The 4 Best Boonie Hats on the Market – Reviews 2023

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Photo by mr.smashy / CC BY

Oh, the glorious boonie hat—designed and devised to provide maximum protection to the neck and face. They also serve to aid in camouflaging and breaking up the outline of an individual. Good boonie hats need to be durable, well made, and extremely strong. You are also most likely going to need ventilation to make extended use comfortable. Protection remains the most important feature of a boonie hat, however, if it can’t protect your neck and face from the sun it is basically worthless.

Below are our recommendations for the best boonie hats on the market. Check ’em out, why don’t you?

Tru Spec Gen 2 Boonie Hat

The Tru Spec Gen 2 Boonie hat improves upon their original Gen 1 boonie hat. They made it more versatile, stronger, and more comfortable. Tru Spec lives up to their name and produces some of the better non-military issue gear. The Tru Spec Gen 2 is built to military specifications at a minimum. The primary difference is that they produce their boonie covers in a wide variety of colors, camouflages, and finishes. This allows people to avoid wearing desert camouflage in the middle of winter in Minnesota because, well, it’ll look stupid.

Although if you want desert Marpat or Army ACU, that option is also available. The hat itself is made from rip stop and polyester. This gives the user a strong and capable hat that will take blow after blow from nature. It won’t tear, rip, or fray by being exposed to thorns, sharp corners, or low hanging tree limbs. There are a variety of vents built into the top of the hat that allows the hat to breathe. This makes it a bit cooler and a bit more comfortable. These vents are also brass. This means they won’t break easily and are capable of resisting rust.

There is an adjustable sizing trap that comes with a grommet to adjust the hat for your head. This makes it possible to wear while riding a boat, an ATV, or climbing through thick brush without it popping off your head every few seconds. This is one of the best boonie hats period.

Sinddy Military Boonie

Sometimes you want to be more laid back and casual and take a non-militaristic appearance. Other times you want to go more military and utilize camouflage and live out your wildest G.I. Joe fantasies. For those who enjoy airsoft or paintball, this modern boonie cap gives you the appearance and performance of what a real soldier would have. The Sinddy Military boonie uses a modern digital finish that is extremely effective. The Sinddy also features an American flag on the front cover so this makes it even more patriotic; even better, this flag is green so it does not take away from the camouflage (and if you’re thinking we’re being facetious here, well, maybe we are and maybe we aren’t).

The brim is slightly stiffer and thicker than most (see full specs), which gives it less of a bounce effect and provides a more rigid coverage. The brim extends wide enough to protect the back of the neck and gives the user enough coverage to avoid a nasty sunburn. There is also an adjustable chin strap that prevents the hat from falling off during more extreme activities.

The four brass screen vents provided some much loved ventilation on hotter days. There is also two brass snaps. These snaps allow you to pin the sides of the top of the hat and change the overall style of it. This is extremely handy when wearing a communications headset of any kind. Having those flips pinned away makes it comfortable to wear both the boonie and a headset, which makes this one of the best boonie hats around.

Columbia Sportswear Boonie Hat

The Columbia Sportswear boonie hat is one of the more advanced designs out there. This is an extremely well-made boonie hat, and the price does reflect the quality. The Columbia boonie hat is made entirely from nylon, which is naturally water resistant and a comfortable material. The Columbia Sportswear has a length of mesh down both the right and left side of the hat. This mesh provides a high level of ventilation and comfort.

On top of the ventilation, the hat (see full specs) provides the Columbia boonie an internal Omni Wick sweatband, and it also provides a natural UPF 50 to block the harmful effects of sun. This includes the dangerous UVA and UVB rays and wears the Skin Cancer Foundation’s seal of recommendation.

You get an adjustable band that secures under your chin and protects your hat from flying off. The hat is also outfitted with Quick Dry properties. These Quick Dry Properties help wick away sweat or straight up massive water absorption. This boonie hat would be perfect for fishing or for doing yard work. Its water resistance and quick-dry properties make it perfect for anything that involves hard work or sweat (but not THAT; get your mind out of the gutter).

Columbia Sportswear Men's Bora Bora Booney

S&W Military Boonie

The S&W Military Boonie provides users with the maximum amount of protection for the individual user. What catches your eye right away is the long sun shade that hangs down from the back of the hat. This sunshade can be rolled up and placed out of the way if the user doesn’t want it hanging down. The S&W military boonie comes in a variety of different finishes and camouflage patterns.

Staying on the protection beat, it should also be mentioned this hat features a 3 inch wide brim, which offers excellent coverage around the entire head. The brim is also outfitted with brass snaps that allow you to pin the brim to the sides of the hat. This gives you a little more clearance if the brim is getting in the way. They can sometimes block peripheral vision and might not be needed anyway.

The cotton and polyester blend keeps things nice and light, as well as comfortable. There are four brass vents that provide the wearer with good ventilation. The chinstrap with cord lock allows you to tighten the hat down and keep it from falling off. The S&W Military boonie is an excellent addition to the gear of any outdoorsmen and one of the best boonie hats for the money.

On the Head

Boonie hats are excellent pieces of gear to have while working outdoors. These hats cover the individual and block the sun from burning skin. They provide consistent and stable shade that allows the user to maintain their vision when in the sunniest of days. Any true outdoorsman needs at least one boonie hat, and we hope you’ve found the right one for your needs here. Good luck!

  • Owner of Reloaderaddict.com, Boyd Smith is a major handgun enthusiast, and although he owns Glocks, he prefers the revolving wheel type. His go-to guns are a Smith & Wesson 642 Performance Center for carry and a Ruger GP100 in the nightstand biometric safe (he has kids). He loads both revolvers with old-school 148-grain Federal Gold Medal .38 wadcutters. It’s OK if you think he’s a wimp. Email him.

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