When we go boating, Audrey and I are rarely without hats to keep the sun off our heads and protect us from the occasional rain shower. As a lifelong sailor, Audrey has quite a collection of hats. She recently added the Tilley LTM6 Airflo Sun Hat to her collection and it has quickly become her favorite.
The Tilley company was founded by Alex Tilley in 1980. Tilley was a sailor who couldn’t find a hat to his liking, so he designed one to protect against sun and rain and to stay put during a blow. The cotton-duck Tilley became popular with both sailors and other adventurers.
Christopher CunninghamThis original Tilley Endurable is 30 years old and still under warranty. The label sewn in the crown notes that the hat will be “replaced free if it wears out. (Yes, put it in your will.)”
The LTM6 Airflo is one of the latest evolutions of the original design. As with other Tilley headwear, the hat has UPF 50+ sun protection and a nicely sized brim to protect Skipper from the sun. The brim and crown of the LTM6 have been reduced slightly and given more shape than the original Tilley. The brim measures 2 1⁄2″ on the sides and 3 1⁄2″ on the front and back, and has a stiffener inside the circumference of the brim to help hold the desired shape. The side crown height measurement is 4″, creating a slightly lower profile that is well suited to sailing in a stiff breeze and ducking the boom. The crown also has an oval shape that is narrower in the front, which creates a more natural and comfortable fit. These design elements combine to make a hat that is a better fit for Skipper than her original Tilley.
Photographs by the authorThe fabric and design of the LTM6 Airflo combine to make a hat suited to both sun and rain. Made from recycled nylon with a water-repellent coating, it keeps the head dry in a rain storm, while the mesh around the crown prevents overheating on a sunny day.
The LTM6 is made from 100 percent recycled nylon treated with a PFC-free polyurethane water-repellent coating. The hat weighs 4 oz and has a 3⁄4″ band of mesh around the top of the crown that provides excellent ventilation to the top of the head. Another welcome feature is a small Velcro pocket on the inside top of the crown where small items, such as cash or a small cool pack, can be stashed.
The hat has a lower profile and is more form-fitting than the original Tilley. With a strap that can be worn beneath the chin or at the back of the head it stays put in most wind conditions.
The hat is held securely in place by a strap that is adjusted with slip knots. The continuous cord can be placed under the chin or the back of the head, so that the hat stays put in wind from all directions. If the strap isn’t needed, it can be easily tucked away inside the Velcro pocket or tightened so that it does not droop down. One other use for the strap could be to tie up the sides of the hat. For her hat, Skipper chose a soft mauve color, which is dark enough on the underside of the brim to soften the sun’s glare/reflected from the water. There are two color selections for women and eight for men.
The LTM6 hats are washable, and more importantly, buoyant. Like the original Tilley, they are guaranteed for life. This guarantee, along with excellent customer service and a piece of gear that does the job and looks good doing it, make the Tilley LTM6 a sun hat to consider.
Audrey (Skipper) and Kent Lewis log their maritime adventures at Small Boat Restoration, always wearing hats.
The LTM6 Airflo Sun Hats for men and for women are available from Tilley for $99.
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For me the brim on the original Tilley was just slightly wider than the brim on my old ‘Nam boonie hat. Had to crane my neck up a bit more to see the telltales on various racing dinghies that I was sailing when they first came out. So I’ve stuck with my boonie hat. I often wondered if Tilley had looked at the boonie hat when coming up with his first design, just adding some flotation in the crown. My partner Marti, who was sporting the Tilley Airflo when launching her boat, was how Skipper and Kent spotted the hat. Marti really likes it. It is a lifetime hat.
I can wad up my Desert Storm hat and jam it in my pocket, so for now I’ll stick with that. We’ll see how soft this Tilley gets over time. For those who need a crusty Tilley right away, our circumnavigating friend Webb Chiles is offering “hat aging” services. After hearing about Skipper’s hat, he wondered about the condition of his Tilley, and went down to dig it out of the forepeak of his Moore 24 GANNETT. He found it there, moldy, and reports…
“My Tilley hat came out of the washing machine looking much better than I expected so I am offering a free hat aging service to friends. Mail me the Admiral’s hat and I will put it in GANNET’s forepeak and send it back to you in a couple of months properly moldy. You wash and dry it and it will look as though The Admiral has been wearing it through storms and years.”
May our Tilleys all have long and adventurous lives 🙂
I love my Tilley and I’m on my second, the first went overboard when I forgot to secure it on a gusty spring day when the waves were white-capped and dark water was the same green as my trusty Tilley. I don’t know what model number the old original Airflo was, but I replaced it with an LTM6. The replacement doesn’t seem as solid in the brim as its predecessor, but it is still a great hat. Aside from being my sailing hat on my keel boat and my 16 foot dinghy, it’s also my go-to kayaking and hiking hat. I throw it into the washer inside a pillow case, which protects the brim, once in a while and let it air dry atop a domed reading lamp that’s a perfect form for it – light off. It drys very quickly. I’m very sensitive to sun exposure, because of an autoimmune disease and because I’m fair skinned and fair haired (now white), so the wide brim and UV protection is most welcome. We’ve been caught out in some wicked rain storms on the boat and the hat did dry quickly, but it absorbs a lot of water while it is raining. My brother had to get a replacement for his Tilley because of some shredding on the brim as he probably didn’t wash it in a pillow case. They were very easy to deal with but wanted the old hat back. As I said, I’m on my second Tilley, but did not know about the slip-knot adjustment feature. In my defense, I have a huge melon head and don’t require much tightening to make the line fit.
I have half a dozen Tilley hats. Every one different. They even make a black one for rain. My favorite is their PUB hat made out of wool. That is my winter go-to hat. It can change shape. If you don’t have one, you missed out. They don’t make it any more. I keep two in my car. One just for hot weather. The top of my head will sunburn in 20-minutes, so I always carry a hat to wear.
I still have my original Tilley hat, bought just over 40 years ago. It was my go-to hat for kayaking, sailing and hiking for several decades. It has a small hole in one side that doesn’t affect the performance so I haven’t asked for a new one. It is semi-retired now in favour of a Tilley Airflo that I have had for several years. The Airflo is definitely cooler in hot weather.