I have a confession: I care about how I look while running. I’m a style disaster in any professional setting but will suffer for fashion on the trail. That’s why I’d rather cramp up from lack of water (like I did last year during the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon) than wear a running vest or belt. I’ve been known to wear chafe-inducing cotton shirts because a teenager once heckled me about a tight, shiny synthetic top.
I’ve also sworn off the nerdy, lightweight, tight-fitting, moisture-wicking run-specific hats and have instead opted for a trucker. Now, I consider hats essential, as I’ve spent too many years as a raft guide under the blazing sun. That, plus I hate getting sunscreen in my eyes. But hats tend to have a few inherent issues: They fight the sun but don’t breathe well, they don’t prevent forehead sweat from dripping into my eyes, and they’re ugly.
Over the past couple years, I’ve gone through a number of trucker hats—including an MSR promotional hat that had “Wanna Spoon?” on the panel—but by far the best one I’ve ever tried is .
This hat, which I’ve used nonstop for the past eight months, has all the style of a trucker with some smart technical details. For starters, a purpose-built wicking sweatband keeps my eyes sweat-free, even when I’m running on stupid-hot 90-degree days. The band is twice as thick as what you’d find in a normal cap and absorbs, then wicks, all the water coming out of my pores.
Unlike normal trucker hats with solid, not-very-breathable front panels, the Trail comes with a perforated panel with holes so big I can stick my pinky through them. Out back is regular mesh. Combined, all those breathability features make for a hat that vents like a cheese grater when I run. There’s constant airflow.
The Trail is also comfortable for long stretches at a time, thanks in large part to its flexy bill. This might seem like a minor detail, but it creates a lot less pressure on my forehead than a rigid bill, so I can stand to wear the hat for the time it takes to run a 50K.
The only two downsides are price and bacteria buildup. The thick headband can get funky: I have to be careful to hang the hat in in the sun after a long run, and maybe (gasp!) hand-wash it occasionally. And at $30, the Trail is at the top end of the trucker hat market and probably costs five times what you’d pay for a gas station option. But compared to other pieces of gear—like, say, your pricey shoes—it’s a reasonable investment. Sometimes you have to pay the price for looking good.