Customer Reviews Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap

This is my third OR sunhat. In each case, I have added an elasticized chin strap to keep it on when I am kayaking in wind. That is really the only downside to this hat.

Great for the bald guys above tree line, running, and around the yard. Rivets for the buttons rusted to the buttons pretty quick probably due to sweat and released from the brim. I will be buying one more but hope button design/ metal used will change in the future.

light and cool

During a recent week-long climbing trip crossing glaciers in intense sunlight, this hat protected me well and fit comfortably under my climbing helmet when necessary.

This combo does a great job of providing me with sun protection when I need it, and a cool, lightweight head covering when I don't need the neck coverage. A different way of attaching the neck protector in the back would be more convenient (something like the snaps up front, as opposed to threading the slots through the adjustment strap).

Wish the neck guard was a little longer.

Great hat for Sun protection.

I recently returned from some exploratory mountaineering in Garwhal Himalaya where I protected myself from the intense UV rays with your Sun Runner Cap or SPF 50. An excellent bit of kit that did exactly what I bought it for however I have one comment/ suggestion regarding its design. The skirt (that was pretty much worn during daylight hours) may benefit from an adjustable cord at the back rather than the elastic strip. I confess I have a larger than average head but when the elastic was fully extended it still felt tight and often gave me a headache. Not ideal at altitude!

This gives excellent sun protection for head and neck that you can't get with even with wide-brim hats (especially the nape). If the extra detachable cover is wrapped around the face even the cheeks are protected. It turns into a nice and stylish looking cap without the drape.

Adapts to all conditions outside of winter. Light and functional. I only wish the brim was a bit softer.

This hat is great for preventing the sunburn which sneaks up on you when in the snow or on glaciers. It also shields yor eyes from snow glare, making sunglasses that much more effective in bright conditions. It is not hot, so works well in warm conditions. Packs up well and washes easily.

This hat is terrific, but it didn't work for my husband for sailing. He needs lots of visibility, and while the flaps protect they also block peripheral vision. If your activity does not require a lot of that then go for it. The hat quality is very good, including the attachment of the flap, important. The size chart did not point us to the right size. While he needed it larger, he also needed it to be tighter to stay on in the wind. Sadly it just did not work.

I like the cape but not the hat on it's own. the vent pieces are weirdly loose:floppy. ended up rigging a bit of shock cord between the snaps of the cape and can attach it to other hats now (kind of).

3

Pros: The cap fits well, and the sun protection coverage is perfect. Cons: This hat seems to trap heat, which leads to a lot of sweat. Copious sweat for me. Maybe it's designed better for dry desert climates, but for humid environments it's not suited well. The material doesn't absorb any moisture or sweat so it tends to pour from the brim line.

I really want to like this hat. All my OR gear is bomber. But, this hat misses the mark. As a hat itself, it is actually great...moves the overall score from a 2 to a 3. Good fit and nice dri-fit material. As a sun hat, the cape is unbelievably hot. I am in South Carolina and in summer humidity, it is an oven. It just locks in heat around your neck and lacks ventilation. The bill of the hat is also quite short and allows a fair amount of sun on your face. A bucket hat used in combination with a buff is far superior combination. The quality of the hat is great though.

A little wonky on, and felt kind of weird with the full cover. Hat by itself is cute

Please make this hat in an XS. I had one that I ordered years ago in a size small and just tried to replace it. I ordered 3 colors because I liked that hat so much. All 3 new hats are size small and all are too large on me now? The hat seems to be made differently than my previous one--the grey side panels seems a little too big for the hat? Hopefully you will add a smaller size in the future, or make the panels fit better for the size of the small hat. I am admittedly a petite woman. This hat used to be my holy grail but sadly, no longer.

I saw reviews last year when I bought it that said it did not breathe but I liked the concept enough to give it a try. Even though it has mesh sides, the hat itself does not breathe well. I can tell a noticable difference of heat vs cool with it on vs off. I live in low humidity environment and it still was too hot to keep the cape on. Likely going to find a new, more breathable hat for yard work

2

this hat put me on a fast track to overheating. the cape does a good job of keeping the sun off, but it gets in your face, limits visibility, and doesn't breathe at all. installing or removing the cape is a huge pain involving the velcro fixture at the back. no way to store cape, so leave it at home if you aren't going to use it not a fan of the very rigid brim, but it's no big deal.

In my opinion,the Sun Runner Cap is an excellent concept but has some serious design flaws; the cord should be adjustable so the user can cover more of the lower half of their face if desired because every person's face has different dimensions even among users all wearing the same size hat. The cape itself should basically have a longer & wider circumference. All seams should be heavily reinforced. A removable decent sweatband would be a plus too. PLEASE, no Velcro. The Velcro closure on the back of the Sun Runner Cap got stuck, again, onto the gray fine soft netting vent that is on both sides. I am NOT reporting this new aggravation to OR; I give up. OR already gave me a partial refund for other damage. Very unhappy at this point. Wish I had returned everything instead of trying to make repairs. When the Velcro closure is adjusted to fit a person's head comfortably, exposed Velcro easily snares the netting, pulling fabric threads loose. The initial damage was that the thin black sweatband strip inside of the cap was separated and loose with a ton of threads sticking out everywhere due toshoddy sewing along the seam under the sweatband. I decided to sew it with hand stitches, took me forever. The front part of the cape does not cover my lower face very well because the string cord does not adjust after where it stops at the bottom of the cape; the cord closure should be adjustable to go up higher, as people's faces vary greatly in shape & size. The cap itself is mostly recycled nylon and the shell 100% polyester although an OR rep had simply told me the cap was nylon. Hand sewn stitches to make repairswas more time-consuming and difficult than anticipated. I then purchased an additional Removable Cape hoping to obtain more coverage and, it arrived with a tear along the bottom seam! Turned out that I actually had to sew the entire seam, not just the torn area, and it was quite difficult to do well making visible stitches with frayed, thin fabric.

Versatile design. Miss by CQ

Love the concept. Love the versatility. Be forewarned: I think this runs small. I'm a man with a small head and I'm halfway into the size small's range. Would be nice to have: A snap closure in front. The tied off cord makes this confusing to put on. Dealbreaker: I'm bald, a total cueball. The mesh panels make this hat a total non-starter, the sun just beats through it and sunburns your head anyway. They show the cape hiked up over the panels, but there's no keeping track of that in the field and it makes the cape length too short. OR: Make a non-mesh version! Or make a separate cape!

I've used the hat for a season now. The grey mesh fabric on both sides of the hat has pilled badly and the bill of the hat has a funky shape due, I think, to repeated cycles of wet/dry which explains why my wife bought me a new one for Christmas.