Manufacturers website: icebreaker.com
Manufacturers description:
Change your mind without changing hats. This double layered, double coloured, completely reversible hat keeps you warm while you’re looking hot.
SPECIAL DESIGN FEATURES
Bodyfit200 fabric
Double layer, reversible hat with self fabric lining in second colour
1cm (0.4ins) self binding on hem in main colour
We received one of the Pocket 200 hats in the Black/Horzon (blue) color.
Upon opening the package I immediately inspected it as I always do. Unlike the other Icebreaker items we received I found a few stray threads on the trim. These look to be from the start/finish of the stitching and not any sort of defect, so I simply trimmed them off with a lighter.
I could not resist and tried this hat on…that was a mistake. Now I am going to have to purchase one of these for myself. The fit was nice, and it was quite comfortable. I want one bad! I handed it to Grace and it fits her as well and she immediately fell in love with it. She wanted to wear it to school but I feared she would lose it, so told her she will need to wait, at least until we have gotten some good use out of it before I will risk her wearing it to school.
Update Jan 24 2012
Since receiving the hat Grace has not worn it quite as much as I expected she would. This is not due to any fault of the hat but of unfavorable conditions. We got teased by an early snowfall followed by some bitter cold but dry weather that kept us indoors much of the time. Since then the winter has been either unseasonably warm or bitterly cold and windy, and sadly still no snow since that first little tease.
Grace has worn the hat a few times to school, on a few runs (1-3 miles), a local after Thanksgiving “Turkey Trot 5K”, and on two family hikes to check the trail conditions at Snow Mt Ranch (still recovering from a nasty fire). In addition, I have worn the hat a few times for cold weather runs and on one backpacking trip.
Try as I might we really can’t find fault in this hat aside for one minor detail that I will mention below. The hat fits. It fits Grace, it fits Susan, and it even fits me! It fits snugly but not uncomfortably tight and it stays in place. The hat has been easy to care for. So far it has not gotten very dirty, but what little dirt it has picked up was easily brushed off. And despite spending much of its time balled up in a pack or draw, it still looks new. One thing I like about these hats is that they are reversible. The one we received is Black on one side and blue on the other. I have been planning to purchase one of these hats for myself in the cave/lava (gray/orange) because it would be nice to have the option of switching it to the orange side for times when I want to be more visible (e.g. hunting season). However, when I went to have Grace wear it with the Blue on the outside I realized that there is a tag sewed into one of the seams on that side that would stick out should it be worn that way. This was my biggest disappointment with the item until I noticed that the tags were sown to the trim of the hat separately from the seam. While most tags are sown into the seam, making it difficult to remove without risking damaging the garment once I realized these were sown in separately, I was able to use the tip of my knife to carefully sever the threads and remove the tags without any damage to the hat. Now it can easily be worn with the black or blue side out.
While the hat is warm in cold weather, one of the reasons I wore it for running is to see how it handles moisture. I found it did an excellent job at keeping me warm and dry despite working up a good sweat while running about 5 miles (up and down hills). On my backpacking trip, it was bitterly cold (getting down to around 12 F) so I wore it the entire trip, including to sleep in. It was very comfortable and I could when necessary I could pull it down to mostly cover my ears.
So it looks good (at least I think so), it fits well (fits everyone in the family), it is warm, and it handles perspiration well. What is not to like.
