Top Rated: Beanies, Balaclavas & Caps for Dynamic Activities (Multiple)
Category: Headwear for Dynamic Activities
This review covers #2: a light split cap for hot summer conditions and an ensemble for active use in the cold; a far more thorny problem to solve as we outlined in our review of the now discontinued Bergans of Norway Varde Beanie:
"However, what we require from [headwear] intended for strenuous activity is a balancing act which is far harder to get right than the one-way street of providing as much warmth as possible. What we're after is something that will provide just enough warmth to prevent the wearer feeling uncomfortably cold (i.e. something to "take the edge off") whilst at the same time, will not cause the wearer to overheat and sweat profusely as "winter mountain trekking" begins to morph into something that looks suspiciously like mountaineering: carrying heavy loads on steep snowdrift covered slopes, over icy rock in white-out conditions with ice axe, crampons and goggles to the fore. In these conditions, ideally you don't want to get a sweat on. If such [headwear] can get this right, then it will also [likely] double as outright thermal protection for static use in less frosty climes. [Such headwear] in our experience, is a rare find."
That sums up the problem the first two items in this review are designed to solve; to offer just enough protection to keep you comfortably cool, but not so much that you over-heat.