Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A thread on hats

A hat thread? Birdy, you rock, buddy.













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I'm fond of a boonie style or ball cap when outdoors, but don't wear one on a day-to-day basis. On occasion the urge grabs me to toss on either my Stetson or Porkpie. I have been known to wear a scally cap as well, but rare these days.













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4x Resistol silverbelly for me. Old school rule is straw after Easter and Felt after Labor day.

Love it. Way cool, Dwayne.

What, you've never seen 'The Dogs of War'?

Having been to or briefly through a few African nations (Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania), I can attest to meeting some of the friendliest people anywhere. Of course, when one lives in a hut made of cowshyt, one must maintain a pleasant and positive outlook on life. By in large, a fun bunch, those folks. Don't worry, be happy mon!

Apologies. Devil made me do it.

It's cheating to have a lovely lady wearing the hat

Don't think I ever owned a "cowboy hat". Most of the time if I'm outside for an extended stretch it will be either a flats hat, which is like a ball cap but with the side skirts to cover the neck & sides of the head. less extensive stays in the sun I have a "Aussie-style" (whatever that means) felt hat which looks decent and gives decent protection. It was satisfactory on the sunny trip to Quemado, at ~7000' elevation.

Hunting in cold weather - or fishing in cold weather I'll wear a balaclava/neck gaiter...assuming I can ever find the silly thing again

I did the skin cancer thing 20 years ago, and prefer to avoid a repeat.

Birdy, read this one again. When next in Fredericksbrug there a place north of the main drag (maybe Texas Jacks) that has a lot of straw (lonesome dove type hats) and they are nice and big. Think about it for summer wear. You can go pre 1840's in this place.

http://www.texasjacks.com/hats/StrawHats.htm

I bought the middle one, nice hat in the hot summer sun.
Also have lot of 45 LC stuff if your into that, arms and holsters. Fun place to shop.

Mo' lids.













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The sun came out today and I went out without a hat all day. My shaved head is still as white as it was the day I shaved it. Not near the intensity up here you guys have to face down south.

I used to wear ball caps as my only hats and only when necessary, but in the 80's I started hearing of more and more Bow River guides having to get parts of their ears chopped off due to skin cancer, so I started wearing brimmed hats... I tried canvas boonie hats and then went to crushable felt hats (which I still use a lot when in the backcountry) but I've pretty much gone to wide-brim hats for most outdoor activities lately.

Birdy, I like your wide-brim felt hat. It should serve you well. Don't worry about "historically correct" styling, either. My wife has thousands of pictures of hats, dresses, suits, and other attire worn in the 19th century, and there's every style hat you can imagine. FWIW, I've got a copy of a drawing made of a Tennessee outlaw named James Copeland, and his hat would fit in just fine in a 2012 Texas rodeo.

As for material, as others have said, beaver is best. And you don't have to pay through the nose to get one, either. My wife picked up my latest 20X beaver hat at the thrift shop in town a few months ago for $30. Got the boys at the local western boutique to steam it and block it to fit my odd-shaped head, and it's a beaut.

Well Leighton, I see Birdy does have a straw pre 1840's

We get a little sun down here. Makes for good skin cancer.

I wear Tilly and Boonie hats every day I'm outside. I've had enough biopsies thank you. My friends think the Tilly hat is gay and I look like a snob wearing it. I've seen some worse! My friend does the cowboy dances with his wife and showed up one day with his cowboy hat on. I looked at him and asked if he bought two of them. He said "no, why?" I said "so you could crap in that one an cover it up with the other!" His son laughed and let out little chuckles the whole ride home.

The first time I visited my Aunts and Uncles in Oklahoma, my Uncle Ralph gave me a straw hat right off the plane. We went right off to a cattle auction. It had to be 100 degrees and the sun was the hottest I ever felt in my life. My arms were singed in no time, and I was so glad to have that hat! Cowboy hats are a must in that hot sun.

I have 2 that see a lot of use depending on the weather:

Mine doesn't have the bill!
Mark

And your standing in your new (maybe) future boat. Your straw is just like mine except I have to keep mine clean so I wear something else most of the time.

At least you cleaned the mirror L. Interesting pic of your hat.

They don't make 'em like they used to applies here. I have my father's Stetson from out of the 1930s. It is made of Nutria and it is a very high quality felt, more so than Beaver.

He always told me a few things about a good hat. The brim will hold it's shape but still be flexible enough to fold when struck by a hand or rope. This is something you won't find in hats made today.

He also said no ranch would hire a hand that rolled his own cigarettes or wore a straw hat. The reason was; you won't get any work out of him because he will either be rolling a cigarette or chasing his hat.

Bailey made cowboy hat most of the time. Ballcap while driving and a toque in the cooler weather.
My Bailey has a good 25 or so years of rain and snow across the brim, still holding up well. Can't go wrong spending good money on a quality hat.