I'm not much of a hat guy, but I was looking for something for sun protection on an upcoming vacation. This seems like it will work well for that purpose. The straw is very stiff and apparently has some sort of protective coating that gives it an almost plastic feel. These may run a tad on the large side - based on measurements and a size chart, I believe that I'm somewhat between an XL and a 2XL for head size and this XL seems to fit me well. I was a little concerned that an XL would be too small, but it could actually be a bit smaller and still be reasonable fit.