By Scott B
BoardReviews.com

The team over at i360(tm) sent me a Street Infused Beanie Hat to test out and review. For those of you who are not familiar with i360 the make wireless hats and headbands that fit your iPod so you can listen to music while snowboarding, skating or even playing basketball.    When I checked out their site iThreSixty.com I wanted to learn a little more about the product before I actually tried it out on the mountain.  The site describes the hats as “fashionable and musically functional headwear designed to eliminate messy wires and bulky headphones while also delivering top-notch sound.  The headwear uses a patented technology that includes a washable 3-jack wiring assembly and internal pockets allowing listeners to connect their iPod to custom i360 speakers, all hidden from view.”

For me to test this product it was a no brainer, I am a fan of listening to my old school iPod shuffle while snowboarding all the tim.  So when I got the hat in the mail the first thing I did was try it on and see if it fit my head and checked it out to see if it looked good on….. passed both!  The next test was to take it to the mountain and try it out.  When I typically ride I use an iPod shuffle and a pair of skull headphones, I set them up so that the iPod is in my inside front pocket and I try to run the headphone down my back and under my arm (yeah a little bit of a process to make perfect).

When I got to the mountain I threw in the shuffle hit the power button and put on the hat.   I have to say I was really shocked at how the speakers worked, I could hear the music almost perfectly.  The inside of the hat also lets you move the speakers around, but when I put it on it was good for me.  The next two test were going to be how it was on the lift with the wind and noise and then how it would be when I was cruising down the mountain.  The lift ride was no problem, I could hear the music perfectly and the hat kept my head warm.  Now when I use headphones and ride I will only have one ear bud in so I  can still hear someone coming up on me or even to just listen for some runaway skier.  With the i360 beanie I had no problem hearing people come up on me and the music was really clear.

Overall I have to say I was really impressed, this hat was warm and speakers worked really well.   Also this was the first time I have boarded in a while where I was not messing with my ipod the whole time, so I think I actually enjoyed my day of riding even more.  Now not to just pump up a product because it was free I had 3 little issues;

1. The hat I was sent did not fit my iPod so I used the old school shuffle, it was not a perfect fit but it worked.
2. Even though the hat fit and it was warm, if it was a little bit bigger I think it would have been perfect (I like a hat to pull down low on my neck).
3. Once I showed this hat to my little nephew who skis he kept trying to steal it from me.

If you want to buy one the team at i360 is offering $5 off for BoardReview readers.

Visit:   iThreeSixty.com

Promo code:  blogi360