When you want to protect your skin but you don’t want to wear a typical khaki sun hat, this Plaid Hat from Tilley Endurables will have you looking a bit more stylish.

We’ve sung the praises of Tilley hats plenty of times here and after trying lots of other brands, still look at these as the gold standard. They’re always well-made, rugged, and built to last, all coming with a lifetime guarantee. Yes, they’re pricey—this model has a list price of $79—but they want you to use it for decades. If you manage to wear out yours, send them a $7.50 check for shipping and they’ll replace it for free.

The look of this Plaid Hat is unique, standing out from the sea of sun hats that are usually a solid color and floppy. This one is a little more refined, looks a little better when you’re wearing something nicer. The appearance is just part of the appeal though. This travel hat tips the scales at a mere 2.8 ounces, making it lighter than most of the baseball caps I own.

It’s a nylon-cotton blend that’s also treated with a weather-repellent feature, so when I got caught in a misty drizzle one day while wearing it, the water just beaded up on top. Naturally the main reason you’re going to wear a hat while traveling is to keep the sun at bay and this delivers a “UPF 50+” sun rating. It comes with a string to loop around your chin if you want, but you can easily remove it if not.

The thing I found most surprising about this Plaid Hat was the ventilation. It has four oversized metal eyelets near the top to let heat escape and I found that they did an excellent job letting the breeze flow through as well. Those combined with the lightness have made this a cooler hat than I expected where I’ve been trying it most: in the hot Florida sun. I also love the feature you find on all Tilley hats of a little pouch on the inside top where you can store some emergency cash or a credit card. Always useful.

This fabric in this hat is pre-shrunk and you can throw it in the washing machine or sink wash it as needed. See the four-page owners manual for tips.

See more on this hat at the Tilley site and you can get it there or look for it in your local gear store. For now this is a hard one to find outside Canada except at Paragon Sports. Follow this link to order it from there online.