Report by Coy Starnes
The Tilley Fedora on the author
I have been a long time fan of the Fedora hat, long before the Indiana Jones movies made them so popular in America. I remember at a very young age looking at pictures of outdoorsman wearing this style of hat and in particular Fred Bear. So it is no surprise that I jumped at the chance to test a Fedora from a hat maker with a long history of making fine outdoor hats. However, this Fedora is the first hat from Tilley using the “age old tradition of blocking hats using presses and molds to shape the hat into a beautifully shaped fedora with heat and steam.”
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The Tilley Fedora has several features which make it very suitable as an outdoor hat. First is the fact that it is water resistant. The online manual states “The European fur felt is naturally water-resistant. If you are caught in the rain, the water will bead; give your hat a shake and the drops will fall off. If the water should penetrate into the felt, don’t despair! The fedora dries quickly, and the water leaves no marks. A quick brush with a soft-bristled brush when it’s dry will keep it looking as good as new.”
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It is also crushable and packable. And while I don’t plan to purposely flatten my hat, it is nice to know it will survive such treatment. If needed it could be packed inside a suitcase and all that is needed to bring it back to life is to re-shape it by hand. The manual goes on to say that is for some reason that does not do the trick then leave the hat in the bathroom while taking a hot shower and the steam from the shower will work its magic.
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I appreciate that the Tilley Fedora has ear warmer flaps built in so not only is the hat stylish, it is very practical in cold weather. And while I choose function over style, it is nice to be able to have both at the same time. In fact, I have only been wearing the hat for 3 days and it has already proven to be a good hat for cold windy conditions. Yesterday (December 24th) I was at work when a cold front started pushing through. The temperature was 50 F and we were under a high wind advisory all day. I had to go outside for about an hour when the winds were at least 20 mph sustained and I heard reports of 60 mph gust. All I know is that with the high winds it felt colder than 50 F usually does. I had the ear flaps pulled down, and while I think the hat would have stayed on without them, they really do secure the hat to my head, and I didn’t want to chance it blowing away before the new wore off.-
And speaking of blowing off, this leads to another great thing about Tilley hats. ”As are all Tilley Hats ‘The Tilley Fedora’ is insured against loss. If you do lose it, or the family dog destroys it, we’ll replace it within two years of the purchase date at half the current catalogue price, through our mail-order department or in our family-owned Toronto, Mississauga or Montreal stores.” And even more impressive is the lifetime guarantee which states “It is also guaranteed for life (yours, mine or its) not to fall apart. If it does, we will replace it FREE.”
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There is a secret pocket in the crown of the hat. I’m not sure if I will keep anything in it but Tilley used it to hold the feather they provide with the hat. Of course the owner does not have to use the feather but I have already put mine on and I think it looks good on the hat.
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I used the hat on a long walk today (December 25th) and was very pleased with it. It was not as windy today as yesterday, but it was colder at 38 F. I used the ear flaps nearly all the time and my ears stayed warm the entire hike. In fact, after covering 3 miles in a little over an hour and a half, my head did begin to sweat just a little, mostly because the last bit of my hike was uphill. I simply took the hat off long enough to fold the ear flaps up but I was not tempted to remove the hat for good. Then shortly after topping the mountain I pulled the flaps back down to finish the hike.
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The hat does sit a little lower on my head with the ear flaps deployed because when tucked away, they actually make up part if the inner lining around the inside of the hat. However, I still did not have any problem with the hat obstructing my view any more than most hats or even my ball caps I sometimes wear.
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Since I can’t wear my hat while sleeping…I need some kind of hat rack. For now I am storing the hat over a waded up tee-shirt. This keeps the brim of the hat up in the air slightly and since I didn’t see any tips on storing the hat, I think this is better than laying the hat down on a flat surface.
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That is all for now. Stay tuned for updates in the next few months and see how the Tilley Fedora performs as winter makes its presence felt.
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Update on the Tilley Fedora
February 10, 2010
Author wearing the Tilley Fedora on a cold snowy hike
It’s hard to put in words just how much I am enjoying wearing the Tilley Fedora. And I’m not just saying this because of feeling obligated to Tilley for letting me test the hat. I just know that it is excellent for cold weather, in fact, I’ve had to remove it a few times because I was getting too warm wearing it. It also works great in the rain and snow as I’ve worn it on several hikes when others hiking with me got their head/hair wet while mine remained dry (well except for my own sweat).
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And now for a few of the details. I really have lost track of how many times I’ve worn the hat because I’ve worn it just about every day since it came in late December of 2009. I have worn it on numerous day-hikes, to town, to work and just about every time I was headed outside for awhile. I know about the only time I didn’t wear it when going out somewhere was on a short overnight hike when I wore a bomber hat which I knew I would need later on while sleeping.
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On several of the day-hikes temperatures were in the low to mid 20s which is really about as cold as I want to be out in. Other hikes seemed just as cold when it was around 30 to 40 F but windy and sometimes raining or spitting snow. But regardless, when I pulled the ear flaps down my head and ears were well protected and stayed warm. I didn’t spend a lot of time sitting still other than on a few rest breaks, so I’m not sure how well it would keep me warm if just sitting around in the cold but I know it always felt just fine even when just getting started before I got my blood flowing good, and this is when I generally fell colder than after I’ve hiked a bit.
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On a lot of my hikes I am out for exercise so I am not just casually strolling along and did have to remove the hat several times to let my head cool off. And when the wind is blowing and it is below freezing this is not the most comfortable sensation. But it is not just a problem I have with the Tilley Fedora as I have the same problem with my boggins or even when not wearing a hat. At least with the Tilley, I could raise the ear flaps when I first started feeling a little warm and this was often enough to do the trick. I will say that when I had to remove (or should I say chose as I could have left it on), the hat, I was left with the predicament of where to carry it. I could have stopped an put it inside my fanny pack as squashing it is no big deal, but since I planned to put it back on shortly, I just carried it in my hand. A neck keeper strap might be worth adding if I were using trekking poles since I would not be exactly hands free to carry it as easily.
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Also, in the online care directions they mentioned not picking up the hat at the top. It pinches the felt together but I sometimes forget and just reach up and grab it there. So far I haven’t created a hole but I could see this happening after many many such lifts.-
I will close by mentioning the durability of this hat. When wearing it, it has not been subjected to all that much rough treatment, but I recall two occasions when I sat on the hat. Both times were when I drove my truck at night. When I arrived at church I would take my hat off and place it in the seat on the other side of my truck. On both occasions I drove to church by myself but met daughter who had hitched a ride with my dad. Anyways, she loves to drive my truck (it is a straight shift) so I let her drive it home. Only the overhead dome light does not work so I didn’t see my hat and forgot it was there. You would think that one time would be enough, but no, I did it twice. But the hat seems no worse for wear, or should I say getting sat on.
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That is all for now. Stay tuned for updates in about a month to see how the Tilley Fedora is holding up and performing.
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One last look at the Tilley Fedora April 13, 2010
Author enjoying a day of fishing with the Tilley Fedora providing shade
This hat has proven to be a winner in my book. I have continued to wear it a lot, especially when out hiking or kayaking. Since the hat is in the winter collection I have worn it during some pretty cold conditions and it did not disappoint me. However, since it is such a stylish looking hat, I wanted to see how it did in some much warmer weather, hoping it would be comfortable so I can continue to wear it this summer, especially when out on the lake in my kayak since I am so exposed to the sun. Just recently we have had a couple of days in the low 80s F, and while this is not what I consider hot weather, it did give me a chance to see how I liked wearing the hat on a fairly warm day. And unless I was really moving around a lot it was not all that bad. I wore it on 3 different fishing trips. On the last one the high was around 85 F and I never really started sweating. On a hike to the holler when the temperature was 82 F the hat was fine for the hike down to the creek but I did fell the hat was a bit much on the hike back up. But then again, there were times when it was on the mid 40s F when I also got hot wearing the hat coming back up the mountain side.
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I also got one last chance to test the ear flaps when I went fishing on a cold windy day. It was 39 F when I launched my kayak but I think the wind was blowing a constant 30 mph. The forecast was for 20 mph winds in the morning and then strong winds that afternoon. But on the ride over they radio was saying there were wind advisory’s on area lakes. In fact we discussed not going at all but decided not to waste the Saturday. It was an adventure just getting the kayaks down to the water. Then once out on the water I had to paddle as hard as I could to make any head way and it took 2 and a half hours to cover 3 miles. There were times when the wind would gust to near 50 mph and the brim on the hat was flapping at a high speed and I did not dare look up for fear the hat would blow off. We would paddle a little ways and find a little cove to dip in and rest for the next sprint. I say sprint because we were paddling so hard, not because we were moving very fast. Anyways, we were give out by the time we got to the turn around point. One of the paddlers did not have on any type of head gear and he said his ears were about froze. I forgot my gloves and my hands were really cold. I later heard on the news that some areas had reported 60 mph wind gust. I’ll stick with my 50 mph estimate as I’ve ridden in the back of a truck at both speeds and the winds felt more like 50 mph to me.
So there you have it. The Tilley Fedora is an awesome winter hat but it is not bad for milder weather as long as I am not really working hard…like fishing. And the ear flaps keep if from blowing off in some pretty strong winds.
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About the Author: I am from northeast Alabama where I spend a lot of my time divided among several hobbies that include backpacking and day-hiking, canoeing and kayaking, and just getting out enjoying nature.
