REVIEW: 215 Gear Operator's Hat & Blended Operator's Hat

With the warm days comes the sun, and with the sun comes the desire for a tactical head covering. The choice here falls on countless manufacturers, who offer an endless selection of baseball caps, in all variations and colors. They all have one thing in common (otherwise they wouldn't be tacticool) – somewhere there is loop velcro for patches. 215 Gear has four different beautiful models to offer, of which we want to briefly introduce you to two.

215 Gear is a small gear forge from the USA, which offers not only great belts, bags, chestrigs, plate carriers, safety lanyards, hand warmers, and other gear, but also caps. The caps are called Operator's Hat and are designed in the style of 80s trucker hats, which is also popular in Flexfit caps today. Strictly speaking, the company offers four different versions: the Ultimate, Blended, Blended JTAC, and the ELW.

Version one is the Blended Operator's Hat. This cap is made of a soft and comfortable material to wear. The sides are completely made of mesh, which promotes ventilation.

The brim is sewn with black material on the underside, which does not glare due to the color and is also compatible with hook velcro. This means, you can attach small lights or similar. A soft sweatband provides comfort at the forehead.

The obligatory velcro areas are located on the forehead and on the back, each with a size of 5x7.6cm. At the top, where you would find the typical button on normal baseball caps, another velcro field with 4x4cm is sewn. The cap is closed with a velcro fastener, which is sewn with the 215Gear logo – one size fits all. The Blended Operator's Hat is available in the colors/patterns Coyote, Black, Multicam, and Desert Digital.

In addition to the Blended Operator's Hat, as mentioned earlier, there are two more versions available. The JTAC version differs from the cap presented here in that it lacks the velcro area under the brim and has two HighVis areas in orange attached to the inside to signal. The JTAC comes in Multicam or Coyote.

The Ultimate version differs in materials (besides the higher price, as all other versions are almost the same in price): Softshell is used, the sweatband has even better properties to absorb sweat, and the velcro areas come in cap color: Multicam. This is the only color available for the Ultimate version. Those who pay attention to every gram can save 30 grams with the Ultimate (according to the manufacturer's weight of 1.5 oz).

For the hottest days, it's best to wear the Operator's Hat ELW. This headgear is completely made of mesh, including the brim (which is actually unnecessary but completes the overall look). This allows for a noticeable air circulation when there's some wind, compared to the Blended Hat.

The velcro areas are identical to the other models, as well as the sweatband (except Ultimate). Unfortunately, the velcro area under the brim is also missing here. ELW stands for "Extremely lightweight." What's strange is that the kitchen scale weighs the ELW at 75 grams, and the Blended Operator's Hat at 70 grams. But no matter, it's definitely airier. The ELW is only available in Coyote.

CONCLUSION: Both caps offer sun protection and good ventilation on hot days with a very high style factor. Patches stick as expected, and with the Blended Hat, you can easily work with both hands while the cap shines.

215 Gear is available at TACWRK Berlin. The model Blended Operator costs from 32.90€.