Just to clarify toques are called hats on the website. The runnings hats are called caps.I took both toques hiking, running and camping over the winter and spring. Both are super comfortable to wear but are suited to different purposes or conditions. Let’s dig into the differences.

What are they made of?

Both the toques are microfibre polyester, a soft, wicking, fast-drying fabric just like in the regular Buffs. The reversible model is microfibre inside and out where as the fleece model is fleece on the inside against your skin and microfibre on the outside.The microfibre polyester is treated with Polygiene, a silver-ion anti-odor treatment. Here’s a bit more on that.

Polygiene

Sweating hard in your shirt, socks and toques creates perfect conditions for smelly bacteria to grow. It’s not your sweat that smells, it’s the bacteria that builds up in the warm, moist conditions in the fabric. Get rid of the bacteria, get rid of the smell.Wool naturally has anti-bacterial properties but what happens if you can’t wear wool or just want something that wicks and dries faster? Synthetics are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria.Activated charcoal and silver treatments are now the go to solutions for the smell in synthetic fabrics, both eliminating bacterial growth in the fabric. Polygiene is a silver treatment on the microfibre polyester before it’s made into anything.The silver chloride in the fabric lasts the lifetime of the garment. You don’t have to wash it as much because it smells less. When you do, a quick wash with mild soap then hang to dry is all you need. You spend less time washing and the shirts, toques and socks spend less time being battered around in the washer and dryer.

Hook loop on top

There is a small transparent loop of thin plastic on the top of both the hats. I think they’re for hanging to dry or store I have to confirm that. I think they just look funny and will probably just cut them off after I confirm what they’re actually for.

Soft

I love how soft and smooth the microfibre and fleece are. Even the softest merino can’t yet match how smooth synthetics are. I tend to stick with merino for most things because of the temperature regulation and the smell factor. But with Polygiene solving the smell problem, synthetics look much more attractive for moderate and high-intensity activities.

Wicking

Both the microfibre and fleece wick well. The fleece is warmer than just the thin microfibre and insulates well when it’s wet.Wearing the reversible microfibre against your skin will wick any moisture away. Running and hiking hard, it was keeping me dry. When the temperature warms up it becomes a trade off. Keep the toque on, trapping heat and sweating more or just take the toque off. A headband or rolled Buff to keep the sweat out of your eyes is probably the best option at that point.

Fit

Both the microfibre and polar fleece toques are the active or beanie fit Buff talks about in their sizing chart. It fit snug against your skin. If you want something looser they do have a couple models with comfort or slouchy fits.

Conclusion

Normally I stay away from synthetics for anything sweaty and outdoors because of the smell. Merino is my go to for toques, shirts and socks. The Polygiene in the Buff hats eliminates any smell.The microfibre polyester and fleece are so soft it’s easy to forget they’re on. To wear overnight or for multiple days, I’d be inclined to go with synthetic for the softness.Find more about the Buff reversible microfibre hat and the Buff polar fleece and microfibre hat on the Buff site.

Thanks! And a disclaimer

I got these hats for free from Buff to review. I wasn’t paid to review them. I accept free items to review so I can test and review as much gear as possible. More reviews means you have more information when you go to buy something. I use them hard and give you honest feedback about what they’re like.Thanks so much to Buff for providing toques to get very sweaty.

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How to wear a buff

On the website they have an image for 12 different “official” ways to wear a Buff. I’d imagine the real number is far higher than that. Searching around online and talking to people, everyone wears it differently and comes up with their own ways to do it.Here are the quick explanations for how to wear the the buff in 12 different ways.

1. Scarf – around neck
2. Neck warmer – around neck, over bottom of chin
3. Face mask – pull it up to your eyes
4. Sun guard – up over your chin and the back of your head
5. Hood – under your chin but up over the back of your head
6. Balaclava – Hood and up to your nose
7. Headband – around your head
8. Beanie – twist it in the middle and pull it down to make a toque shape
9. Bandana – tie a knot in it and put one end on your head
10. Sahariane – lay flat on head and pull top down over head
11. Hair band – just like the head band
12. Head scarf – around your head but pull it back to cover your hair too

And if that makes no sense here’s a video for a better visual.For travelling or backpacking when you don’t have much space and can’t carry much weight having a toque, bandana, balaclava, scarf and headband in one is a pretty good deal.The Original series made of wicking polyester (haven’t tried a merino or polar fleece) are very soft. I’d imagine the others are designed to be on your face. My favourite ways to wear it so far has been a scarf or neck warmer on cold evenings and bandana or head scarf to keep the sun off my forehead and neck.

Styles and fabrics

Buff Canadian Series

There are a few different fabrics for the Buffs. The Polar Buff is microfibre and fleece, and the Merino Buff is, well, merino wool. The UV Buff and the Original are polyester. The UV Buff is Coolmax Extreme that breathes and wicks the best.I got one of the Originals from the Canadian Collection which is out now to commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday this year. The polyester wicks really well in even the warmest conditions. Staying dry is priority number one to stay warm in cold conditions as well.7 rad designs from Cameron Stevens from Burlington, Ontario make up the collection. There’s one for the North, West Coast, Rockies, Prairies, Great Lakes, Quebec and the Maritimes.

Other Buff things

Not to be content with just making tubes, Buff makes a ton of other stuff too. There are the slim fit and reflective versions of the Original Buff. They also do Bandana and Balaclava styles that are cut to be those specific shapes compared to the standard Buff tube. They even do Buffs for dogs! A couple of them in blaze orange if you’re out during hunting season.This year was the launch of a bunch of toque’s and hats as well. I’ve been wearing the reversible microfibre toque as well as the microfibre with polar fleece version this past winter. A review on those is coming soon.

Final Thoughts

Even if you think the Buff’s are weird I suggest you give them a try. They are super useful and you can get them in a muted colour so it doesn’t scream that you’re wearing a fabric tube thingy. The new Canadian Collection is pretty rad if you’re want to collect them all or just pick one up for your favourite part of the country.Mine has replaced a toque in my bag for most trips because of how useful they are. Even if they’re just a sweat band on your arm, it still doing more than just a regular ol’ toque in your bag.

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