Topping it Off

As I've mentioned before, sun protection is awfully important down here in the land of depleted ozone. And of course, proper sun protection must include covering your head! For the past 9 years, my options in the sun hat arena have been a Gore-tex wide-brimmed hat that works for both sun and rain in theory, although in reality it's way too hot for a sunny day, and a baseball cap which provides less protection and which I too often find myself chasing down after a gust of wind catches it.

So I've been keeping an eye out for a good, lightweight hat that I can use in the sun. One that blocks the UV rays, shades my face and neck, and can easily be folded up and crammed into a corner of my backpack.

Last weekend, I finally found a hat! (Pictured above, of course.) As we were visiting Bivouac to pick up some extra cans of stove fuel for our trip to the South Island, I started randomly sifting through the pile of hats for sale. I tried on a few styles. One had a ridiculously wide brim (although in a pinch I guess it could double as an emergency shelter!), another had a smaller brim, but no chin string to keep it from blowing away. Another was too heavy, like my current hat.

Finally I came across one that seemed to fit my criteria. Lightweight fabric, good brim, string around the chin, adjustable band. It came in three sizes, and several colours, so I was digging through the hats to find which size fit me best.

At this point, G came over to find me standing there with an armful of hats. "How many of those are you planning to buy?" he asked me, all snarky-like. I didn't miss a beat, "One in each colour!"

In the end, I went home with this delightful pink number, by Outdoor Research. After all, just because I'm being practical doesn't mean I can't do it in style!