DAKINE

Albert Beanie

Warmest hat for the hill

Familiarity:

I've put it through the wringer

Size Bought:

OSFA

Weight:

210

BALD GUY FAVORITE! I’ve shopped around for the perfect POW hat for those double blacks, when I’m hanging off the side of the hill, struggling, powder in the face, goggles iced over, fresh clouds blowing across the brow, icing over. Being raised on the east coast, where the winters are cold but dry, and starting a new life here in the eastern sierras, I can personally vouch that this beanie, Albert, is his name, gave me a second chance at the warmth of a full head of hair again. All of the liftees and patrolman with their full heads of hair and straggly beards, iced over with their “TGR” beanies and buffs named after a sacred place in Jackson Hole, heading in early off the cold double blacks of the highest ski-able peak of the eastern sierras, while I’m there. Hanging off the side of the aforementioned hill, hanging out, stuck, no business on this hill, until the groomers show up to the rescue. This hat individually made the difference. Not my $349 Helly Jacket or La Puet socks. No. This thick, Dakine, beanie made the difference. It gave me a second chance at redemption while I mounted my skis under my buttocks, and skid down that double black, like a toddler on his first day in a snow tube. Head warm, head dry, and a sparkle in my eye. For $30, nothing holds a flame, nor iceberg to this beanie. 10/10. I’d buy the entire stock, but I need a new $700 FlyLow get up. Maybe next time, but certainly won’t be the last. This hat goes everywhere, in the summers of San Diego, or the winters of Mammoth Lakes, I will not leave this behind. THIS IS KNIT HOW BEANIES SHOULD BE. DONT BUY IF YOU LIKE BEING COLD AND WET! Buy it for the nostalgia of the warmth of your mothers first kiss on your forehead, or the cuddles from a warm grizzly in a winters cave just before hibernation.