"Last June I was paddling my sit-on-top kayak with my friend, Erv Crowther, down the Salmon River. It was a sunny warm day and we were both wearing our
Riverz™ hats. I was wearing the Scout and Erv the Outback. In a class II rapid Erv got a little too close to a rock and tipped his boat over. Unfortunately he didn't have his hat on securely, the lace was behind his head, and he lost his hat. Six miles down the river, while taking lunch, Erv saw his hat float by. I jumped in my kayak and chased the hat down. Erv just shook it out and put it on his head. It looked like it hadn't been in the river at all, even after going through several rapids. In a few minutes it was even dry. That sold me on these hats. It's nice to have a hat that looks good, keeps me cool, and can handle getting wet."
— Gary L Slominski, May, ID
"I have the Outback, and I just returned from 15 days in Costa Rica. I wore it both through torrential rain and 100 degrees with 99% humidity and it came through. I can't say enough about the sweat band's abilities.�The stampede strap saved me and the hat at a gallop on horseback and on boat rides. The lack of actual holes in the crown also confounded the mosquitoes, but the open weave there was enough to cool. I just received the Utah on my return. I was the boat driver on a water ski outing recently, and the extra shade was welcome. Now my problem is that I showed the hat to an ex-patriot in Costa Rica, and she wants one. It even looks better on her than me."
— Jim Simon, Sacramento, CA
"Wow what a hat! It's obvious that this hat was well designed, and built to perform. The high-tech features are great. The material [TechStraw™] looks and feels wonderful... The adjustable hat band to customize the fit and the loop to store the chin cord are great ideas. Congratulations on producing a quality item!"
— Mylan Muhlestein, West Richland, WA
"In June I purchased a Riverz™ Utah.... What a great hat! I used it every day, eight hours a day, in and on the Mediterranean. That you so very much!"
— Marc Shell, Cambridge, MA
"I got one [a
Riverz™ hat] last year,... let me just say, they're the answer."
— Kim Keeley, co-owner Victor Emporium Fly & Tackle Shop, Victor, ID
"I have gone through many hats in my lifetime and have finally found what I consider the perfect hat for fishing. The hat is made from virtally indestructible, hand-woven polypropylene that has been made to look like fine Panama straw. They float. They're light, breathable and water-resistant if not waterproof... I know this sounds like a commercial, but get one for yourself and try it out."
— Thomas L. Herrington, Ocean Springs, MS
"It's the hat of the century. It's the greatest hat I've ever had. I took it on a ten day kayak trip in Southern Burma. The 2 1/2 hour speed boat ride from Kawthong to the island was a scary two and a half hours. At first there were "yee haws" but then a lot of quiet as we wondered whether we'd survive the dead dark ride over two meter swells. The rain and spray soaked us to the skin. I had the hat tied on and kept pulling the brim over my eyes to protect them from salt spray. We jumped out into waist deep water and huddled around a roaring fire. My clothes didn't dry, but the next day, the hat just popped up fine. We kayakked for ten days from island to island, with the occasional speed boat ride. I've never had a hat handle being drenched so well. It looks like nothing happened to it. Being able to clip the tie string to the back is ingenious. I've always had trouble with that before. The adjustable hat band is also ingenious. I could get the size just right so that it stayed on while kayakking in calm weather. It was easy to get the tie string for the windy speed boat rides.
Whatahat!"
— Steve Derne, Rochester, NY
"I have received my first
Riverz™ Outback Fedora as a gift for father's day three years ago. I never liked hats much before. But living and working in the tropics... Now I don't feel dressed with out it. The first time I lost it, it blewin the water and we had to launch a tender to get it back. Thank goodness it floats. I wasn't about to tell my daughters I lost the hat because it was too much work for me to get it back. (I don't always remember the chin strap). The next time we were running out an inlet and had to heave too in the shore break. I had the chin strap on but it was really howling.
I wear my hat every day on the dock, underway in Florida and the Bahamas. I am on my third hat. One I left on a boat and who ever found must have liked it. The second suffered the same fate. But you were kind enough to make and ship me a new one the weekend before the fourth of July so I could have a good vacation. And I found the one I lost on my own boat. So now I have two.
Thank you for making such fine hats."
— Captain Carl Damm, Stuart, FL
