Thurston Launches with Beanies to Keep You Comfy, Not Sweaty

When Fielding Miller handed me an unbranded beanie before he and I climbed and skied Mt. Shasta together almost eight years ago, I had no idea the concept would one day turn into one of my favorite accessories. Fielding had helped Polartec, whom he worked with for many years in a range of roles, make an extremely limited run of proof of concept beanies using their then-new Power Wool material. The hat’s impressive moisture wicking grid helped wick sweat as well as many of the more performance oriented beanies I had tried, without the ahem phallic profile of the latter options. I loved it.

After nearly a decade of prototyping and testing, late this winter Miller officially launched Thurston, a premium winter headwear company offering a modest yet complete set of beanies and balaclavas for winter and shoulder season activities. In addition to two beanies, Thurston sells a balaclava , a skull cap, and an alpine hat. These lightweight offerings are ideal for high-output activities like ski touring in the winter, but breathe well enough to act as ideal Spring and Fall pieces for less-hardo activities like alpine backpacking and fly fishing.

Here in Oregon, though, it still feels like winter. I have been wearing the new Power Wool Beanie non-stop for the past two weeks and can confirm that it is an entire evolution better than my beloved, crazy-rare hat Miller gave me many years ago. It has proven a hell of a utility player for my mountain town lifestyle—and is surely stylish enough for wear in the city, too.

Miller, who has lived in Aspen, Colorado for 15 years and skis about 100 days a year, obsessed over both the performance and style component of this hat for over half a decade. While working with Polartec, Miller was frustrated by how little its powerful high performance fabrics were being used for headwear. He knew from his own days skiing that headwear deserves greater consideration because it's a first line of protection from the elements and key to temperature regulation. “I feel like this has largely been ignored up until now because the category has mostly been an accessory afterthought or more of a fashion piece, or just kind of like a merch quality giveaway for anyone looking to put their logo on something,” he said.

Beyond the flattering, on-trend silhouettes, the real story here is the Polartec material. Power Wool blends both wool and synthetic materials mechanically to deliver the comfort and warm-when-wet properties of wool along with the stretch and durability of synthetic fabrics. The blend happens in two distinct layers that keeps the wool touching my skin, and pulling moisture off of it, and the synthetic material an outer layer above. The beanie's snug fit and soft material was especially noticeable while on a recent early-morning, just-above-freezing run—it kept my ears toasty without allowing sweat to freeze to my head.

I also appreciate that Miller hasn't covered the hats in logos, instead offering just two colorways in each with the option of both tonal and contrast stitching. With this I didn’t feel like a teenager or billboard when wearing with a flannel to dinner with my wife.

Miller intended to launch the brand earlier in winter, but ended up delaying production to perfect the stretch, strength, and low bulk of his seams. I’m glad he did. Not only do the seams give the hat a better fit than any other I’ve tried, they also ensure it can weigh as little as possible and pack down to the size of a golf ball. “Little things matter when you're squishing it in the palm of your hand and jamming it in the pocket and also carrying that weight around on the top of your head,” Miller said. It’s this level of attention to detail that I think makes the Power Wool Beanie great.

At $60 for the hat offerings and $70 for the balaclava, Thurston gear is likely more expensive than most beanie enthusiasts are used to. Like any piece of outdoor gear, though, once you have experienced a premium version of it, it can be hard to go back to the bargain versions. I can say with confidence that you won’t find a cheaper beanie that can pass as non-merch around town and also keep your head both warm and sweat free.

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