Tested On Animals

I first saw this hat in a fly shop across the street from my hotel in Missoula, Montana in 2015. I’m not much of a fly fisherman – in fact, I’d just caught my first fly rod trout a few days earlier on the Bitterroot – so I don’t know if Nautilus is a quality product. Based on their website, and their pricing, it appears that the Miami-based company does make good gear.

Despite my attraction to the hat, I would’ve felt like a fraud wearing it around town or on the river. Someone might’ve asked me, “Which Nautilus products do you prefer?” and I would have had to respond, “Um…I kinda just have the hat.” Therefore, I didn’t buy it, but the slogan stuck with me.

So many fishing manufacturers make bland gear with either company names or bland logos representing the brand. There’s nothing wrong with that – and in my opinion it’s better than some of the gaudy crap that goes to the other extreme. Nevertheless, this slogan threads the needle perfectly, causing you to run the slogan through your head and then laugh a little. You might even piss a few humorless people off. There should be more hats like this one.