What To Consider When Buying A Tilley Hat

I want to talk about the three main areas when considering a Tilley Hat. I’ll be using three styles of hats from my collection to demonstrate Build Quality, Sizing & Maintenance along with a few tips how to clean and wear your Tilley hat.

(Originally posted in Sept 2016)

TILLEY HATS ARE QUALITY BUILT

Yeah Tilley hats are expensive but they are quality made, look at my Tilley T3 Snap up hat

that is almost 12 years old! I’ve worn that hat around 200 days per year for a decade! Other than one stitch and some discoloration around the band, this hat looks as new as the first day I got it – and I’m not even the original owner!

ARE ALL TILLEY HATS STILL MADE IN CANADA?

Recently, Tilley has moved some of their production offshore where you’ll find mostly the nylon based hats are made outside of Canada, but the main hats like the T3 and the wool hats are still made in Canada. You can always check for each model on the Tilley website.

HOW TO SIZE A TILLEY HAT

Don’t try to size these like a baseball cap, it won’t work. Tilley hats are meant to be worn low & loose. Best bet is to consult their sizing chart on their website and pull out the measuring tape from the sewing kit in the house and measure your brow (just like you were to wear a bandana) and refer to the chart. If your size is half way or 3/4 of the way into a size, just go to the next size up.

Tilley LTM5

is a good example of a hat that is just a tad too small for the original owner who gave it to me. I like the Airflow mesh on this hat as it does a much better job at ventilation than the T3. Tilley’s Sizing Chart

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR TILLEY HAT & HOW TO WEAR A TILLEY HAT

If you wear your Tilley hat, you will need to wash it. Sweat is the enemy. Consider washing your Tilley hat 3-4 times a year. You can put it in the washing machine but just put in the kitchen sink with a few pinches of Oxy Clean and give it a good swish. After a few cold water rinces, hang it dry by putting a cylinder underneath it like a Pringles can.

My latest hat is the Tilley TMH55

– How I wear my Tilley hat is simple. I take the wind cord and size the back one so that it matches the radius of the hat and tuck in the front straps into the pocket. I never had to wear the front straps. If it gets windy, simply shorten the back strap so that it locks down your head like a baseball cap.

TILLEY HAT FOR COLD WEATHER

Tilley also offers wool hats for cooler weather. I recently got their Montana style hat for those months between November and April. Check out my post on the hat here.

WHERE CAN I BUY A TILLEY HAT NEAR ME

First stop on where you can find a Tilley hat is to lookup the store locator from the Tilley website. But it is not a complete listing, I’ve found that you can find a Tilley rack in these type of stores (I found my TMH55 at a Museum):

  • High End Visitor or Popular Tourist Gift Shops
  • Nature Museums
  • Outdoor Stores (Big Box & Independent)
  • Independent Fashion stores for Men
  • Hat Store for Men

If you certain of sizing, then ordering direct from the Tilley site is possible, I ordered my TWF1 hat direct. Another option is of course Amazon.


Posted

in

by