REI Sahara Outback Cape Hat

Today I am reviewing my REI Sahara Hat. I have owned this hat about a month and half. I got this because the heat in Colorado has been so excruciating. And, you know, I hate sun hats. I think they look a little dweeby. But for functionality and purpose, this REI hat is fantastic.

Here’s a quick little tour of hat, spinning around. You got some airvents up top here, so that helps keep you really cool. I am really shocked at how cool the hat keeps me overall.

Inside, there’s a 100% Nylon Sweatband with 100% cool max polyester. We just hiked up to the top of Mt. Sanitas in Boulder, CO, and this nylon band is sopping wet from my sweat.

But it’s great; it kept me cool the whole time. Let me show you how it looks on. One thing I don’t like about this hat is how this sort of swoops back and forth.

When you put it on, this rope gets in the way. Not a big deal overall.

You have this chinstrap here ,which you can tighten up so that it fits nice and snug on your head.

And what’s really nice about this chin strip here is that if you don’t wanna wear it, you can just flap it over in front of you and have the hat rest on your chest.

One reason why I bought the REI Sahara Sun Hat over a Tilley or any other brand is that in addition to all the protection from the brim, you have a neck protector that remains hidden inside the hat and tucked away with velcro.

Now, this is really awesome because that means you don’t have to use the dorky neck protector 100% of the time. If the sun is in front of you, tuck it up. But when the Sun is behind you, you can undo it.

I will show you what it looks like on.

See, it totally protects my neck. And so if we’re hiking and the sun is behind me, my neck is protected. If it is in front of us, I just tuck it up in here, velcro it shut, and in a few seconds, it’s perfect. My neck is wide open and can breathe, so long as the sun’s in front of me.