Outdoor Research Rando Cap

Field Report
February 27, 2006

Tester Information

Name: Raymond Estrella
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3" (187.5 cm)
Weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Email address: rayestrella@hotmail.com
City: Huntington Beach
State: California
Country: USA 

Backpacking Background: I have been hiking for over 30 years, all over the state of California. I have also hiked in Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho. I hike year-round, mostly in the Sierra Nevada, and put 555 miles (888 km) with a backpack on last year.  As I start my 4th decade of backpacking I am making the move to lightweight gear, and smaller packs.

The product

Manufacturer: Outdoor Research
Web site http://www.orgear.com
Product: Rando Cap
Style: 82050
Year manufactured: 2005.
MSRP: $45.00 (US)
Weight listed: 2.5 oz (71 g)
Verified weight: 2.4 oz (63 g)
Color tested: Black

Colors available: Black, Mojo Blue, and Deep Green.
Warranty: (Quoted from hang tag), “Outdoor Research products are guaranteed forever.”

Field Conditions

I have been using the Rando cap for a few months now. I am in Moorhead Minnesota for 9 days each month. This cap has accompanied me for each trip and has been used as my everyday cold weather hat while I have been there. The temperatures while in MN have ranged from -16 to 38 F (-27 to 3 C) while I was there. Two days I was in heavy snow for a few hours, sledding and playing with my children.

I also wore the Rando while snow shoeing at Buffalo State Park in Minnesota, where the temperature was 20 F (-7 C) with 7 mph winds (11 km/h).

The cap also went on a snowshoe backpacking trip to the Bristlecone Pine forest in California where the temps while hiking ranged from 13 to 30 F (-1 to -11 C). On that trip we had winds of 30 mph (48 km/h). (All readings taken with a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Meter). We were at elevations ranging from 7,500’ to 10,500’ (2,250 to 3,150 m) above sea level.

I wore it on a ski trip to Mammoth Mountain, in California. The temperature was 24 F (-4 C) with winds over 40 mph (64 km/h) on the top, at 11,200’ (3,360 m) elevation. Here is a picture of an ugly old guy wearing the Rando with the flaps up.

Observations

The inner fleece has proven to be very warm in most of the conditions I have had it in. One thing to keep in mind though is that I am a very warm-blooded person. Some else may not find this cap to be as warm as I did. I rarely had to attach the flaps, only doing so if my ears started getting cold, or the wind was blowing hard. Even in the brutal Minnesota weather the cap does a very good job of keeping my head warm.

For some reason it was difficult to get the straps aligned properly. Each time I would attach them I would seem to get them crossed like an “X” instead of lined up on each other. If I tried a couple of times I would get it, but the cut seems to be a little off. Or I am just a little off, as has been suggested in the past. Here is a picture with the flaps connected.

I am not sure yet how I feel about the moldable brim. Every time I take it out of my pocket or pack I have to reshape it as it gets into the weirdest configurations. My hiking partner was getting a kick out of it if I forgot to straighten it out right away. It is easy to reshape though, and held its shape, even with the high winds that I wore it in. I will keep evaluating this.

The Gore-Tex fabric blocked the wind very well. Only when I was sitting on a chairlift in very high winds did my head get cold enough to put my parka hood over the cap. It also has never leaked, although I have only been in snow at above freezing temps once so far during the testing of this hat. As spring approaches I should see more wet conditions.

It worked very well with goggles on both the hikes, and the skiing. But using it with my glacier-glasses made my ears hurt if I hade to attach the straps because of high wind. I just switched over to goggles in this case.

The fit is tight. It works fine, but I could not add a fleece balaclava underneath it in camp in the evenings when the temps dropped. I wish that I had ordered it in extra-large, but as I mentioned in my Initial Report, OR’s sizing seems to fluctuate quite a bit.

I tried sleeping in it and did not like it. The brim gets in the way as I am a flip-flopping side-sleeper. I wore the fleece balaclava instead.

There has been no noticeable wear, or any problems with the stitching yet. It has seen a lot of stuffing/un-stuffing so far, as I am constantly taking it off and on. It is holding up well to the abuse.

I will continue to wear this for the rest of California’s winter, and darn close to summer in Minnesota. (The land of four seasons. Winter, June, July, and August.)

I would like to thank Outdoor Research and Backpack Gear Test for allowing me to participate in this test.