Posts Tagged InsectShield

Who doesn’t travel with a hat these days? For me, it’s certainly a necessity, not only for function (keeping sun out of my eyes while adventuring in the outdoors) but for my health (keeping harmful sun’s rays off my head, face and neck). This week as my husband and I are biking and kayaking in and around Sanibel Island and Fort Myers, Florida, we’re armed with these fun, versatile hats.

Tilley Airflo Hat for Men: We’ve reviewed Tilley Endurables hats here at Practical Travel Gear before, and I previewed some Spring 2011 designs at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in August (cute stuff to come!). I’m a big fan of the brand because the hats are durable and well constructed. This particular style, the LTM61S Tilley Airflo Hat with tuckaway neck protector, actually repels bugs with Insect Shield technology (repelling flies, chiggers, mosquitoes and the like up to 70 washings).

My husband found out the hat holds up well in a torrential downpour on our Sanibel Island bike ride yesterday. When the heavens opened up and we were halfway between our beachfront cottage and the Sanibel Lighthouse, we just pedaled on through. He didn’t even have to tie it around his chin with the hidden ties when the wind picked up. The hat also dried quickly and retained its shape.

This hat does come with a hidden-in-the-brim “cape” that can attach under the chin to protect the neck from the beating sun. I have, however, forbidden my husband from wearing the cape unless a) we’re trekking across the Sahara Desert or b) we’re in Africa, and must protect ourselves from malaria-infecting mosquitoes. (The neck flaps are a bit on the dorky side. To wit: this photo.) The hat retails for $89 on the Tilley site (do take time to browse all of the styles for both men and women).

Wallaroo Casual Traveler for Women: Here’s another company I connected with at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market last month; what a treat to meet the two dynamic women who founded the brand more than a decade ago. I’d worn a canvas Wallaroo hat (whose style is now discontinued) around the pool and to sun-centric destinations when my children were babies and toddlers. I was so pleased to become reacquainted with this Colorado company  that turns out many different styles of canvas, raffia and microfiber hats; so much so, I had to purchase the original Wallaroo: the Casual Traveler.

This particular style — like many of the designs — is rated UPF 50+. This means the material blocks 97.5 percent of the sun’s UV rays. Further, my cute Casual Traveler hat in Chocolate has a 4-inch adjustable brim that gives great coverage to my face and neck. The crushable microfiber fabric ‘s malleable enough to adjust the brim up or down, but also stays in place once you decide how you want to wear your hat. A hidden interior drawstring ensures one size fits most (and this hat absolutely fits my large head). This is one hat that is at home on a chaise lounge or a hiking trail; it’s one of those pieces of travel gear that pulls double duty and then some.

I wore this hat biking (yes, in the downpour) and it, too, kept its shape afterward and stayed on my head in the wind. The hat is so wonderfully lightweight that I felt so comfortable kayaking in it during mid-day heat, as well. The Casual Traveler comes in many different colors in the synthetic microfiber. In canvas material you can opt for reversible fabric: wear it white on top with bright Hawaiian print underneath, or vice versa. Purchase it on the Wallaroo Hat Company website for $34.

The Real Deal Brazil Hat for Men and Women: This hat is just plain cool. Really cool. It’s crafted from recycled tarps of Brazilian cargo trucks. That means the material on my head likely traveled on crude roads and in extreme weather conditions from the Amazon to Sao Paulo and back again. The Real Deal Brazil folks say that the material has already been abused by the elements, so there’s little you can do to your hat to ruin it. “Don’t take care of this hat,” reads the interior of my hat. “It will take care of you.”

Because hats are all handmade from discarded material, every single one is unique. Mine is especially nifty because of the letters stamped on the brim (I do wonder what Portuguese word the letters were  once a part of). I’ve also got a little patch of fabric on the side, adding to its character.

The hat isn’t perfect: it sits a little high on my large head, even though I ordered a size large, so I’m not sure it would have stayed securely put during the aforementioned bike ride in the sudden rainstorm. Still, I dig my Real Deal Brazil tarp hat because it’s so different; no one else in the world has a hat just like me. And I can personalize it even more by “bending the brim to suit my whim,” according to the irreverent company. (Check out all the shaping suggestions; the Gomer made me giggle.) You’d sooner find this hat on someone riding a camel, than at a country club pool. It’s definitely rugged, with its frayed edges, plus the stitching is erratic — but that’s all part of the charm!

The recycled tarp hat is currently on sale for $39.99 at the Real Deal Brazil website.