Something on an exaggeration; but retail, this hat costs 55 dollars. Which seems excessive, even/especially in light of standard Pgucc truckers going for 35-39 dollars. Prior to this, my favorite foam truckers, which I find indespensible almost every day of the year, were the sort I got for free at trade shows or found for free in bushes out in the woods. But this fancy hat works enough better than those that the price is likely worth it.

I find hats essential because they block the sun, and the rain, and the snow; the later two particularly important if you wear glasses. Baseball style hats also keep twigs out of your face when bushwacking, provide an indexing point when using binoculars, and (ideally) wick sweat away from your brow (thus mitigating drips onto said glasses. For serious sun protection, or cold protection, or indeed wind protection, I’ve long found it most efficacious to add a baselayer hood over said hat. This works well with a backpack, stays put in the wind, and provides good protection from whatever without messing with your vision (assuming said hood is a good one).

Hats have for a while been the weak link here, as heretofore they did not wick sweat all that well, and after a good period of sweaty activity got quite stinky. These two issues are a bummer year round.

The Snowfarer hat wicks and dries so much better than anything else I’ve used, to an extent I find shocking, this even being familiar with the material specs, which are impressive. The tricot lining and nylon shell do exactly what is claimed. The fit is on the large side of medium, not huge, but big enough for my big head when I have less than short hair (the Patagonia Duckbill trucker, by comparison, is too small for me under any circumstances). I wasn’t crazy about the buckle adjuster, but it works; between cinching things down and the somewhat (but not too) flexible brim, this hat has stayed put on the windiest of days.

My only complaints? The yellow cord accent was sewn on loose enough that it just looked janky, so I cut that off. And the brim, while ideally proportioned and functionally flexible, doesn’t take a shape, inevitably providing some flat-frim dorkiness. My head is happy enough that I don’t care. Having lived with this one for the past four months, I would not want to live without it. Really hoping I don’t misplace this one any time soon.