Out of doors Analysis Seattle Rain Hat Evaluation

The Out of doors Analysis Seattle Rain Hat is a water-resistant/breathable Gore-Tex rain hat with a large brim. Whereas it’s billed as a rain hat, it could do double responsibility as a UPF 50+ solar hat, particularly for water sports activities the place its floating brim is a useful characteristic to stop unintended loss. The hat has velcro tabs on the edges so you may fold up the brim for better visibility and comes with an adjustable chin wire to maintain it safe in stormy climate.  In the event you can barely tolerate the crappy hoods on mountain climbing rain jackets, mountain climbing with a rain hat may simply change your thoughts about mountain climbing within the rain.

Specs at a look

• Weight: 3.2 oz
• Gender: Unisex
• Width of Brim: 3″ Entrance and alongside the edges; 3.75″ within the rear
• Waterproof/breathable: Sure, Gore-Tex 3 layer
• Seam-taped: Sure
• UPF Score: 50+
• Adjustable: No
• Chin strap: Sure
• Sizing: S, M, L, XL
• Materials: Crown: 70-denier plain weave nylon; brim: 70-denier plain weave nylon with PU coating

The Out of doors Analysis Seattle Rain Hat is a superb various to utilizing the disappointing hoods that include many mountain climbing rain jackets. Most must be worn with a billed cap to maintain the rain off your face and/or they’re massively outsized with the intention to accommodate ski and climbing helmets. A rain hat can immediately improve a rain jacket with a crappy hood by eliminating the need for the hood’s use.

For instance, the Seattle Rain Hat has a a lot wider entrance brim than a rain jacket (if it has one in any respect) and is a lot better at maintaining rain off my face and glasses than a closed hood whereas offering a lot better peripheral visibility. The froth-stiffened brim is 3 inches extensive within the entrance and alongside the edges and three.75 inches extensive within the again to maintain the rain off your neck and the hood of your rain jacket in the event you’re carrying one. As a glasses wearer, the added air flow that comes with utilizing a large entrance brim is a godsend as a result of it retains the rain and condensation off my lenses utterly. The brim serves double responsibility for solar safety on my face, my head, and the tops of my ears. If it’s buggy, the rear brim retains my insect head internet off the pores and skin on the again of my neck the place an insect may nonetheless get me by means of the mesh.

With the Seattle Rain Hat, I also can unzip the highest of my rain jacket’s neck and higher chest so I perspire much less inside, I can use it to maintain my head heat or wick away perspiration, and the hat doesn’t intrude with my sense of sound after I stroll within the wilderness. That stated, the Seattle Rain Hat is just not a magic bullet in all circumstances although, however is greatest utilized in mild to average wind so its giant floor space doesn’t grow to be ungainly and flap round loudly. In excessive winds, you need to use your rain jacket hood as a result of that’s when it’s truly the higher software for the job (assuming it has hood controls that allow you to get a comfortable match.)

The OR Seattle Rain Hat is available in 4 sizes, primarily based on the circumference of your head. I merely measured my head, picked the corresponding dimension, and it match completely. The variations in circumferences between sizes could be very small so you will get an excellent match in the event you measure your head. Simply wrap a string across the crown of your head and measure it. It’s that straightforward. From what I perceive, the earlier model of the Seattle Rain Hat had an adjustable headband, however that characteristic was dropped within the present mannequin.

Suggestion

The Out of doors Analysis Seattle Rain Hat is a wide-brimmed waterproof hat that gives rain safety and is an enchancment over the disappointing hoods that include many mountain climbing rain jackets. It can be used as a solar hat with a score of UPF 50+, significantly on the water since its foam-stiffened brim floats. The improved air flow inherent in utilizing a hat open on all 4 sides as a substitute of a hood enclosed on 3 sides makes needs to be readily obvious. However it additionally means that you could vent the highest of your rain jacket extra simply with the intention to perspire much less inside, one thing that’s unattainable to do when carrying a jacket hood. That’s an enormous profit when it’s raining and also you’re making an attempt to remain dry, each inside (your jacket) and outdoors.

I truly used to personal an Out of doors Analysis Seattle Rain Hat some 20 years in the past simply as I used to be getting critical about mountain climbing and backpacking. In some way, I received waylaid over time and began utilizing rain jackets with built-in hoods as a substitute, although they’re a poor substitute for a wide-brimmed hat. That realization got here flooding again to me as quickly as I placed on the Seattle Rain Hat and began mountain climbing with it within the fixed rain we’ve been having this spring. How did I ever get by with out a rain hat, I questioned?

Disclosure: The writer bought this hat.

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