Indestructible Hat

Name: Indestructible Hat
Brand: Vollebak
SKU: ACC007BLKMED
Price: 82.00 CHF
Availability: InStock

Built with magnetic storm flaps, a waterproof membrane and Dyneema® Black.

CHF 275.00 CHF 82

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High strength Dyneema® Black outer shell
Constructed with a waterproof membrane
Ultrasoft fleece lining

Over the last two years we’ve been building the toughest jackets on Earth with an ultra-high strength material called Dyneema® Black. Having started life in body armour and anti-ballistic vehicle armour, we use it to build our Indestructible Puffer and Indestructible Jacket.

Now we’ve taken the same material to rebuild the trapper hat. The first trapper hats appeared in the Arctic Circle around 500 years ago. And they’ve been helping really tough people feel a bit less cold ever since – from Scandinavian explorers to Siberian hunters. Constructed with magnetic storm flaps, a waterproof membrane, a Polartec fleece lining, and an outer layer which gets stronger as it gets colder, the Indestructible Hat is designed to see you through winter anywhere on Earth.

Technical Details

Outer material made in Belgium: 100% Dyneema® Black

Highly resistant to rips and abrasion

Constructed with a waterproof membrane

Fully seamed sealed

Upper fleece lining made in Italy: 100% polyester

Lower fleece lining made in the US by Polartec: 60% recycled polyester, 40% polyester

Magnetic fastener at chin with two tightness settings

Elasticated cord adjuster at rear

Machine wash max 30°C

Constructed in Romania

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Made from a material 15x stronger than steel

The outer layer of the Indestructible Hat is made from Dyneema® which is the single strongest fibre known to man today. To understand just how tough Dyneema® is, you have to look at how it’s being deployed in the world. It’s used to make bullet resistant vests, armour and helmets. It’s used in panels on tanks to protect against stronger ballistic threats like anti-tank projectiles. And you’ll find it in bulletproof cockpit doors in most commercial planes in the US. Unlike other high-strength materials it’s so light it floats on water, and it’s resistant to the long-term effects of moisture, UV light and chemicals, which is why it’s now also being used in artificial limbs.

We’ve made Dyneema® Black waterproof

To build the Indestructible Hat we’ve bonded a waterproof membrane to the underside of the Dyneema®. It’s this membrane that makes the world’s toughest material weatherproof. And it’s the first time this has been done. Constructed with millions of tiny pores, the membrane allows sweat to escape while keeping rain out. So even if you’re in a snowstorm or a downpour and the Dyneema® begins to absorb water, it can’t come through the membrane, so that’s where it stops.

Lined with ultrasoft fleece

The inside of the Indestructible Hat is designed to keep you warm and comfortable in any weather. So we’ve lined it with an ultrasoft and lightweight Polartec fleece. Made from 60% recycled material and bluesign approved, it has an extremely high warmth-to-weight ratio. Its fibres are engineered to trap heat in thermal air pockets at the same time as repelling moisture. So even if you manage to get the insides wet, you’ll dry out fast.

Built with magnetic storm flaps

You can wear the hat a few different ways depending on how cold it is. The fleece-lined storm flaps that cover your ears fasten magnetically. The same flaps can also be fastened over the top of your head if you don’t need to protect your ears from the cold. At the back of the hat you’ll find an elasticated cord to pull the hat tight. And you can shape the brim of the hat just like you would a baseball cap, so you can flip it up or push it down.

Why you find Dyneema® in survival situations

If you’re into chemistry, Dyneema® is an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene that combines extreme strength with very low weight. On a weight for weight basis it’s up to 15x stronger than steel and 40% stronger than high-strength aramid fibres. While it’s often used as a composite – an ingredient added to other materials to make them exceptionally strong – the entire outside of this hat is made from 100% Dyneema®.
What the outside of the hat feels like

Dyneema® Black feels like denim on a cold day. It’s soft and smooth to the touch, but you can still feel a light grain under your fingers. If you’ve ever come across ultra-lightweight Dyneema® used in backpacks you’ll know it feels and sounds a bit like paper. But the material we use is simply a different species. Dyneema® Black is far stronger and far thicker because it’s spun then woven before we use it to construct the hat. And it’s what we already use to build our Indestructible Puffer and Indestructible Jacket.

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What the hat can survive

We wanted to create a hat that could withstand the toughest challenges in the coldest places on Earth. Nature claws at you, hits you and freezes you. So in our testing we exposed the material to the shearing, tearing, and blunt-force traumas that you’ll get in the real world from rocks, ice, trees, and falls. Dyneema® is so strong that this hat is almost impossible to rip. Blunt-force trauma will have almost no impact on it other than marking it. And our knife slash test shows what damage the sharpest rocks would be likely to inflict.
What the hat can’t survive

The short answer is it won’t survive bullets or the inside of a volcano. Yet. This is a hat designed to perform in the toughest environments and coldest conditions on Earth. But like most cold weather gear it’s not built for extreme heat, so don’t fire a flamethrower at it. And we designed it for adventure not for warzones. So while this is the strongest Dyneema® ever used in clothing, it won’t stop bullets. You need more layers of Dyneema® for that.
EARTH NEVER REACHES THE MELTING POINT OF DYNEEMA®

The melting point of Dyneema® is a subject of discussion online as it’s lower than the polyester used in most clothing today, and also the aramid fibres used in military gear. But to put it in context we’d have to return to the Hadean period of Earth around 4.5 billion years ago to find air temperatures that would melt it. The melting point of Dyneema® is around 130°C, which is 73 degrees above the hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth of 56.7°C in Death Valley, California.

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The colder it gets the stronger it gets

The colder Dyneema® gets, the stronger it gets, which is why it’s used to make the mooring lines on giant ships and deep-water oil rigs that have to perform in freezing seas. A mooring line on a winch buried under heavy ice on a ship sailing in extreme conditions simply can’t fail. As the temperature drops down to -50°C the Dyneema® ropes gain 5-10% strength. Projections show that the rope would gain even more strength if it dropped to -150°C. And it doesn’t just get stronger, it also loses no strength in relation to abrasion resistance or cutting.

In the coldest place on Earth, this is the strongest hat

As the temperature drops, the Dyneema® outer layer increases in strength, making it unlike any other hat ever created. The lowest temperature recorded at ground level on Earth was -89°C in the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica. It’s here that the hat comes into its own. In the coldest temperature ever recorded, this would be the strongest hat ever made, and still getting stronger.