GADIEMKENSD Mens Folding Outdoor Hat Long Brim UPF 50+ Sun Protection

I bought two of these hats, light gray and dark gray, specifically for running. I was looking for a hat that was light-weight and gave great ventilation while protecting from a strong and direct sun on my, unfortunately, 60+ year-old hair challenged areas. This is the perfect hat. My rating of this hat is based upon (1) its construction, and (2) if it accomplishes my goals. First, the construction. I’m usually very skeptical about buying items on line because of concerns for quality in fabrication. None of that here. I checked every seam and stitch and it was flawless. I should note that the fabric used is very pliable, so it’s not stiff like it appears in the picture, and it seems to be a quality fabric. I was intrigued by the folding option of the hat. It folds up as advertised, yet I’m not sure how many times it can be folded before the reflective rim (which is a firmer fabric) will begin to crack at the folds. Time will tell on this, but unless absolutely necessary, I won’t be folding up the hat to put it in my go-bag anyway. The hat’s bill is a full inch longer (4″) than the standard bill on most ball caps (3″). This gives the hat sort of a “duck-bill” look, but more shade for my more-prominent-than-most nose can’t be bad. One thing that would be nice is a logo of some sort on the hat’s face. The hat is very plain looking except for the reflective accessory (which goes around the bill, and a thin line of it that goes underneath the ventilation areas and across the top of the hat’s face), and a different colored ventilation fabric. But because I’ve always been more into functionality than appearance, I’m not disappointed in the hat’s look. Second, does it accomplish my goals — PERFECTLY. Living in a higher heat-area of the country, I routinely run 9-11 miles in the sun and 90 degree+ heat. My trial run with the hat was a 10-miler in 94 degree heat. In the run I immediately noticed that I wasn’t sweating from my head as much, and my head, itself, felt much cooler. With other hats I would have to take the hat off and run a bit to cool off, and especially if I could get in to some tree shade. Not with this hat. I sensed no need to take it off at all. And now that I think about it, I believe I consumed less water during the run because I didn’t feel so dehydrated. I think the design of the hat’s head band is smart, as it seems to wick the sweat from the band and into the hat’s fabric. In my run I soaked the hat’s fabric pretty good, including the ventilation fabric. Yet, I sensed that the moisture in the hat’s fabric might have been working as part of the hat’s cooling system. Now, I’m not a scientist in these things, but I can report that my head was significantly cooler during my run. And the fact that the longer bill gave greater shade to my face adds to my satisfaction. Lastly, the hat is hand-washable, so all that sweat it collected won’t be distracting fro the hat’s basic look. All-in-all, I give this hat 5 stars in both quality of fabrication, and also performing to my expectations.