Buy Columbia Men's Trail Dryer Hat (Omni-Freeze ZERO)

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List Price: $34.00
Sale Price: $30.00
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I originally criticized the hat I received for being a very different color than the hat depicted. Amazon has since responded by substituting the correct picture, so I have withdrawn my original review, and now comment on the merits of the hat itself. I am gratified that someone is listening, even if I did receive several rather nasty comments by people who disagreed with my review thinking it was directed at the corrected picture. If I'd known the picture were corrected, I would have withdrawn the negative review at that time.

First off, I now own two of these hats, one white the other mountain. The hats are of the highest quality, beautifully made, and fit most comfortably. Easily the best made golf or baseball style caps I have owned. I bought the second of the two hats for precisely these reasons. That said, I bought the first hat not for these reasons, they came as happy accidents, but rather to experience Columbia's terrific sounding Omni-Freeze Zero tech. Alas, the hats don't seem any cooler than other hot weather caps I own. And I suspect I might know why. I own several Columbia shirts that use the same Freeze Zero materials and they work amazingly well. Why not the hats? They key appears to be that the shirts are designed to assure the movement of air over the treated fabric and skin, and this fosters a marked cooling effect. In contrast, the hat band, where the same kind of fabric is located, is pressed up against the head so that no air can circulate between, which I can only assume inhibits a similar cooling. It is not that the fabric doesn't work, because it surely does on the shirts. This particular hat design is just not conducive to it. Great idea, but not completely executed. Hence one mark down. If you really want to see what this tech can do, buy the shirts.

Still, these are the best lightweight summer caps I have found and I am glad to have them. I hope Columbia keeps working on the hats; I have every confidence that if anyone can invent a chill chapeau, it is they. They exemplify the best in aggressive, creative, tech forward apparel engineering.

One more thing, when you are shopping you might want to keep in mind that Columbia has two different Omni-Freeze lines, the plain Omni-Freeze, which are normal fabrics designed to be cool, and the Omni-Freeze Zero, which has the little magic dots that react to sweat and really can get cooler when exposed to air. It can get confusing.

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I love the way it looks, and it's extremely comfortable on hot days. The fabric is solid, but extremely lightweight and breathable. The front panel is slightly reinforced to help hold its shape, and the bill is pre-curved and holds its shape well. My only complaint, and it's extremely minor, is that the sizing is somewhat small for those of us blessed with larger heads.

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I got this hat to test out Columbia's new Omni Freeze Zero material. This material is claimed to cool down when it comes into contact with moisture (sweat).

I was a little skeptical and was half expecting it to be a marketing gimmick. One thing of note is that the Omni-Freeze material is only contained in a small headband that circles the inside of the hat. The entire hat is not made up of this material.

This is fine for me as it's mainly my forehead that gets sweaty. The top of the hat is quite thin and well ventilated.

After a 5km run on a hot day the Omni Freeze was noticeably cooler to the touch than the rest of the material. Quite amazing really.

I'll probably pick up a shirt with the same technology.

Honest reviews on Columbia Men's Trail Dryer Hat (Omni-Freeze ZERO)

The fit and materials are excellent. Unfortunately, the hook portion of the Velcro on the adjustment strap faces towards the inside,and catches in your hair when you adjust the hat on your head, or remove it.

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While the hat has a simple elegant style and is lightweight, it appears to lack many of the properties it claims to advertise.

Now, I already had bought one Columbia Sportswear product before this one which has caused me great aggravation, both with the actual product and their approach to lifetime warranties. The only reason I went back is because the advertising of this products ability to cool on contact with sweat or water intrigued me. I was at the time dealing with a side effect which caused sweating, and thought this might help. Now I wasn't going to go all out and buy all their products with this feature because of my previous experience, so I figured I would buy their cheapest useful product and try it out. I knew that returning would be difficult if it failed or caused and any problems like the last product, but I was willing to take the loss if it could relieve some of the symptoms I was dealing with at the time.

Well luck would have it that after much testing in different conditions and situations, this product does not cool down. Period. It at times barely seems to do a good job of wicking away sweat. While you don't overheat in it like a regular baseball cap, it is no better than any other (cheaper) running cap or hat that does not claim to "cool" on contact with water. But of course, good luck getting help from their customer service about it.

In the end, I guess bought a nice looking runners cap, and if I can not return it fine, so be it. But at least my review may be able to prevent people from getting their hopes up.

Stay cool!