Tilley Hats

It is a sad day when an old and treasured piece of gear goes missing. That day came last week when my Canadian made Tilley Airflow warm weather hat was lost. I looked at their website to determine which model I had and found that Tilley Hats are no longer made in Canada but in China. My research led to finding out that the Tilley company was sold in 2018 to a Toronto based investment firm Gibraltar & Company, who owns other garment manufactures and does their production "offshore".

My question is: Does anyone have one of these Chinese made Tilley hats and can comment on the quality, material and possible changes from the Canadian made hats. If I find the new hats are not to the old standards, do you have any recommendations for a different warm weather hat?

For cool weather use I either use my Akubra, Filson Bush Hat or my Tilley winter hat depending on weather.

Thanks for your input.

You should be able to find an older model on eBay if you don't mind a used hat or possibly old stock?

Bob

I was tired of head winds pasting the brim of my floppy hats to my forehead. So I was determined to get a better hat and went shopping for a Tilley. I ended up getting a Charter Hat by Sunday Afternoons. The brim has never been blown back, and I like the built in sunglasses holder. Made in Viet Nam. If you end up abandoning Tilley, the Charter Hat is a good alternative.

Chip said:

I was tired of head winds pasting the brim of my floppy hats to my forehead. So I was determined to get a better hat and went shopping for a Tilley. I ended up getting a Charter Hat by Sunday Afternoons. The brim has never been blown back, and I like the built in sunglasses holder. Made in Viet Nam. If you end up abandoning Tilley, the Charter Hat is a good alternative.

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In searching for a new hat this year I saw Sundays Afternoons had a new item in its lineup. The features that attracted me was the foldable brim and sunglasses holder. It’s become my favorite, very functional on the water and folds down to the size of a book.

Forgive me, but this style reminds me of hats favored by female Japanese tourists of a certain age.

Sweetfancymoses said:

Forgive me, but this style reminds me of hats favored by female Japanese tourists of a certain age.

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Yes, you won’t be mistaken for Harrison Ford wearing this, but it does keep the sun off you

I really like the traditional style of my old Tilley Airflow hat. If I find that the quality of the Chinese made hat equals that of the Canadian made hat I will have no problem purchasing a new one. I just have had quality issues with other "traditional" North American manufacturers who shipped production offshore and apparently did not send their Quality Control inspectors to the new plant. I have also had some very good quality products that came out of the Far East, so I don't paint all imported goods with a wide brush. I'm just hoping that Tilley has kept their standards up and continue making an excellent product.

I stopped as a Bass Pro recently on the way back from a trip that just happened to have a rack of Tilley hats. In several styles, they had identical hats either made in Canada, or in China. I assume some old stock is still being sold off. I knew that Tilley has recently been sold and has offshored much of their production, so I took a very close look.

Where I compared a Canadian made hat to the same model Chinese made hat, I could not see any difference, at all.

If you ask me, it's still a bait and switch though. The reason those hats are $100 is because they're made in Canada. I'm willing to pay a premium for that. To turn around and charge me the same price for the same hat made in China is dishonest, plain and simple. They're taking advantage of the Tilley brand and customer loyalty.

They do still make some hats in Canada, though:

I have been wearing Tilley hats for about 40 years and was disappointed when they stopped making the classic white cotton ones a while ago. I didn’t like the synthetic ones which took their place. I was happy to find a new one couple of months ago with the same cotton (the Wanderer model). I just checked and it says “Made in Canada”, so some non Chinese models are available.

Thanks to all for your replies and suggestions. I will start checking at some of the local small outdoor outfitters and then move my search on to some of the larger big box stores. It is nice to know that some old stock may still be out there. Let the quest begin!

I have a Chinese LMT6 Airflo. I was rather disappointed that my new Canadian hat turned out to be Chinese, but the hat is fantastic. Many of Tilleys are still made in Canada, but not the Airflo series. I also have a T5 cotton duck hat. Between the two, I think the Chinese made hat is actually better made. Seams all line up, cap and brim are aligned. I can’t find any fault with it except the tag.