Tilley Endurables
Tilley T5 Hat
 When most travelers
hear the name "Tilley," the Tilley Hat comes to mind. The first Tilley Hat was
introduced in 1980 by Alex Tilley, an Ontario boating enthusiast who "couldn't
find a cotton sailing hat in keeping with the quality of my lovely sloop."
As a traveler whose summer headwear tastes run to Panama hats
and pith helmets, I wasn't looking forward to testing a hat of sturdy cotton
duck in Southern Europe during August. But, as they say in Minnesota, "You never
know!" The hat's large ventilation grommets and "anti-sweat" band worked
remarkably well, even in the blazing sun of Greece and Sicily. A Tilley Hat
might look out of place with a business suit, but it's a great hat for most
leisure travel--from the relentless summer heat of Athens to
a drizzly fall evening in Bremerhaven.
My preferred Tilley Hat, the T5 model, has "a semi-sloping brim
for sun protection and a higher crown for added ventilation." Adjustable wind
cords secure the hat in a breeze or a hurricane, and the
Tilley Hat Owner's Manual
discusses other features such as the buoyant closed-cell foam in the crown to
the "secret pocket" where you can store money and other small items for
emergencies. Two colors are available: natural (off-white) with green on the
underside of the brim, and khaki with an olive underbrim.
All Tilley Hats have an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) of
50+, and--just as important--the shape of the brim, plus the antireflective
underbrim, help to protect the wearer from sun
and glare.
Note: Tilley hats are made in a variety of styles; see the hats
page at the Tilley Endurables Web site for more choices, including a lightweight
LTM5 AirFlo version of the T5 for summer wear.
Price: US $62 for the T5
model, which includes a two-year, 50% deductible replacement policy if you lose
the hat or it's devoured by a Swiss mountain goat.
Look and fit: Distinctive,
with an appearance somewhere between an angler's hat and a safari hat. Available
in 13 sizes, and the head-measuring technique on the Web site worked for me.
Ease of care: Machine or
hand wash, air dry.
Special features: See above.
Tilley hats also have a lifetime guarantee against wear and shrinkage. ("Send us
the remains and we will replace it free.")
In a nutshell:
State-of-the-art head protection for spring, summer, and fall travel--and
possibly even for winter travel, if you aren't headed for Moscow or Duluth.
Order from:
Tilley Endurables, which has U.S.,
Canadian, UK, and international sites. Phone 1-800-363-8737, except in the UK.
Other review pages
for men's travel clothing
Photo: Copyright © Tilley
Endurables. Used by
permission.
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