Tula Hats

We all know the importance of protecting your skin from the sun.  Especially out here in Texas.  One of the best things you can do for sun protection is to cover up.  I do use sunscreen (but I don't like it, especially not on my face), and I would never advise against someone using it.  But, there are other thing that I do to help with sun protection.  The best thing I do to protect my head, face and neck, from the sun is to wear a hat.  And not just any hat, but a big ole' wide brim hat is the key.

I had been searching for a durable, lightweight, quality, wide brim, hat to kayak fish in for a while.  One day, my wife and I were shopping in Paper Bear (one of our favorite stores and if you are ever in San Marcos, Texas, you should check it out), when I stumbled across a hat that I thought would be perfect.  It was made by a company called Tula, it was relatively inexpensive (under $40), and felt like a quality hat.  Without doing much research, I bought the hat right then and there.

Here I am in my Tula Gardener Lattice hat and torn shorts at Lake Amistad

After wearing it a few times, including one trip down the Devils River, I realized that this hat was the perfect fit for a kayak angler.  It was lightweight, which meant it didn't feel heavy on my head, it was cool, keeping my dome-piece cool in the scorching Texas heat, and most of all, it kept the sun off.  The only issue was that I don't have much hair on top of my head and the little holes that provide some ventilation allowed the sun to get in.  I quickly found two answers to fix this.  Wear a bandanna or buff under my Gardener Lattice, and I got a second style, the Fontana Hat.

I did a little more research on the hat and the company, and discovered what I had bought was the Gardener Lattice Hat, from Tula.  Tula is a company that is based in Austin, Texas, and sells hand-woven hats made by the Native Purepecha Indians of Mexico, in a village that has a 400 year history of making palm hats.  They know what they are doing.

Palm offers great benefits as a material in a hat.  First of all, the material is 100% natural, and as a sustainable fiber, it is environmentally friendly.  Second, the hats have a UPF 50+ rating, or in other words...awesome sun protection.  And for the kayak fishermen, it is also ok if they get wet.  In fact, they work great in the rain.  They might, warp in shape a little bit when they get wet, but you can easily re-shape them back to how you want it with a steam iron on medium heat.  Basically, they are what a kayak angler would want.

My new Fontana Hat from Tula

I now own two Tula hats, my original Gardener Lattice and also a Fontana Hat.  I have plans to get the Pecos Hat soon!  Hopefully before I take a Pecos River trip.

Another view of the Fontana

A new Gardener Lattice

Another view of the new Gardener Lattice