Columbia Unisex Bora Bora Booney Booney Hat

Product Information

The retro style continues with a chin strap that can be worn loose or tied up if it's a little breezy out. The Sun Hat: This hat boasts a wide brim to protect you from the sun, and it’s especially useful for hikes without much natural shade. It usually has a chin strap. Really cute and great quality material', says one five-star review. How much are the best sun hats for women? Travel Insurance: We don’t travel without travel insurance and neither should you. You never know what can happen while traveling so it’s best to be prepared. HeyMondo provides excellent short-term and long-term travel insurance plans.

To find the best hiking hats, we spoke with Dr. Hadley King, M.D.,dermatologist at Dr. Hadley King Dermatology, Dr. Erum Ilyas, M.D.,dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group, Justin Rimon,outdoor guide and founder of Just Trek, Alicia Filley, PT, MS,physical therapist and hiking guide, and Michele Stanten, ACE-GFI, walking coach, running coach, and group fitness instructor. King and Ilyas walked us through the basics of sun protection, helping us narrow down which hiking hats had enough UPF protection. Rimon and Filley provided their expertise on other features hiking hats need, like durability, comfort, and fit. Stanten explained how these features can translate to a better hiking experience out on the trail. This is hands down our favorite hat for kids because it's comfortable, looks good, and is very protectiveThe Kids' Play Hat is close to perfect, but it's not quite. It has a very rigid brim, which is great for protection. However, that rigidness in the brim carries inside to where the hat meets the head. This is less comfortable than some hats with a softer brim. Also, this doesn't have a liner, which would have made it even more comfortable than it already is. Overall, this is a great hat and a favorite among all our testers, both kids and adults. Unlike safari clothes or safari boots, we would say everyone needs a hat when on safari. Especially in East Africa! Most people coming on safari are from more Northern climates away from the equator and are unaware of the sun’s damage around Africa. The sun near the center of the earth is intense and can leave you sunburned in a matter of minutes. Safari Pants: We recommend neutral-colored pants as they’re great at hiding dirt and can match most shirt colors. Not only does a sun hat provide much-needed shade from the strong rays of the sun, but many fabrics are treated with UPF which protects your skin from ultraviolet rays. This hat wins our Editors' Choice for Technical Use for being the highest performing and most versatile of the bunch

In addition to the sun, many hiking hats can also protect you from other elements. On hot days, Rimon and Filley recommend a sun-protective hat that’s breathable to prevent you from overheating. In the rain, Rimon advises wearing a hat with a waterproof Gore-Tex shell. And on windy days, he recommends a hat with an adjustable chinstrap to keep it from blowing away. During colder months, an insulated hat with sun protection will keep you shielded from the weather. And if you’re worried about bugs, look for a hat finished with a bug-repellent treatment, like Outdoor Research’s Bugout Brim Hat. Gore-Tex is a thin layer of Teflon in-between layers of nylon and polyurethane. When added to fabric, it becomes waterproof. Gore-Tex is also lightweight and breathable, so the waterproof shell doesn’t make this hat any less comfortable. It’s still lightweight, foldable, and easy to toss in your bag. And even though it's designed without any air vents, it won’t trap sweat and heat when you wear it. Cotton may be comfortable and stylish, but it absorbs sweat and doesn’t breathe very well in hot climates. Cotton can still work for you, but I’d look another direction if you tend to break a significant sweat while you hike. As such, I’ve only included a few cotton hats in this post.What you wear on your head says a lot about you. I had my idea of what the perfect safari cap would look like, and I was set on finding the perfect fit.