A Few Great Gift Ideas For Dad!

As a dad, I thought I'd help a few of you out with a few gift ideas.  Believe it or not, we love the ties and sweaters and slippers, they're lovely, but how about trying something a little different this year.  Dads are usually hard to buy for, because they don't require much.  I know buying for my dad is impossible. 

After Christmas last year, I wrote a post about one of my favorite gifts--the Keurig Coffee Maker.  I called it my "new favorite thing."  Here it is a year later, and it's still my favorite thing.  I use it every day and I still think it makes great coffee and tea.  Actually I have two of them (wife gave me one, and daughter gave me one so I guess the hints worked well)--I took one to work.  I've got a few favorites when it comes to the K-Cup varieties--my favorites include Donut House Extra Bold and Caribou Morning Blend.  But Starbucks have come out with a few that are good too--including their popular Pike's Place brew.  They've got something for any taste from very mild to "holy crap!"  And the tea selections have gotten better over the past year too--Tazo is now available in K-Cups.  A Keurig would be at the top of my list if I was looking for a gift for a java junkie.

Another nifty toy I never thought I'd like is a Nook.  I thought I was a book-reading purist, and I'd miss the tactil experience of reading on an electronic screen.  Guess what?  I don't miss paper that much.  I bought one about a year and half ago, and I'm seldom without it.  So if dad likes to read, try that, and put a few books he'd like on it so he can try it out right away, perhaps the entire Todd E. Creason library would be a good thing to load on it.  That would be my suggestion anyway.  Once he starts reading it, getting used to it takes very little time, and the inability to leave the house without it sets in almost immediately--wallet, keys, phone, Nook.

There's a couple choices to think about.  Of course there's a Nook Color, which doesn't appeal to me much because I'm a book reader, and black and white is fine for what I do.  But if dad reads a lot of magazines or comics, that color version is very nice.  And there's the new black and white reader with a touch screen (I have the old one)--the Nook Simple Touch.  If dad just reads books, that's the one you should get.  I am very, very tempted by that one (the guy at Barnes & Noble let me borrow one during my visit the other day.)  I'll probably wind up with one eventually, but I still like the one I have.

You know another thing dad might like--a nice hat.  Delmonico Hatter has a great selection, and I highly recommend them as an online seller.  Their service in impeccible, and they carry everything from western hats, to fedoras, Stetsons to Tilleys.  I'd recommend a nice wool winter hat--I've been wearing a Tilley winter hat for about a month now, and I just love it.  It's toasty warm, and very comfortable.  There are a number of different models, find one you think dad would like, and get it for him.  The bonus is you can do this without leaving the house--they ship right to your door, and usually the shipping is free.

And if you don't know his hat size, there's an easy way to get it.  Find a hat he wears all the time.  If it's fitted (like a western hat or a higher end ball cap) the size will be inside the rim.  If it's one of those "one size fits all" adjustable numbers, borrow moms sewing tape measure and measure around the inside rim of the hat--there is a chart that will convert that inch measurement to hat size.  Easy huh?  And if you'd like to buy your favorite author a hat, that's a 7 3/8. 

So take good care of dad this year, and have a Merry Christmas,

~TEC

Tilley Hats: Something Even I Can't Tear Up

Before and After--I've aged more than the Tilley has . . .

Some months ago I bought a new hat for summer--I bought a Tilley Endurables TH4. I bought it on the recommendation of my friend and Brother Master Mason, Terry Tillis (a true "hat guy"). He didn't recommend the hat I finally selected, he just recommended the hat company. I wrote about it at the time here. 

There was a lot to like about that hat as soon as I took it out of the box. It had a really nice wide brim (and for us guys with big noses, that's always a plus). Another thing I like right out of the box was the angle of the brim in back. It's one of the few brimmed hats I own that I can drive in comfortably--I'm not always knocking it off with the head rest. And while it looked heavy and stiff at first, the hemp fabric was actually very light and extremely comfortable the first time I wore it--and the more I've worn it and washed it, the softer it's gotten. There was no "breaking-in" period like with most hats.


Idiot swimming in the Tilley hat? That me!

 So early on, I knew I was going to like this hat. But there was part of that story I wasn't completely buying--the idea that this hat I'd purchased was virtually indestructible. There was even a story that one had been digested by an elephant (twice!) and had been recovered. I'd have to admit, I took that as a challenge. I was looking forward to sending that hat back to Tilley in a very short number of months for a replacement (they have a lifetime guarantee). So that's what I set out at the beginning of the summer to do--to destroy that hat as quickly as possible.

Me and the Tilley at Festival #3

I've put that poor hat through hell over the last few months. I've fished wearing it. I've done yard work wearing it. It's been on my head when I've gone swimming in the family pond--I even wore it into a swimming pool (there was a little alcohol involved that time). Oh yeah, that reminds me, it's beer proof also--I believe I'm the first one to mention that as a selling point. That hat has even survived a half dozen fall festivals, long walks, windy days, and a brief exposure to a campfire (I should have been wearing the chin strap that breezy afternoon). It's also been harshly washed a number of times. It's been exposed to a lot: dirt, mud, sweat, pond water, wood smoke, ash, grass clippings, worm guts, chicken blood, chlorine, stink bait, gasoline, BBQ sauce. You name it. I even got white spray paint mist all over it, and had to use hot water, dish detergent, and a stiff brush to get it off. I've indeed been unnecessarily cruel to that hat, and I feel bad for what I've done. 

Can you guess, in the end, who finally won that contest? The Tilley hat did.

Despite the horrible treatment I've given it, it looks nearly as good as it did when I took it out of the box--but it's even better now. Every time I've washed it, it gets softer and even more comfortable. It's been years since anyone had to remind me to remove my hat, but this one has gotten so comfortable I forget I'm wearing it. I don't think I've ever owned a hat I enjoy wearing more--whether I'm mowing the yard or going to the grocery store. I don't think I've worn a baseball cap all summer. In the beginning I wore it with the purpose of tearing it apart, but it wasn't long before I was wearing it because it's comfortable, and I love it! What a great hat!



He's not as handsome as me,
but it gives you an idea...

But the Tilley TH4 has one drawback. It is a little casual for wearing to work in an office, and probably isn't the best choice for winter--so guess what I did today? Yeah, I'm sold. I ordered another one. The Tilley winter hat--toasty warm for winter and stylish enough for work. I'm going to try to be kinder to this hat. It's predecessor pretty much proved the Tilley reputation for endurance is well-earned. Sure, they're a little more of an investment than a baseball cap, but it very well might be the last hat you ever have to buy.

So check out the Tilley website--they offer an amazing range of styles and fabrics. It's good to know in a world that can't seem to make a pair of jeans that can survive a year of wear that there still exists at least one thing that is made to last.

~TEC

Summer Gear: The Nearly Indestructible Tilley Endurables

I love hats. You might have picked up on that in the past. I’ve been collecting and wearing hats for years. I’ve got baseball caps, fedoras, boonies, Panamas, straw hats, bucket hats, fishing hats—I’ve even got a waxed canvas outback hat I only wear when it rains. I’ve never met a hat I don’t like.

But I’m very hard on hats, especially the summer ones. They’re either comfortable and useless for protection against the sun or they provide good protection and are hot and miserable to wear. But thanks to a tip from a friend of mine (and Brother Freemason), Terry Tillis, I think I may have found the last summer hat I’ll ever need. Terry is another hat enthusiast like me, and I’m glad I took his advice and ordered a Tilley Hat.

I got one of the Tilley Endurables (the TH4 hemp hat). This is one ruggedly built, remarkably well-designed hat. It’s obvious that a lot of thought as been put into the design, and Tilley remarked that they’ve continued to improve the hats they make year after year.

Mine is made of hemp fabric that is purportedly nearly indestructible. In fact, one of the stories told about a Tilley hat claims a zookeeper lost his hat when an elephant ate it. He got it back a few days later, washed it, and put it back to use. Apparently, his hat became one of the elephant’s favorite snacks—it happened twice more. Tilley wanted it for his hat museum, but the zookeeper refused to give it up. Just for the record, if an elephant eats my hat, I’m not waiting around to get it back.

I may have actually run across a hat that can survive even me—and if not, it comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee even if you run it through an elephant a few times. 

I’ve been putting this hat through its paces since I got it. It looked heavy at first, but the material is actually very light. It fits low on my head, and it’s very comfortable, even when I’m sweating (that’s when a lot of hats fail the comfort test). It’s got four large brass grommets that let it plenty of airflow. Two of those grommets can be used to store your sunglasses on your hat and there’s a piece of Velcro inside to secure them (someday, a scuba diver will find all my sunglasses at the bottom of Creason Pond). It also provides maximum protection against the sun earning the maximum rating—UPF 50+. There’s even a wind cord to keep in on your head on breezy fall afternoons, and just in case you’re a careless fisherman like me, and forget little things like wind cords, it also floats.

But I think my favorite feature is the full brim on the TH4 model. When you’ve got a big nose like me, the more brim on your hat, the less likely you’re going to get too much sun on your beak. Another thing about that brim that’s unique is it lays down at an angle in the back which shields your neck, and makes it perfect for driving too—you won’t keep knocking it off with the headrest. That drives me nuts so most of my brimmed hats wind up riding in the passenger seat.

There’s a good-sized pocket inside the hat too—Tilley suggested it might be useful for keeping a room key, or a credit card, or some cash when you’re out exploring on a vacation maybe. I wasn’t very impressed with that feature, but as I was working in the yard tonight, and I leaned over and my iPod fell out of my shirt pocket, pulled my ear buds out and crashed on the ground, I suddenly thought of a use for that pocket after all. My iPod fits nicely in there, and it keeps the cord out of the way while I’m working. I may have found my perfect hat.

After just a couple days, I can tell already it’s going to be my favorite hat for daily wear. I’m pretty sure, if things work out, there will be another Tilley Hat in my closet before the snow flies again—they’ve got some very nice winter hats too.

~TEC