My old Tilley hat was 8-10 years old and the last few years it lived outside. It had gotten really moldy so decided to wash it.
It came out of the washer in pieces but I had had good use out of it. Thought I would send it back To Tilley and see what they would say. I included the required $7.50 and today a brand new replacement Tilley arrived.
Now I look suave and debonair once again..
WHAT?
Mine is a moldy corroded mess. But it won’t fall apart.
Never will I look suave and debonair. But I will look green …with corrosion and envy. Its kind of unfortunate it floats. When it blew off my head in the Gulf of Mexico I couldn’t just ignore it.
You just need to wash
it to get it to fall apart.
I tried
no go.
But maybe I should wash in pure Clorox.
I just have to live with the fact my Tilley will never be a fashion statement.
Antidisestablishmentarianism
The greatest, most bitter and most irreconcilable divide in the paddling world is that between the Pro-Tilleys and the Anti-Tilleys.
It’s worse than Ali-Frazier, Hatfield-McCoy or even Euro-GP.
Some demand the disestablishment of Tilley as a legitimate canoe hat. On that point, I favor antidisestablishmentarianism.
I agree with ‘kayakmedic’ about this
hat. I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
I recently purchased one (Tilley) at an estate sale for $2.00. It needed a washing which it received but it’s just a plain, old, off white, hat with snaps and a chin strap.
I also own an “Original” brand (purchased at the same type of sale for 5 bucks)which is nearly identical to a Tilley but the brim is just a tad wider.
They sure get dirty fast and aren’t waterproof.
yes but they float
(mine blew off my head in the Gulf of Mexico and had it not floated it would have been gone by the time I was able to maneuver to it).
Are cool. You can soak them in water. Cool is good. They are not rainhats.
And they are good sunhats…particularly the T4.
Can’t tell you how often I have been made more efficient by my ugly Tilley.
If I want a rainhat I go to my Kokotat Seawester.
Doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks
I like my Tilley.
I am not parading down Yonge Street with it.
You might get more prolonged interest
on the Paddlers Place Discussion Forum.
I’m firmly planted in the anti-
Tilley (sp?) camp. I do own one. I found it at a camp site. Should have just left it there. Its buried somewhere deep in my mudroom closet. Something about the look of the Tilley puts me off. It has a touch of an elitist air about it. Not my style. Also, I can never remember how to spell it for some reason. I don't mind paddling with folks in the pro Tilley camp - as long as they don't start trying to convert me. :-)
Nothing says padder elitism like Kevlar
I think some of you might be too handsome to start with. Then a Tilley just pushes things way over the top. 
Elitist lids are standard equipment
Oh come on…there is nothing more striking on the water than an elitist paddler. If one can’t act the snob there…then where?
Elite snob paddlers forever! Thank you Tilly…eh Tilley…Tillie…whatever!
Tilley hats are elitist now?
News to me, but maybe you're right. I see that they now offer a fur felt hat for a whopping $150. And it even has fold-down ear flaps! They must think there is a market demographic that's willing to plunk down the cash and won't know the difference between a Tilley and a Stetson or care. Though, you can't even get a decent Stetson anymore without buying vintage or paying close to $400.
I wonder how many Chinese bunnies are sacrificed for headgear these days. I guess if they're being eaten anyway, it's okay.
Middle finger up to tilley
thumbs up to freebie ball caps!
Jack L
Gettin’ On (the right) Board With Tilley
Here is my suggestion,
so Gary won't be mad,
to generally help you wash a Tilley,
advice that's 'bout half-bad,
whilst wearin' Tilley pole the Ganges,
sari faces there will know an elite,
is caste the fool as Brahma bull
downriver with those Crocs at feet,
then take the plunge with your chapeau,
o'er rails into holy-water gutter,
I suggest drysuit so your skin refutes
blackole backwash from Calcutta,
above alluvial dark I doubt Ganges shark,
dare approach this sodden madhatter,
that rinses and agitates soulfood soup de cremate,
Tilley's possession now non-elite grey matter.
While the Ganges is still on my dance ticket, I have "washed" my N.T.-tithed Tilley ("It's the NT-Tilley!") in several eastern seaboard "gutters," and I must say the Toronto-Topper has gone from an elite to a somewhat "less-charmed" character - though not as well-traveled "golden-moldin'" as Kim's, no doubt.
Something that has survived 3 trips
through an elephant is immune to accusations of elitism. They’re good hats. There are other good hats for less, but they are still good hats.
See?
There are two kinds of Tilleys…those virgin white ones…poser Tilleys
And the well used Tilley that no poser would touch!
I had to laugh last week. We got out of an Algonquin Park trip (week long). I was wearing my disreputable chapeau. I walked right by someone with a virgin Tilley and virgin outdoor clothing… I swear their nose wrinkled.
Don’t care.
Hey, I don’t feel like I payed too much.
Considering how long I’ve had my Tilley, the cost works out to pennies per trip by now. It has easily lasted 10- or 15-times longer than a boonie hat could even if well cared for, but I’ve abused the heck out of it, so if it initially cost 15-times as much as a boonie, I don’t think I paid too much. Besides, in all that time, it has actually “worked”, something no boonie hat has ever done for me (every time the wind blows, the so-called “brim” on a boonie hat either blows down in front of my eyes so I can’t see, or up the other way so it fails to keep my eyes shaded (same problem causes my neck to not be sun-protected when the wind blows too), and to keep it from flopping around on my head when the wind blows hard, the chin strap ends up feeling tight in contrast to the well-designed retentions system of the Tilley which you can’t even feel doing its job). How come no one ever gets scolded for spending many thousands of unnecessary dollars by trading-in a car that has only about 100- or 150-thousand miles on it, or for paying a few thousand extra for four-wheel drive which most people can easily do without, yet talking about Tilleys always generates comments about elitism or high initial cost? Well, like Kayamedic, I don’t really care, but it’s interesting anyway.
I not only have a Tilley Air Flow
but a wool winter hat. You think the summer ones are ugly? This past winter never got cold enough to wear it.
I refuse to be sucked into another
Tilley discussion thread.
OK. Cannot help myself.
My Tilley(s) keep sun off my face, ears, and neck. They shade my eyes. They can be treated with permethrin or DEET. When it rains and the fabric absorbs some moisture the hat gets noticeably stiffer, and I assume more water repellent.
Jim