Original Hat

This is my second order of this hat (XL one as a gift). It's my third winter using a previously purchased one for myself, and I wouldn't do without it now. I work outside and this is my go-to hat during freezing harsh winds and cold. The only negative I have to say is occasionally the fur tickles the insides of my ears, but in the scheme of things this is a small annoyance. Wearing earplugs (which I necessarily sometimes have to wear anyway) negates it; or I sometimes stuff half a cotton ball or a little piece of paper towel into each ear, which fixes it. I actually love the feeling of the fur against my cheeks... it feels luxurious. The fur has held up well, still looks great, and has not matted or degraded - even through daily winter use and scrunching/stuffing it in and out of my work backpack.I have a small head (even for a woman) and the medium size works for me. I can wear it alone, but it's a tad loose fitting and the top of it comes down lower onto my forehead than I like. Since I work construction I'm usually wearing a ballcap and I actually prefer just popping this on right over the top of it. This adds a brim as a sunshade and also keeps the hat from slipping down into my eyes when I'm working.I've found I can also wear other hats underneath it as a liner when it's really brutal outside. This hat (along with a majority of hats) won't cover the lower back of the neck. My favorite combination I discovered is wearing it over this one  Outdoor Research Sun Runner Cap, Medium, Hydro  (a sun hat with flaps) as a liner during freezing winds - it provides great neck protection. This hat battens down the thin flaps of the sun hat - which I tuck into the collar of my coat for a continuous windproof neck shield with no gaps and without having to wear a bulky scarf. The combination works great! Of all the years working out in the cold I've never had a combination which kept my head/ears/neck warm, while being able to work, move, and see well like this one. While others keep messing with and shifting their coat collars up against the wind - I keep working, warm and snug as a bug in a rug.Edit: It's 11/2021 now, and this hat is still holding up very well - both in structural integrity and aesthetically. Besides minor evidence of wear, it looks pretty much the same as when I bought it. The fur still looks great, even after boughts of light rain, sleet, or snow. When it dries, all it takes is a quick brushing with my hands and it's back to normal. It's still my favorite, essential, very-cold weather hat. I have several winter hats which I grade according to how cold it is out, and this is the one I wear in the coldest weather. I can't wear it when strenuously working or in moderately "cool" weather as my head starts sweating. This is one of my best purchases that has stood the test of time.

I have secretly wanted a Mad Bomber type hat for years. SECRETLY.It always amazes me when people say unkind, or thoughtless, or ignorant things to another; particularly if they don't even know them. In the colder months, I will enjoy wearing flannel shirts and lined, heavy jeans, hat and coat just like anyone else, so why, over the years would I get the comments of "why do you dress like a man?". Why me? I am a feminine looking woman; have a feminine figure (what is expected), and don't think I 'dress like a man' simply because I am in jeans and a flannel shirt! After all, if you look in LL Bean catalogs or any other catalog, you will see those very items for women!! If they didn't expect women to buy or wear them, they would be out of business! I just have to scratch my head over some of those remarks. Yes, they were the reds, navy, and forest green colors and not the pastel pinks and blues, but I don't wear those colors anyway and they don't seem "seasonally winter" to me! LOLSo, when I say that I SECRETLY have wanted a Russian style; Mad Bomber hat for a long while it was because it definitely does have more of a masculine appearance to its style, and I could just hear the remarks if I wore one!! LOL But, it's a HAT for crying out loud! I can take the bitter winter cold if my head is warm, but my head gets coldest fastest and I've been tired of spending winters wearing the acceptable woven beanie (in white) and having statically hat-hair and still have a freezing head!So, I ordered this and to heck with anyone else - I will be a Rebel and a warm one, at least - LOL! I do like it a lot and have tested it and it does keep my head and ears warm. It is comfy and I LIKE the way I look in it! (insert smiley face). I don't care that the rabbit fur sheds - so does my dog! No problem there as I don't wear contacts anymore, but if you do, I'm sure you are cautious about those types of things anyway and might prefer sherpa. What I do notice and which is why it received four and not five stars is that it pops off my head (doesn't stay on), so I either have to keep it fastened, or pull the ear flaps down snugly. Also, I specifically got it so that I could snap the ear flaps on top of my head and wear as a hat, but it most definitely will not sit on my head for a second if I do. Now THAT was a disappointment for me. (my hair is collar length, medium thickness). Another thing is that my forehead is freezing as the forehead piece doesn't sit as low on the face as I had hoped and does not move. So, I'm considering some sort of balaclava to wear under it.At any rate, it serves the warmth purpose, so I guess I am satisfied with that.

I bought one of these hats a few years ago and could not tolerate the cold winter without it.. That is why I had to order a new one when my dog ate it. It's a great value.

I had long wanted to have one of the Mad Bomber hats but was put off a bit by how dorky they look. But I realized that is part of their charm. And frankly, my middle-aged ears and head care less about looks now and much more about function. And as a warm hat, the Bomber does a great job. On warmer days (positive degrees F below freezing), I'll often buckle it in the "up" position over the top of the hat and it allows for a bit more circulation or let the flaps dangle just to keep the breeze out of my ears and off of my cheeks. In the below 0 degrees F days and nights, I will buckle it under my chin and luxuriate in the fuzzy rabbit fur halo around my face.I have a rather large head and may get an XL hat from time-to-time. This time I went with the XXL which works great because I can actually wear a thin Smartwool watch cap underneath, for instance while skiing or snowshoeing and sweating, and then plunk the Bomber down on top without having to expose a bare head to the cold.Points to consider: Though the Bomber is very comfortable and warming around the ears, like all Bombers it does leave the back of the neck exposed. Wear a neck gaiter or scarf to save some heat there. It is made of real rabbit fur and does shed an occasional hair or two on the nylon or on my jacket but not to any troubling degree.I would heartily recommend it to anyone wanting an extra measure of warmth that stocking or watchman's caps just cannot deliver. I would not have fared nearly as well in the sub-zero stretch in Minnesota this winter without it.

Very comfortable no itchyness very warm.

Only negative thing about this, the fur does come out slowly as if your shedding.