****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
As a Californian, it was a bit of shock to people when I propped this on my head today. Of course, there's a few "hey Indiana Jones" comments, a few western jokes, and the snarky "howdy" here and there. But considering how many of them know my personality, being a history/anthropology student, and liking western aesthetics, I consider them par for the course.By the time I sat down to offer a review for the hat, I realized "who cares it's a damn good hat" and a damn good hat it is. I fumbled between grocery store/gas station/hardware store sun hats through the years and there's always some problem with them. Too tight, can't withstand an occasional burst of wind, mishappen, or flat out a pain in the butt to clean. But after wearing the hat today, taking it on and off, at a relatively "decent" weather of 76 degrees, it felt incredible by comparison.The hat has a natural but slight curve despite the radius being consistent from the front and sides. The mesh feels really good to the touch, and there's a nice "shield" just above the brow that gives the some additional sun protection for the front of your head as well as masking some of the holes for visual purposes.If you do your job at home and measured your head right, you might not need the complimentary sizing bands. However, I can tell this might "breath out" over time, which is to be expected. It, simply, was the best fitting hat I've ever enjoyed and this is coming from a lot of years wearing baseball flex-fit caps too, where sometimes you can't get **exactly** the right fit which can lead to a lot of fiddling through the day. But this? Hardly needed to adjust it and it was brutally pleasant to experience.The hat gives very ample production without being overkill to protect your head, face, and neck from the sun and the mesh does actually do its job in giving enough ventilation to allow the natural airflow cool your hair/scalp. This was arguably the best part of the hat, because from all my time looking into "what western-styled hats would be worn in the heat" its between straw (which isn't my style) and something like this. It gives the aesthetics of a felt hat with all the perks of being a straw hat and it's (again) a pleasure to wear.As far as cleaning goes, based on how I feel with the sweat band, a little distilled vinegar and the occasional baking soda brushing should keep the stink and oils off, especially if you aim to wear this daily.I know this review was only given after a day, but, I notice with clothes you sorta "know" if it'll fit in your arsenal of clothes and it certainly does.Thanks for taking the time to read this review and I hope this hat serves you well, if you choose to buy it. As I said in the title... this might become a hole in my pocket in the near future. Bravo Barhma!
