Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat Review

Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat is a sun hat with a wide brim and a neck cape to protect your neck from the sun and a UPF rating of 50+. It has many great features to recommend including a unique sunglasses holder, but for me, the best and most unique feature is that it folds compactly so I can easily stow it in my pack.

Specs at a Glance

• Weight 2.6 ounces
• Gender: Unisex
• Brim size: front 3 ¼”, back 6”
• Material: nylon & polyester
• Ultraviolet Proof Rating (UPF) 50+
• Sizing: S/M 21 ¾-23” and L/XL 22 ¾-24 ¼”
• Lifetime guarantee

Not all fabrics and colors shield you from the sun equally. Dark or bright colors absorb Ultraviolet (UV) rays and keep them from reaching your skin. There’s a bit of a trade-off here since light colors will reflect some light and therefore could feel a little cooler. Densely woven fabrics are more protective than thin or loosely woven or knit fabrics. If you can see through the fabric, then UV radiation can also get through. Many clothing items with a UPF rating are chemically treated with UV absorbers or dyes to prevent some UV penetration.

The Ultra Adventure Hat gets its UPF rating from how tightly woven the fabric & mesh is. Sunday Afternoons says that any of their hats marked with UPF 50+ have been tested and passed rigorous standards (ASTM test standard D6544) to qualify as 50+ UPF. They stress that it is important to follow the care instructions in order to retain as much of the UPF rating as possible. Their fabrics are also rigorously tested by independent 3rd party labs.

I’ve had and enjoyed another Sunday Afternoons hat for many years for paddling, but it’s a little bulky. For hiking above treeline, I really wanted something with good coverage that would also fold up and fit easily in a pack. The Ultra Adventure Hat fulfills this need wonderfully. There is a fold line in the front of the brim which allows for folding it inside out. This yields a package about 10”x5” by about 1 ½” thick. I can store it in the top or back pocket of my pack for easy access.

There are breathable side panels and a wicking interior sweatband. The side panels are not incredibly breathable but this is not a deal-breaker for me. There is a wide, comfortable lanyard with a cord lock that goes under your chin to keep the hat from blowing off in the wind. If it’s really windy, you need to cinch this pretty tight but that’s true of any hat.

An interesting feature are the sunglasses sleeves for stowing shades on the front of the hat. It takes a little fiddling to get them in while wearing the hat, but sunglasses are relatively secure when stored there. None of my packs go high behind my head, so I don’t have a problem with brims hitting my packs. However, if that is a problem for you, the Ultra Adventure, with its floppy neck cape, would leave any hat/pack interactions less noticeable.

The Ultra Adventure comes in 2 sizes, S/M and L/XL and the fit is adjustable with a pull tab on the back. Although it is a unisex hat, there are a variety of colors sure to please anyone.

Recommendation

I’m not really a hat person, but out of deference to my dermatologist, I try to be diligent with my sunscreen and sun-shielding. I recently wore this hat for a full day above treeline and it performed very well. It was comfortable, it didn’t blow off, and the coverage was great. I did not apply sunscreen from the neck up and had no sunburn. Overall, I’m very happy with the Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat. The only thing that keeps me from calling it perfect is the lack of a hole in the back to accommodate a ponytail. I just tuck my hair completely into the hat instead. The foldability more than makes up for this missing feature.

Disclosure: The author owns this hat.

About the author

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