GearFlogger

Mountain Hardwear Dome Perignon hat

I like the nightlife. I like to boogie. I like to wear hats made from Polartec Thermal Pro. It's a simple life, and the Mountain Hardwear Dome Perignon is a simple hat. In any case, it simply kept my brain bucket warm on Denali this year, so I'm sold.

Thermal Pro is a 200 weight fleece with a nice subtle waffle weave. Mmm. Waffles. The Gore Windstopper fleece earband keeps your flappers toasty, and an elastic section at the back stretches for optimal fit. Unlike some hats it comes in small, medium and large sizes so you can dial in the fit exactly where you want it.

There's just enough of a curve around the bottom to cover your ears, and the piping is a nice fat roll that makes it easy to pull on. Peak hats like this are more than just a random design. A little bit of air space up top facilitates moisture working its way out the top and evaporating, until those little drops of water are just so much vapor, like Sarah Palin's presidential chances.

$30.00 at REI

Seirus Neofleece Headband

Seirusly though, folks: headbands rock.  The 'do can flow free in the wind as god meant it to. Also, they let the head breathe, so they're great for high-output aerobic activities like cross-country skiing or, for the truly disturbed, cold weather running.

Seirus makes the Neofleece, a heavy-duty headband for those who want their noggin bare in medium to extreme cold. The Neofleece headband is a four layer dip of neoprene and some other insulation inside soft fleece. There's an extra layer over the ears proper, so unlike some headbands the ears really do stay warm.

Inexpensive and does the job, black only and one size fits most for men or women.

$13.00 at REI

TrailHeads Goodbye Girl Ponytail Hat

I know the SheFlogger has at least one eye in the back of her head, so when I saw the TrailHeads Goodbye Girl Ponytail Hat with the hole in the back I figured it was made just for her. Imagine my surprise when she pulled it on and promptly stuffed her ponytail through it. Suddenly the name made sense.

TrailHeads makes all kinds of headgear for the single-horned among us. Disclaimer: if you have a Y chromosome and are caught wearing one of these we are not responsible for the ass-beating you will at some point undoubtedly receive. For the SheFloggers, you are in luck because this hat not only works as designed, it's well-constructed of midweight Polartec Thermal Pro fleece.

It's one size fits all, and the stretch will make it work for all but the serious brainiacs out there. Well-designed, stylish with quality construction and reasonably priced. Sounds like someone is getting out of the doghouse!

$28.00 at REI

Outdoor Research Gorilla Balaclava

One of the best things about mountaineering is being able to wear a balaclava without getting pulled over by the police or kicked in the head by Chuck Norris. When it's time to get your inner ninja on pull on a Gorilla 'clava from Outdoor Research.

The Gorilla goes normal clavas one better with a collection of features: it's Windstopper, it has a nose shield that directs your nasty booger spray away from your shades, a fine mesh covers your mouth, and the face shield is removable via velcro straps on either side.

The Gorilla fits very close because it's not a pull-over; instead it has Velcro on the side to open the face up for putting on and taking off. It's cut lower in front to cover your chin, and higher in back so you'll want a high collar to cover the gappage; if you've got a hood you're all set. The inside is supersoft fleece. All in all, very nice and suitable for extreme conditions where you want no square inch of skin uncovered. Be aware: like all Windstopper headwear it muffles sound a little, and when you rip off the Velcro closure it's pretty loud inside.

$49.95 at Backcountry

Sport Science Winter Wicking Beanie Hat

And now for something a little bit different. The Sport Science Winter Wicking Beanie is a classier version of the now ubiquitous - yeah, that's a college word - fleece dome hat.

Sport Science does the concept one better by mixing in 10% merino wool with 90% good old dead dinosaur based polyester. The end result is a hat that has the wicking performance of fleece with the flat-nap look of a high-end wool product.

The earband is double thick for a little extra warmth just where you want it. The entire inside is a familiar fleece feel, i.e. nice and soft. If you're looking for a dome that you can wear from backcountry to boardwalk the Beanie will do you right, especially the all-black version that looks extra-haute. Just remember to carefully take a seam ripper to the little yellow tab, which is a bit scratchy.

$25.40 at Two Knobby Tires

REI Snoqualmie cap in eVent

No joke, there I was, knee deep in hand grenade pins and lookin' for wabbits. OK, that's not true, but what is true is that you can now get your Elmer-Fudd-in-the-Afrika-Korps thing on with the REI Snoqualmie cap in eVent.

If you're looking for an alternative to the ubiquitous Sherpa cap for keeping your brain housing group from getting wet and cold, the Snoqualmie has you... covered. The eVent shell is weatherproof and as a bonus breathes like a overweight harrier chasing down dinner.

Warmth is guaranteed by generous helpings of PrimaLoft Sport everywhere but the brim, and the microfleece lining is rabbit-fur-soft. The earflaps snap up to stow away, but there's nothing keeping them down if you're facing into a stiff wind. A keeper cord would help, as well as secure your haberdashery whilst you're cuttin' up the slopes. Awesome gift for hunters, dads and retro-hipsters.

$39.50 at REI

Mountain Hardwear Micro Dome

Back to basics, folks. The Mountain Hardwear Micro Dome is indispensable wherever you need a little love on your noggin. Polartec 100 and a soft, my-mama-loves-me feel make this hat worth every penny of its teeny tiny price. It's not unusual to own more than one, so don't feel like a freak. Well, not for that anyway. One size fits many.

Warning: do not get the light purple one unless you are a woman. I don't know how the hell that color made it into the men's section. Don't do it. I'm watching you. Yeah, you.

$15 at REI

Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch balaclava

I am even closer to my lifetime goal of dressing from head to toe in Power Stretch with Mountain Hardwear's Power Stretch balaclava. The only thing missing is PS socks, and I will never stop looking until I have found this holy grail.

I've been a fan of PS forever, mostly because it does so many things well. It breathes, wicks and insulates well and provides moderate weather protection that's sufficient for most conditions. It's only natural that you would want to encase your brain housing unit in this wonder material.

MH's 'clava is one size fits all, so if your noggin is abnormal be warned. This means you, Brainiac. It easily fits over the nose and over the chin, a little more snug to fit it under the chin. It will also roll down into a somewhat bulky neck gaiter. The best thing is it's tailored to the natural contours of the skull instead of the straight cut some manufacturers use. This lets you forget you're wearing it even if you're looking around a lot. I used to own two 'clavas for different conditions, one ultrathin and one heavyweight. Now I just have this one.

$28.00 at REI

180s Exolite Ti earwarmers

These days everyone associates 180s with Mitt Romney (Look, I'm a liberal! Wait, I'm a conservative! No, I'm just a nasty flip-flopping political whore!), but they have another claim to fame as a company that produces earwarmers. I don't know why, but I've never been happy with headbands, and that's left me with limited options when a hat is overkill.

Sure, I've tried the earbag solution and it works, but I've yearned for something more. 180s Exolite Ti earwarmers fill the niche between earbags and headbands nicely. Cool your jets, gram weenie: they're not actually made of titanium as the name indicates. They're only an ounce or two anyway though, so don't sweat it.

In fact, don't sweat at all: the reason I obsess over ear protection is for high-output activities like cross-country skiing, snow biking and snowshoeing, where your ears can get cold while the rest of you is contributing to a measurable increase in local humidity. The Exolite Ti won't break the bank, and it folds up flat so you can keep it in your pocket just in case. Suitable for about town too, 'cause it won't mess up your 'do.

$25.00 at REI

Outdoor Research Sun Runner hat

You all know what I think about running. That said, runners do contributed to product development in much the same way lab rats do. Case in point: hats. The Sun Runner hat from Outdoor Research is the latest in my endless quest for the perfect soft mountaineering headgear.

The Sun Runner is synthetic so it's light and dries quickly. What makes it a little different from other sun hats is that is has mesh side panels that can be covered with the removable cape. So you have a number of different configurations to use, and rather than being gimmicky they actually work well.

The bill is sufficiently stiff and the fabric has a 30+ UPF rating so your delicate alabaster skin doesn't crinkle like a dollar bill in the sun. There's even a Coolmax wicking headband and a cincher cord so it won't fly off on a glacier in a windstorm. All in all, a worthy contender, especially if you suffer from the running sickness.

$27.95 at Backcountry.com