate them at best.  But, even here the Nimbus accommodates me!  It is very easy to untie the chin strap from the hat and wear it without the strap at all.  Be warned thought:  the chances of misplacing the chinstrap increase because it's rather small.  If the breeze picks up I simply tighten the fit of the hat via the quick adjuster.  Only when it's quite breezy do I really need the chin strap.  With the large brim, the hat can act like a sail, so in stronger winds the chin strap is the best answer.  On days it can go either way, I leave the chin strap attached and simply stuff in under that hat when I place it on my head.  Yes, I have to go through this ritual every time I put the hat on, but it's really quite simple.  I wish the hat included a storage pocket on the interior of the hat for storing the chin strap.  That would eliminate needing to remove it and running the risk of losing it.

Breathability - I am testing the Nimbus Sombrero as a warm weather solution in both rain and sun.  As such, the hat shed water beautifully.  It's quite comfortable to wear in the rain and deflects the water nicely.  The large brim keeps my face and neck dry.  If it's a driving rain, I simply pull the Sombrero down in the front and snug up its fit.  It is an exceptional hat in this weather.

In the sun, the Nimbus Sombrero is warm for me.  If the temperature is much above 70F (21 C), or I'm working hard covering steep grades or a lot of elevation changes, my metabolism really gets going and the Nimbus has a hard time cooling my head.  But, in all fairness, the Nimbus Sombrero is primarily made for inclement weather.  Plus, the wide brim does an excellent job of sun protection!

The snap-up sides took some getting used to on my part.  I'm primarily a baseball cap wearer, and this pseudo cowboy hat look felt really weird.  But, with time, I've grown more comfortable with it.  I really like wearing the Sombrero with its "ears pinned back" in sunny weather.  It makes the hat feel lighter on my head and breathability increases.

I've tested the Nimbus Sombrero with a variety of packs.  I've tested it wearing a simple frameless daypack, my ultralight internal framed pack, my heavier internal framed pack, and even my external framed pack.  I did this because they all ride at different heights on my back, and I wanted to see if the long brim in the back interfered with any of the packs, especially the external framed pack.  It can interfere slightly with the higher riding packs, but it doesn't really hinder me at all.  The only way they hit each other is if I have the Sombrero pulled low on my head raising the back.  Then I have to unnaturally move my head.  Even when the do interfere with each other, the Sombrero gives a lot.  It is not super rigid. 

In the Initial Report, I commented that I could fold the Sombrero up pretty small.  I don't really like doing this too much since the brim does have some memory.  Thus, if I bend the brim extremely, it tends to "remember" the fold.  This occurs mostly in the rigid piping surrounding the brim.  With a couple minutes of massaging, the Sombrero has always returned to its original shape.  I like the original shape and don't want it to look like one of those scrunchy hats.

My suggestions for improvement at this point include two things:  a storage compartment on inside of the hat for storing the chin strap when you don't want to deal with it, and the breathability of the head piece needs to improve in nice weather.  The interior is already lined with a nice mesh; maybe just making some flaps on the sides that could be velcroed down in inclement weather and up in nice weather.  The mesh lining would protect from bugs and the vents would improve breathability tremendously.

Tim