I’d toyed with the idea of a buff years ago and I began to recall my original thoughts on the standard one: the appeal resurfaced but for protective summer use the advantage of a peak would be lost. Then I discovered the Visor Buff: a standard buff with a built-in neoprene peak.
An article in TGO magazine on summer walking hats prompted us to reappraise our summer headwear, which was past its best to say the least and never was entirely satisfactory. In the midsummer months we had been using standard Nike baseball-style caps for the strongest sunshine. They were satisfactory to cover our heads and they had good peaks to protect the upper part of our faces from direct sun, but they offered no protection for the ears or back of the neck, which seem to have become more susceptible to burning on recent trips despite our efforts with sun cream.
The caps had no chinstrap or other means of securing them properly either, which was not a problem most days but the manufacturers seem to think that blustery winds never occur in summer. Last year after a windy hot sunny day in the Cairngorms and nearly losing the cap, I resorted that evening to improvising a chinstrap in the tent, boring two rough holes in the cap and threading them with a length of Dyneema cord that I always carry. I really don’t like hats at all!.
The first use of the Visor Buff on my Northern Hirnants backpack was a great success. It had a very light and airy feel, and best of all I wasn’t wearing a bloody hat.
I’ve added a short piece here in the Gear & Tech section of the main site.
I’ll still appreciate my Lowe Alpine Mountain Cap in winter but Visor Buffs rule in summer now!.
I’m off this week for the promised bit of summer, Visor Buff at the ready…
7 Comments
The visor buff is pretty good, I’ve had one for a while now and unlike a cap they fold up really small. The visor is handy if you use a lightweight waterproof or hooded windshirt as they sometimes don’t have much of a peak if any.
Mac,
That’s another good use, really versatile these things.
MWIS promised sunburn risk this week, it should be a good test.
I just returned from a backpack in the belated summer sun, the VisorBuff was excellent, a lot better than a hat for me.
When Buffs were first imported into the UK they gave a friend of mine, who used to edit High, a box full and the family ended up with one each. I still have that same Buff many years later and it’s one of my most useful bits of equipment. It’s the sort of thing that I would never have bought myself. Just goes to show that just because you think things will be useless, doesn’t mean that they are:)
Ian.
Ian,
I think there is much irrational resistance to the idea of buffs, but I’m really pleased with mine.
I failed to reach the summit in February. I had walked to the bottom of Lliwedd very early in the morning, in the hope of doing a winter climb. However, it was thawing and the whole place was falling down so I thought I would salvage something by climbing Siabod. I got onto the summit ridge, but the perfect neve of a few days before had turned into waist deep wet snow, so I turned round. To cap it all just above the farm I my foot broke through the ice above a stream and got wedged between a couple of rocks. I managed to pull a muscle in my thigh while extricating my foot and when I got back to the road I found that the damp had penetrated my phone, despite it being inside a plastic bag in the sack. Sometimes I wonder why I bother getting up in the morning:)
Ian.
Ian,
I noticed on your blog that you write about “…climbs where things go wrong.”. Well those trips do make the most interesting reading!.