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The Best Sun Hat for Hikers

By Liz Thomas
Updated
The Best Sun Hat for Hikers
Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Any time you recreate outside—on the trail, in a canoe, or just in your own backyard—you should protect your skin from the sun, and that includes the skin on your head and neck.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

This hat with UPF 50+ fabric is so airy and lightweight, you could easily forget you’re wearing it, which means you’re more likely to leave it on your head.

Also great

This fishermen’s hat that combines UPF 50 fabric, a 3-inch brim, and a sweatband was among the most breathable we tested, though it offers less coverage than our top pick.

Also great

Great for golfers, horseback riders, and walkers, this is a good (though pricey) option if you’re working up a sweat, but not hoofing it up a mountain all day.

After interviewing three dermatologists, an ultra-runner, and four ultra-hikers, and field-testing for a total of 200 hours, we’re convinced the sun hat that works best is the one you’ll actually wear.

A unanimous favorite among our testers, the Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat provides the best balance of coverage and breathability, and is unobtrusive enough that you can forget you have it on.

Our pick

This hat with UPF 50+ fabric is so airy and lightweight, you could easily forget you’re wearing it, which means you’re more likely to leave it on your head.

The Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat provides breathability, venting, and packability yet is comfortable enough that you won’t mind wearing it. This design combines the best features of the previous model and improves on them, offering lighter fabrics (that are still UPF 50+) and a slimmer silhouette.

We had to remove other hats to see when navigating snow-covered mountain passes, but the clamshell brim on the Ultra Adventure stops just before the ear, balancing coverage with visibility.

The brim also stays rigid in the wind—protecting the face from the sun even during gusts. When the breeze picks up, you won’t lose it, thanks to adjustable sizing and a good chin strap.

Designed with holes to hold sunglasses plus reflective tape for low-light situations, it also packs down easily for travel and retains its shape afterward.

Also great

This fishermen’s hat that combines UPF 50 fabric, a 3-inch brim, and a sweatband was among the most breathable we tested, though it offers less coverage than our top pick.

Our testers unanimously applauded the Columbia Bora Bora II Booney for its breathability, which makes sense as it has the most generous mesh venting of anything we tested. It kept our heads cooler than other hats, both in the field and in a controlled test. For a sun hat that falls higher on the style spectrum than most others we looked at, it offers a good amount of coverage, including UPF 50 fabric. However, its brim is shorter than our top pick’s and it has no skirt, meaning your neck will be exposed. An adjustable neck strap and crown kept it on our heads when the wind picked up. In airplanes and at night when you don’t need it, the Columbia crams down to a minimal size in your pack.

Also great

Great for golfers, horseback riders, and walkers, this is a good (though pricey) option if you’re working up a sweat, but not hoofing it up a mountain all day.

The Tilley LTM6 Airflo is constructed with UPF 50+ fabric designed to keep your face and neck protected, and is especially good-looking. This durable, Canadian-designed hat also has a higher quality of craftsmanship (evidenced by the hand-sewn lock-stitching) than other hats we tested plus a firm brim that doesn’t lose its shape in wind or when compacted. The only drawback is that all this style comes at a price.

I’m an avid long-distance hiker with over 16,000 miles covered on long trails. I once held the women’s unassisted speed record on the Appalachian Trail (2,185 miles from Georgia to Maine) and each year spend two to five months backpacking. I also teach Backpacker Magazine’s online Thru-hiking 101 class.

For this piece, we consulted with three dermatologists certified by the American Board of Dermatology to answer questions about sun exposure, what makes a great sun hat, and design features that make one hat better than another.

Lastly, we asked five outdoor athletes about the difference between a hat that looks good in the store and a hat that actually works in the field, including ultramarathoner David Jared and long-distance hiker and ultra-runner Lint Bunting. Jared, a runner and ultramarathoner based in Texas, runs long races with heat-themed names—such as the Jalapeño Half Marathon, Wildlfire Half Marathon, and Habanero Hundred—and typically trains 25 to 40 miles per week in 90- to 100-degree Fahrenheit full-sun temps. Bunting has over 20,000 miles of hiking on his shoes, including walking the Triple Crown (the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail) three times—which requires hiking across New Mexico and Southern California. He has also walked across Arizona.

Whether you’re running, hiking, backpacking, rafting, golfing, or just taking the dog for a walk, you are exposing yourself to ultraviolet radiation. Every dermatologist we interviewed warned that even during winter or on overcast days, UVR (ultraviolet radiation) hits the earth, and thus, you.

Health educator Lisa Quale of the University of Arizona Skin Cancer Institute mentioned in an email that “the face, tops of the ears, neck, chest, hands, and arms are some of the most common sites for skin cancer.” She suggested sunhats should be seen as just one part of your defensive lineup. In addition to wearing a sunhat, avoid the sun during peak times, wear clothing with high UPF fabrics and full coverage, wear sunscreen, and use a sun-shading umbrella.

Bad news if your excuse is that you have a great “base tan”—board-certified dermatologist and author of Asian Beauty Secrets: Ancient and Modern Tips from the Far East Dr. Marie Jhin warns us a base tan is just a sign that your cells are trying to protect themselves from further injury. She told us a so-called base tan “provides a sun protection factor (SPF) of 3 or less, and anything under SPF 15 provides inadequate sunburn protection.” Board-certified dermatologist Dr. D’Anne Kleinsmith put it more bluntly: “There is no such thing as a good tan.”

sun-hats-testing-group

We spent 15 hours reviewing sunhat guides and customer reviews, interviewing dermatologists, and reviewing scientific literature on sun exposure for outdoor athletes. Based on this information, we developed criteria (in bold below) to judge our picks.

Sun protection is the reason anyone would choose to wear a sunhat, but it’s not as straightforward as measuring inches covered by the hat. Quale noted that a good sunhat should be made of fabric with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating of at least 30. These fabrics have a very tight weave that prevents most of the ultraviolet radiation from getting to your body—even when the fabric is wet (or sweaty), which can pull fibers apart and expose the body to more ultraviolet radiation.

For hikers, mountaineers, or anyone recreating at altitude, ultraviolet radiation is going to be higher than for those playing beach volleyball. Dr. Jhin explained that the higher the elevation, the closer people are to UVA and UVB rays—the kind that cause sunburn, skin damage, and skin cancer. “The more exposure to these dangerous rays, the higher the risk,” she warned, noting, “I see a lot of airline pilots who are exposed to the rays in the air and get more skin cancer.”

Sun exposure can occur from above, but also from rays reflected from the ground, even in areas that may be shaded from trees. Water, sand, rock, concrete, and snow have higher reflection rates than other surfaces, which is of note to rafters, runners, climbers, and anyone on the snow. She also mentioned that a dark-underside brim can prevent further facial exposure.

Every outdoor athlete we interviewed told us that breathability and venting were the most important factors in determining whether they wore their hat or carried it balled up at the bottom of their pack. Ultramarathoner Jared told us that, as an active person, “I’m generating so much heat it can get to a point where I’ll want to take the hat off. It won’t do me any good in my hand and not on my head. If [the hat is] more breathable and letting some of that heat get away then I’ll be able to wear it longer.” We picked hats that featured highly breathable fabric and that also allowed heat to escape from the head through strategically placed vents.

We initially thought coverage was the most important factor to look for in a hat, but in our first hours of field testing, it was clear that our winner would be a sunhat whose coverage didn’t trump visibility. The hats with the most coverage give you a view of your feet—and that’s it. They work like blinders leaving the wearer with tunnel vision. But being able to see—to navigate, avoid rocks and wildlife (and the scariest encounter of all—motor vehicles), and otherwise enjoy nature is essential.

We tried to not let fashion sway us too much, but ultimately, comfort and stylishness are going to be a factors in determining if you will keep the hat on your head (or buy it in the first place). Comfort includes fabric feel, weight, fit, and adjustability. It also includes if flaps, Velcro, strings, or cinches rub against the body or hang annoyingly. Jared warned first-time sunhat buyers that “It’s easy to think that any hat will do, but I’ve learned that finding the right hat for you can be as difficult as finding the right shoe. Just make sure it’s comfortable and match[es] the conditions you’ll be facing.”

Sunhats can be pricey. That’s one reason why lifespan—including durability and warranties—were important to our decision-making. In particular, we were interested in how well a hat and its brim would hold up to an outdoor lifestyle. We investigated if the hat would maintain its original shape after being crushed or jammed into a stuff sack, the bottom of a backpack, or check-in on a long flight. We also wanted to determine the crushability of a hat and if seams would hold up to the abuse. In addition, losing a hat every time the wind picks up is a losing proposition for your long-term skin care. We chose hats with cinches, neck straps, and dongles that helped keep all hat parts attached in a breeze.

 

outdoor-hats-ireland-testing
Photo: Elizabeth Thomas

We tested hiking sun hats in two specific situations: in sunny, high-altitude desert and mountain passes, and also during overcast conditions (our dermatologists warned us that burns are almost as likely to happen on cloudy days as when the sun is out). Our six testers (three men, three women) took the hats on at least one 4-hour day hike at altitude (between 7,000 and 12,500 feet) in California and Colorado, totaling 100 hours of time that the hats were worn. The hikes included:

  • California Riding and Hiking Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, California: A desert park the size of Rhode Island, it encompasses parts of the Mojave and Colorado deserts.
  • San Jacinto Mountain, California: This almost-11,000-footer features altitude, wind, and Palm Springs-esque desert terrain.
  • Ptarmigan Pass, Colorado: This high-altitude pass offers high winds and above-treeline sun exposure.
  • Nancy Pass/Fancy Pass Loop, Colorado: These two high passes required some navigation through the snow, making them perfect to test visibility.
  • Hanging Lake and Booth Falls, Colorado: Short day hikes that gain elevation quickly and can get warm, making them ideal to test breathability.

Additionally, two testers (one man, one woman) took the hats on a 100-mile backpacking trip of the West Highland Way in Scotland—the perfect place to test hats in serious wind. Testing the hat in cloudy weather ended up being a good way to determine if a hat really was comfortable, as it had to be really wearable because most of the time we felt like we didn’t need it (even though we knew we did).

sun-hats-melon-testing
We measured internal temperature of each melon after 6 hours in the sun. Sure enough, hats with more coverage keep “melon heads” cooler. Photo: Elizabeth Thomas

In the “lab” at home, we tested the hats side by side in semi-controlled conditions. We predicted hats that offer better coverage will keep your head cooler. Using honeydew melons, a kitchen thermometer, and a lot of patience, we tested the internal temperature of 10 similarly sized, shaped, and weighted honeydew melons every hour over 6 hours in the Southern California heat. Each 8-pound “melon head” wore one sunhat from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. in full-sun ambient temps ranging from 88 to 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Eighty pounds of warm honeydew melon later, there was a noticeable difference in the internal temps of the melon heads that wore hats with great coverage vs. those that wore hats with so-so coverage.

sun-hat-our-pick-sunday-adventure
Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Our pick

This hat with UPF 50+ fabric is so airy and lightweight, you could easily forget you’re wearing it, which means you’re more likely to leave it on your head.

The Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat is an improvement on a model that was already a favorite (a former top pick in our beach guide). It has higher vents and UPF 50+ mesh, something the previous model lacked. It provides full coverage, but still lets you see where you’re going, and is lightweight enough you actually leave it on. It’s packable and durable, and will stay on your head in the wind, too.

The hat’s “skirt” should safely cover the back of your neck. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

The light fabric provides UPF 50+ sun protection. It doesn’t get many style points, but one tester commented that it was so comfortable she “almost forgot” she was wearing it. And that’s the important part. It also has an adjustable cinch at the crown that allowed testers of multiple sizes to wear it securely, as well as a chin strap that holds it down in the wind.

Great coverage means a cooler head. The Ultra Adventure has a 3¼-inch clamshell brim and a flowing flap/neck skirt that provides ample coverage of the face, ears, neck, and upper shoulders. The stiff brim provides protection even in the wind, and extends to the ears, protecting them while also giving the wearer plenty of side vision for navigating and spotting wildlife.

It’s also a clear winner for packability and durability. The flexible fabric folded down in a stuff sack when flown across the country multiple times. Unlike other hats we tested, when we took it back out, it retained its original shape and didn’t appear crinkled or sloppy. We didn’t notice any durability issues, but should you have a problem, Sunday Afternoons will repair or replace any hat with a manufacturing defect for life, or otherwise repair the hat at minimal cost.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Though the Ultra Adventure Hat was among the more breathable of the models we tested, our flap-free pick, the Columbia Bora Bora II Booney, offered more ventilation. When there was a breeze, our testers thought that the airflow to the head on the Ultra Adventure Hat was fine, however they agreed that more mesh and side vents would be an improvement.

sun-hats-sunday-columbia-bora-bora
Photo: Caleigh Waldman

Also great

This fishermen’s hat that combines UPF 50 fabric, a 3-inch brim, and a sweatband was among the most breathable we tested, though it offers less coverage than our top pick.

It offers less sun protection than our top pick, but the Columbia Bora Bora II Booney has more ventilation and is arguably more stylish than our top choice. The brim is shorter—2½ inches versus the 3¼ inches found on the front of the Ultra Adventure Hat. Although both hats are made of UPF 50 fabric, the lack of skirt means lower cheeks, sides of the face, and long noses do not get the same coverage. Nonetheless, our testers were crazy about a thick layer of mesh that wraps around almost the entire crown of the hat, providing superior ventilation. Any remaining sweat was wicked away by a thick sweatband that dries quickly.

sun-hats-sunday-columbia-bora-bora
A cinch around the crown will keep it on in the wind. Photo: Caleigh Waldman

One thing we don’t like about this hat is the lack of a rigid brim. In the wind, the floppy brim flies up against the forehead, exposing the nose to sun rays.

Also, although this hat has the best packability of those we tested, it retained wrinkles longer than many of the other hats and took longer to regain a normal-looking hat form. One discontented REI reviewer described it as the “big floppy hats old women wear at the beach (think lady whose kid got eaten in the original Jaws).”

Also great

Great for golfers, horseback riders, and walkers, this is a good (though pricey) option if you’re working up a sweat, but not hoofing it up a mountain all day.

The Tilley LTM6 Airflo Hat looks great, and if that’s the motivating factor needed to keep a hat on while outside, that’s good enough for us. The nylon and spandex fabric is rated to UPF 50+, and it’s more structured than our other picks, which means it’s not as packable—folding it can cause creases that won’t go away. To test that, we stuffed it into a bag for a cross-country flight, and were pleased to find that it still looked pretty good on the other side, but we can see how folding and cramming it into a tight space could ruin the shape, so if you need something packable go with one of the two top picks. The Tilley’s brim is not adjustable, so you’ll need to measure your head and select the perfect size when ordering. The upside is that you’ll get a perfect fit, and it should feel comfortable and secure on your head. There is a chin strap to cinch the hat down in wind. Its major drawback is its price tag: $99 for a hat that offers less coverage than our pick, which costs less than half as much. Tilley does offer a lifetime warranty on this hat, though you must register yours within 60 days of purchase for the warranty to take effect.

Another drawback is that the Tilley’s ventilation couldn’t compare with that of our top picks, so if you’re going to be out for long periods of time in hot conditions, you might start to sweat.

Is there really a reason to pay nearly $100 for a Tilley hat when a 97¢ baseball cap from Home Depot works, too? Quale said if you’re choosing between baseball cap or no hat at all, “something is better than nothing.” But you can do better.

Dr. Kleinsmith warned that baseball caps “do nothing to protect the ears and sides of the face and neck.” It’s one reason she finds that “men in particular get a lot of skin cancers on their ears.” The trendy trucker could be even worse for sun protection than a baseball cap. “Mesh fabrics allow more damaging UVR to pass through,” advised Quale. Instead, she recommended choosing a hat with special UPF fabric, which is woven tightly to keep more UV rays out.

If you really want to use the ballcap you have lying around, pay attention to color. If you have a hat with a UPF rating of 30 or more, the color should not matter, but if it doesn’t have a rating, “As a general rule, darker colors are more sun protective due to their ability to absorb UVR before it reaches the skin,” said Quale. “Light colors let more UVR pass through (think of dark drapes vs. light drapes).”

You can even get a sense for how much light can filter through your hat: “Hold the hat up to the light. If you can see a lot of light through it, choose a darker hat with a tighter weave.”

If a ballcap or trucker is still all you’ve got, ultra-hiker and runner Bunting suggested tucking a bandana in the back to “create a little cape for [the] neck and ears.” This system has the benefit of being highly adaptable depending on heat and tree coverage, as well as giving the option to “dunk the bandana in streams to allow the moisture to evaporate and keep [you] cool.”

Neither the REI Paddler’s Hat nor the Sunday Afternoons Derma Safe hats breathed as well as the Ultra Adventure or the Bora Bora II Booney. Both have also since been discontinued.

Kavu Chillba: The Chillba came out second on the melon test—keeping melon heads up to 10 degrees cooler than its counterparts. We also found it more stylish than other hats and loved that it could moonlight as a chip bowl. But it was bulky and harder to travel with than other options. Trail runners found it less secure than other hats—the one-size-fits-all fastener on the inner skullcap didn’t prevent the brim from catching the wind and inverting. Given that its design seems to be inspired by southeast Asian conical hats, as an Asian American wearing this hat—this is real—it prompted racist remarks from passersby.

Outdoor Research Sun Runner: Though our testers frequently received compliments from other folks on the trail about this hat’s color and innovative design, they all found this hat’s fabric too hot and not breathable enough to use. Indeed, the melon head wearing the Sun Runner was up to 8 degrees warmer than its counterparts. We interviewed two users who have hiked over 1,000 miles in their Sun Runners who reported the same problem.

Peter Grimm Sebastian Extra Wide Brim Lifeguard Hat: In the 1990s, this style of straw hat could be found on every beach in Southern California and can still be found in many a surf shop—and for good reason. Hands down, this hat offered the most protection of any that we tested. One tester noted that, “This brim is so wide, you could hike naked and not get an ounce of sun on your body.” (Side note: Sun exposure isn’t generally measured in ounces.) But if you wore it in the wind, it took off like a parasail. It also had some minor durability issues, could not fold down, and was a pain to transport on flights or on the back of your pack when you weren’t wearing it. Though we’d recommend this hat for gardening, sitting on the beach, or hanging out at the pool, it just doesn’t work for more active hobbies.

Washing your hat frequently will help avoid accumulation of sweat and associated salt that can deteriorate the fabric, permanently discolor your hat, and/or lead to rot (gross).

Never throw your hat in the wash. Instead, wash it by hand using cool water. You can use a gentle brush, like a soft toothbrush, and a mild dish soap to attack particularly difficult stains. Never use bleaches or fabric softeners, which may deteriorate some treatments in your hat.

When your hat is cleaned and still moist, reshape it, being careful to smooth out any wrinkles. Air dry.

  1. Lisa Quale, health educator at the University of Arizona Skin Cancer Institute, email interview

  2. Lint Bunting, long-distance hiker, email interview

  3. Dr. Marie Jhin, board-certified dermatologist and author, email interview

  4. Dr. D’Anne Kleinsmith, board-certified dermatologist, email interview

  5. Joe Jackson, What are the Best Sporty Sun Hats?, Outside, April 17, 2014

Meet your guide

Liz Thomas

Further reading

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