Long gone are the days where my tousled manly mane would flow in the wind, like acres of wheat on the Russian steppes. The ever-spreading island of exposed cranium atop my bonce is surrounded by a straggly, receding puddle of silveriness, looking like a piece of ham dropped on to a small pile of wire wool.
To counter this, I have to regulate my heat loss while cycling and running with headgear, be it a knotted buff in the style of 'il Pirata', a thermal skull cap or a traditional cyclist's casquette. I tend to favour a peaked cap during the summer, and a more encompassing loaf-warmer during inclement times; otherwise I could catch a nasty chill and have to up my Sanatogen ration, or spend my winter fuel supplement on something other than bike bits.
Imagine my delight when I was asked to try out the super-soft Zero Snood from Italian brand Superleggero. As understated and stylish as I'm not, this minimalist 70% Australian merino and 30% cashmere hat also doubles as a short neck warmer. It's light, stretchy and very comfy. A tug of the drawstring at the top converts it to an ear-covering beanie, the fine knit doing its damnedest to keep out the wind.
I wore it out on a two-hour ride to keep out the early February chills, and very nice it was too. Later the same week, I wore it in its beanie incarnation on a run and it performed equally well then. It may be that I don't run fast enough to generate any wind speed, or that the hat gripped my head snugly without feeling tight, but at no point did I feel I was about to expose my spam patch to the elements. Neither did I overheat, something I'm adept at doing while wearing synthetic materials.
In terms of looks and performance, the Zero Snood hits the mark. The only thing I do find slightly strange is the fragrance it seems to be impregnated with. It may be the lanoline in the wool, or some other treatment; while not unpleasant, it's certainly a distracting (and not particularly masculine) perfume. It has already survived several washes so I may have to learn to live with it.
The Zero Snood has no brazen logos and, apart from a small reflective strip on the back, eschews any modern compromises. It's light, comfortable and regulates temperature well, as natural fibres should do, and if the "Rouleur Grey" version tested doesn't float your boat a choice of five colours are available.
For a performance product the Zero Snood is equally suited to casual wear, stylishly understated and terrifically practical. At around £40, there are cheaper hats you can buy, but very few have this much sheep and goat in them. As long as this unpredictable weather continues, I plan to keep my male pattern baldness very much under this hat.
Zero Snood, €51 from www.superleggero.com
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