Ah, this takes me back. I used to wear a Lowe Alpine Mountain cap, then a Karrimor Summit cap, then had an Outdoor Research, Prism I think? And, here we have in for test, a new shot at the insulated shell cap, Berghaus’s Pro Mountain Peak II.
There’s a lot of similar caps out there, but it’s fit and detailing that makes the difference. The outer is Gore-Tex, the inner a nice soft microfleece. The peak is wired and shape-able, and clips up as shown below (it’s shown down on the link above), the ear flaps are a good size, nice amount of coverage, and that continues around the back of your neck.
At the back there’s bungy volume adjustment (with a neat little ring to stop the bungee slipping through the cordlock, that makes a nice wee gripper as well) that makes the cap grip my head rather than just crushing my head which was nice to find. The size large is fine on my 59cm napper, untightened I’ll be able to slip it on over a Buff. Also on the back are retro-reflective stripes, a detail I have come to appreciate greatly on my kit in recent years. There’s elastic loops to attach a neck/security cord, but no cord. Harrumph.
It’s a nice wee thing, I’m wearing it now as I watch Mock the Week on Dave (what a stupid name for a TV channel) much to Joycee’s dismay. Expect it on a mountain in the near future.
Mine’s a Trekmates Paclite one, it’s got the same loops and no cord either… it’s a conspiracy!
Looks comfy.
My weekend at the scout camp was great, having the old synthetic bag wasn’t that big of a deal as we didn’t walk any great distances. Still, the goga is going back for a change this week, would have been fun to have it as we got some snow. :) Ozone is performing well!
Hope you get some time to the mountains soon, and take that Octans 40 of your out in the fresh air!
It is a conspiracy chewy, they all do the same corner cutting. Cheapskates.
Glad you had a good trip sandstrom.dj, the weather here was perfect for getting out. I miss a weather window like that and I always wonder if the skies will ever be blue again!
I’ll get out this week in the rain I think.
Paramo’s lovely Mountain Cap has fastening chin cords (cords supplied and attached) :)
Berghaus make a Mountain Hat (beanie in style). Polartec Windstopper, long covering of the ear, very warm and great and with a (supplied and attached) chin cord. I’m unsure if they still make it, I tried to buy a spare, earlier this year.
My Lowe Mountain Cap has loops but no cord, maybe the loops are to attach to ear-rings.
Ah, the wild-card the Paramo cap!
I think the loops are wind-speed meters. Over 45mph they start to whistle.
The loopy bits on my LA Mountain Cap really annoy me. They need to supply a piece of cord with beautiful wooden toggles on it.
Mind you, I’ve just worked out – after having it for nearly a year – that the little loops 2/3rds of the way down the sleeves of my Montane Extreme Jacket are to attach gloves to so they don’t escape in high winds. Amazing what you can discover about tried and tested kit!
I made a cord for my Lowe Mountain cap out of a bit of shockcord and a cyclindrical cordlock (ok, not as stylish as a wooden toggle) – when you ski downhill in serious cold your ears really need something to stop the flaps lifting!
I was thinking about the purple dyneema I use for guylines, but I did winder about the potential for garotting myself. So, bungy it will be.
Wooden toggles are apparently one of this season’s desirable features. My dufle coar is at the dry cleaners as we speak.
You only have to buy fashion once.
Adding a bit of bungee cord and a cordlock to my Lowe MC was one of my first ever “mods”. The very next time out, a chap looks at it and says to me “That’s a good idea”. I felt like a proper mountain man that day.
See, I’ve never had a moment like that.
The closest I’ve got is a man in cords and a jumper on the Cobbler pointing at my gaiters and asking “What are those?”